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Sometimes you know a player has made a mini-leap, even if the numbers don’t fully show it. Jordan Henderson has made a fairly comfortable leap this season, from a solid, works-hard-for-the-team-and-zooms-all-over-the-pitch shuffler into Liverpool’s metronome. He has become a legitimate offensive fulcrum for one of the most explosive attacking teams in Premier League history. Two years ago, that was unthinkable.

Henderson is now considered the frontrunner for PFA Player of the Year award -- if one is ever awarded. We can’t distill Liverpool’s greatness into one player, the theory goes. That would be a disservice to Sadio Mané or Mo Salah or Virgil van Dijk or Trent Alexander-Arnold or Alisson. We can’t give it to Jurgen Klopp. He’s, you know, not a player. So, we’ll give it to Liverpool’s on-pitch figurehead, their captain.

Henderson symbolizes all the feel-good that goes with Klopp’s team: the relentlessness, the passion. In a team filled with great stories, Henderson’s redemption arc might be the best of all. But also does a disservice to Henderson’s game.

So much of the Henderson conversation focuses on the intangibles: the leadership, the hustle, the desire. What that obfuscates is his brilliance on the ball: his technical ability; his understanding of when to modulate tempos; his knowledge of how to manipulate a defence; his defensive positioning, which has risen to a whole new level in the past 24-months.

Where Henderson has shown his most growth, however, is as a passer. He’s become almost an oxymoronic player: By shuffling backward, into Liverpool’s single-pivot role, he’s become a more attacking player. When he plays higher up the pitch as a number eight, he becomes a little more defensive, focusing more on leading Liverpool’s press than splitting the defensive block.

Henderson was thrust into the pivot role when Fabinho went down with an injury. In that time, he ranked third in passing success rate, behind only Ilkay Ilkay Gündogan and Rodri among players with at least 540 minutes in that timeframe.

Henderson was thrust into the pivot role when Fabinho went down with an injury. In that time, he ranked third in passing success rate in the Premier League, behind only Ilkay Ilkay Gündogan and Rodri among players with at least 500 minutes.

And these weren’t just keep-the-game-ticking pashes sloshing from sideline-to-sideline. Henderson’s forward passes attempted and completed have ballooned this season, as have his long passes. Even more encouraging: his shots on target assisted are up from 0.27 last to season to 0.46 this season; his through passes completed per 90 are up from 0.42 in 2018/19 to 1.14 in 2019/20.

Those aren’t minor bumps. They’re massive leaps. Henderson has grown from a good passer into a world-class one: incisive and metronomic in equal measure.

The numbers are good, the process behind them even more encouraging. Henderson has always fallen victim to a common misnomer that he does little more than shuffle the ball sideways. At times, that’s been more accurate than the Henderson defenders would like to admit. But it was also a product of his role in the Klopp set-up. Pushed back to a deep-lying creator role, Henderson has thrived -- showing off his complete passing arsenal.

His personal favourite: dropping into a deep pocket in front of a defensive shell and driving the ball in-behind to a wide-forward charging in on the angle.

Henderson sets up in his normal role: pulling back from the centre-circle to a spot in the inside channel, typically to the right. The back two splitting a little wider, the fullbacks moving up to Henderson’s level, the two numbers eight splitting into the half-spaces further up the pitch.

This subtle manipulation has a couple of benefits. It frees Henderson to scan the field with plenty of room ahead of, and it forces the opposing midfield line to make a decision: to press Henderson high up the pitch or to sag-off. If the team runs a staggered, multi-layered press, Henderson is able to pull the second-line out of position.

The knock-on effect: it frees up either Liverpool fullbacks to push much higher up the field, with Henderson able to cover the space in-behind.

Again, by moving back, Henderson becomes a better player going forward. He isn’t a prototypical, driving playmaker, someone capable of beating a man on the move then slipping a ball past the outside shoulder of a defender at full-flight. Instead, he likes to take his time: to survey the landscape and pick the best option.

Press up, and Henderson is happy to revert to type, pushing the ball back to either centre-back or flipping it out to the wing. Sit back, and Henderson will go to work creating out of the pocket:

Above, Henderson backed out of his original spot and moved into his preferred pocket. Bournemouth let him go, favouring a solid midfielder-four with a pair of forwards ready counter if the play broke down.

Henderson took full advantage. Given room to sit and inspect, he uncorked a line-drive directly into the path of an onrushing Salah. One-nil:

Not bad for a sideways passing rhythm clogger. If anything, that reputation has worked in Henderson’s favour. Opposing teams have underestimated his range, have been so fearful of leaving space in-behind for Salah and Mane, that they’d been happy to sit-off as Henderson pings balls all over the park.

Reaching where-is-he-at-all-times status is rarefied air, reserved for only the most feared of conductors: Andrea Pirlo, Sergio Busquets, Marco Verratti. Henderson hasn’t played at that level consistently, but his output during his time as the team’s single pivot was more than enough to earn him a day pass in the club's swanky lounge.

His trusty running mate: Trent Alexander-Arnold. The pair have struck up a nice wink-wink chemistry. As mentioned, when Henderson sets up in his right-hand side pocket, TAA is able to push farther forward. But the fun-and-games begin when Henderson switches things up and drifts off into the left-side pocket.

Things take a similar look: Andy Robertson presses on, the number eights move a little wider, the centre-backs split. The difference this time is how far Alexander-Arnold advances on the right-side of the pitch.

In that spot, Alexander-Arnold essentially works as an auxiliary winger, pulling onto the opposing left-back and driving on-the-angle:

The above shot vs. Norwich is the best example. Henderson sunk off, Alexander-Arnold bombed forward.

Look at where he put the ball! That wasn’t a sand-wedge. He drove that thing on a rope, allowing Alexander-Arnold to run onto the ball at pace and charge into the box, rather than waiting on a floater to arrive somewhere near the touchline.

Some of Henderson’s plays are subtly gorgeous. At first, they look like non-events -- excellent passes from a Premier League calibre player. It’s only with a second and third viewing that you appreciate the beauty. Few players show a better understanding of the geometry of the pitch.

That’s Henderson doing what he does best: apparating into all the right places at all the right times. With a cluster of white shirts cutting off passing lanes, he shows for the ball, darting out of the middle of the field cluster to offer Joe Gomez an outlet. But Henderson is smart. He doesn’t linger too close to the Flamengo forward applying the press. He’s careful to keep his distance. Eyes forward. A flick of the head. Move. A flick of the head. Move. Eyes forward.

He gave Gomez the nod. Knock the ball ahead of me and let me go to work. Gomez obliged.

Now hit freeze. Notice anything:

While Henderson is on the half-turn, everyone else is facing back towards their own goal. It would have been easy for Henderson to take an extra touch or two. To settle on playing it sideways. To keep it safe.

Instead, he ripped a first-time channel ball (an old Antonio Conte favourite!) towards a steaming Mo Salah. A flash of the head, a touch to steady, then thump.

And look at the ball:

Holy moly. That is spicy. That is downright mean.

During his Liverpool career, Henderson has been happy to play the role of a chameleon. It’s why coaches and teammates have admired him so much. Ask him to function as ago-go, effort-based winger and he’ll do a job. Need him to play role as box-to-box and he'll the spot gladly. But it's as a deep playmaker that he's played his best football for the club. Indeed, when Fabinho returned and Henderson was pushed back into his role as number eight, Liverpool's build-up play became stodgy.

During his spell as a key creator, Henderson showed a nascent ability for unlocking defences with quick-fire, long-range passes. That, mostly, vanished when he was inched higher up the field.

The narrative (it’s ok to shudder at that word) of Henderson winning the Player of the Year award feels fitting. We like to award people who went above and beyond. Who proved us wrong. Is Henderson Liverpool’s best player? No. Is he their most important? No. But he’s closer to being a top-five player than he is a bottom-five one.

Henderson’s story is brilliant. But that shouldn’t mask the real, actual improvements he has made as a player. This isn't reverse engineering. He’s worthy of the POTY discussions, just not for a bunch of the reasons that are so often cited. He’s worthy because he applied himself, adapted his game, and improved; he’s earned it.

That has been the story of Henderson’s career: some parts of his game rise, others fall. Now, they’re all rising together. What a joy to watch in real-time.