There’s a wry smile on ’s face when he says that he was in the proper place throughout his six-month spell in Saudi Arabia. His time at Al-Ettifaq has come to look ill-fated, with Henderson tarnishing a fame as a massively admired determine and, when he curtailed it to affix Ajax, proving far much less profitable than it appeared it might.
However maybe the way in which to view it’s because the journey of a jilted man on the rebound. Henderson was mourning what he had misplaced, the profession. “It felt like a breakup,” he mentioned, casting his thoughts again to 2023. Henderson and had been a Champions League and profitable double act of skipper and supervisor however the German had signalled he was keen to countenance his captain’s departure.
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“It was a very robust interval once I left Liverpool. I used to be there for a very long time, 12 years. Leaving Liverpool itself was big and actually tough. It had been my life for therefore lengthy after which it’s simply gone like that,” added Henderson, clicking his fingers. “So I struggled for a interval after that.”
Hundreds of miles away, close to the Persian Gulf, Henderson discovered distance helped block out his previous. “I couldn’t watch quite a lot of video games,” he mentioned. “I actually couldn’t watch Liverpool. I didn’t watch quite a lot of Premier League stuff then… I most likely picked the proper place for that, midway world wide.”
Since then, he has been on the street again, each actually and metaphorically. He returned first to Europe, with Ajax, and now the Premier League, at Brentford. He was restored to the squad after ’s appointment, but when his recall met with incredulity in some quarters, his performances for Brentford have supplied explanations to an English viewers. There was nothing controversial in Henderson’s to face Wales and Latvia.
He feels rehabilitated, renascent. “Over the previous couple of years, I’ve had some robust moments however whenever you come out the opposite facet, you look again, you assume you be taught lots about your self,” Henderson mentioned.
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And if he stopped in need of saying that becoming a member of Al-Ettifaq, which owed a lot to his predecessor as Liverpool captain, Steven Gerrard, was a mistake, he hinted it.
Henderson has impressed since returning to the Premier League with Brentford (Motion Pictures through Reuters)
“In hindsight, possibly I’d have made totally different selections,” he added. “However on the time that’s how I felt and the choice I made was for a lot of totally different causes and solely I do know the explanations and, in the long run, I attempted to do the proper factor. I assumed it was finest to do it on the time after which finest to return again to Europe and play for Ajax which I actually loved. It’s a actually good membership, actually good folks, good gamers, good teammates, I met an incredible supervisor and workers in Francesco Farioli.” It was notable that, in dialog as in his profession, he pivoted shortly to Ajax.
Now, at an age when others may need seemed to wind down their profession in a lesser league, Henderson has returned to what he deems the world’s finest. He has confounded a number of doubters already by performing so nicely for Brentford. It has been a theme of his profession. “I feel I’ve used it as gas all through my profession, actually. I suppose it’s half and parcel of who I’m. I’ve at all times needed to show one thing, someplace,” he mentioned.
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The was a think about his return to England. He had travelled to the Euro 2024 ultimate as a fan, hiring a van from Amsterdam after discovering there have been no flights. It was no nice hardship. “We aren’t speaking a couple of transit van. It was fairly a pleasant van. It had a little bit of room, you can transfer round,” Henderson mentioned.
Recalled to the England setup, Henderson feels he has one thing to show as soon as once more (Martin Rickett/PA)
But it surely was an indication he wouldn’t hand over on England. Nor, when Tuchel took over, would England hand over on him. Henderson has at all times been vocal, an enormous presence across the camp, a good friend and mentor to Jude Bellingham. But the emphasis on what he may do off the pitch lent itself to ideas he was some type of cheerleader. Not so, he argues, “I’ve proven what I can do for England through the years,” he mentioned.
“I’m nonetheless taking part in at a excessive degree. Outdoors, folks can assume what they need. An important individuals are the supervisor, the teaching workers and the gamers. Ask them what they assume, if I’m a cheerleader when I’m right here. I don’t assume among the best managers in Europe could be selecting me simply to try this.”
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And, two years after one German supervisor left Henderson devastated by letting him depart Liverpool, one other appears intent on taking him to the World Cup. And the midfielder who couldn’t even watch the Premier League is now again taking part in in it.