Is Henderson the answer to Liverpool's problems?

When Liverpool signed Jordan Henderson for £20 million in 2011 — Liverpool were still struggling to cope without midfield maestro Xabi Alonso, who they had sold to Real Madrid a couple seasons back.

Henderson had showed promise — flashes of talent in a Sunderland side — and found himself capped by England too. He was just a 20-year-old at that time, with as many millions hanging on his reputation as his age. England are notorious for hyping their youngsters after a few performances, only to see them fade away after big moves or injuries — striker Andy Carroll a classic example.

It has taken a few years — Henderson has bore the brunt of Liverpool fans when their midfield was overrun in the days before Brendan Rodgers came along and embedded a speedy direct style that they are known for now. Was a player who had scored two goals and assisted four in 48 total appearances the answer to their woes? In fact, even before the start of this season, it remained a question unanswered.

There was a popular joke that stuck even when he was picked for England as a stand-by player in 2012 — Jordan Henderson on standby for England. He has been on standby all season, he stands by while players run past him.

To be honest, the criticism wasn’t undeserved. Henderson had, apart from a spurt of goals in the middle of last season (in gameweek 15, 16 and 17, he scored four goals — and then never found the net in the Premier League), not really impressed or justified his price-tag.

The only defence he had was a constant tinkering in his position — Rodgers, in a bid to accommodate Lucas Leiva and Joe Allen, would stick Henderson out to the right. This year, he has played him alongside Steven Gerrard in his diamond system — allowing him more freedom to roam and bomb into the final third with Gerrard in a protective role behind him. There was something else he also did — made him vice-captain in a decision that was quite surprising.

And from what we’ve seen of him this season, positional consistency and the added responsibility have made him Liverpool’s standout player and deserving deputy to Gerrard.

In seven games, Henderson has created three goals and scored one — the one which gave Liverpool a much needed 2-1 win over West Brom on Saturday. He even created the first goal for Adam Lallana with a lovely flicked one-two exchange at the edge of the box. He also set-up Liverpool’s first goal of the new season with a glorious long ball for Raheem Sterling to finish.

In these seven games, he’s also created 11 chances, won almost half his duels and made an average of four defensive actions per match. According to Squawka numbers, he’s Liverpool’s best defender, second best attacker (Sterling is first) and second best when it comes to keeping possession (Gerrard is first). The same numbers place him as the second best midfielder in the Premier League so far — behind Eden Hazard.

He’s also attempted the most number of passes (441) for Liverpool. Game by game, Henderson seems to be growing into a mature, reliable box-to-box midfielder who is bursting with creativity and is dogged in defence.

On the day he was signed by Liverpool, Henderson said: “Gerrard is one of the best players in the world, you want to be playing with him and training with him to try and improve yourself as a player. Hopefully I can learn a lot from him.”

This is his fourth year of learning and playing with Gerrard — and he’s looking increasingly like the midfielder who will eventually want that No 8 shirt.