Youngster Judd Bellingham impressed the England national team despite the disappointing results of the Three Lions recently. The Borussia Dortmund star will likely be a key player for national team manager Gareth Southgate during the World Cup in Qatar this winter.
Jordan Henderson doesn’t want to put too much pressure on his young teammate in midfield, but the Liverpool captain makes no secret of his admiration for the former Birmingham player.
“I love Judd and I think he’s a great player,” Henderson said during the McDonald’s Fun Football event in Liverpool, According to the mirror.
– He is incredibly professional, and he has a very important attitude to his development. I don’t want to bulk him up too much because he’s still just a little boy!
– He will have a lot of pressure on his young shoulders, but of course he is a big player at the top and I am sure he will make his mark in Qatar.
The role of the guide
Henderson served as a mentor to Bellingham and other young players on the national team, and how important Hindu was to Southgate was shown when the national team coach included the Liverpool captain in his squad for Nations League matches against Italy and Germany, though. He has been over Liverpool’s last three games with a hamstring injury.
Henderson came right on the eve of the 3-3 draw with Germany at Wembley, then replaced Bellingham. Hence, Hindu is set to play his sixth major tournament with England during the World Cup in Qatar. There are many major tournaments won by Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and Sol Campbell with England.
Henderson’s first major tournament with England came ten years ago, during Euro 2012, when he played against France just before his 22nd birthday.
– I’m going to this tournament the same way I’ve always done. It won’t be bigger than the World Cup. We came close to a victory at the European Commission last year, as well as during the previous World Championship, so we got a taste of what it means to go far in the Championship. Of course we were disappointed that we didn’t make it to the top, and I hope we can use this to take the last step in this tournament.
Strike back against Germany
Although England have fallen to a lower level in the Nations League, Henderson feels there are positives to dispense with from the past few matches.
– The Germany match showed our mentality and how we can fight as a group, he says.
– When you are 2-0 down against Germany, things can go wrong, but we responded in the right way, we held together and went through the difficult period. Unfortunately we didn’t win the match, but I think we managed to come back and draw.
– We were positive after the match. Obviously we’ve had a tough time as a team, and we’ve had a lot of criticism lately, so it was good that we were able to show the mentality of the team, that we were able to fight to the end, and almost paid for it.
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