Liverpool: Fowler tips Henderson for PFA Player of the Year
Liverpool's captain doesn't always get the recognition he deserves, says Robbie Fowler, who thinks it was Hendo's suspension that cost the Reds the league in 2014.
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson doesn't always get the recognition he deserves, but Robbie Fowler says he would have his vote for this year’s PFA Player of the Year. At the start of the season, Hendo was 2000/1 to win the award but fast forward six months and the odds have been whittled down to an even-favourite for some betting houses.
Hard worker Henderson
Fowler says he has been a big fan of Henderson, Liverpool’s midfield engine, since he joined from his native Sunderland in 2011. “I've never thought he was underrated in all fairness, he steadily goes about his business while bigger names always get the plaudits - in fact, I've said for years that I believe his suspension cost Liverpool the title the year Steven Gerrard fell over. Jordan is a genuine contender for the PFA Player of the Year award and deservedly so,” Fowler, who won the accolade in 1995, told bookmakers.co.uk.
Liverpool missed Hendo at the end of the 2014 campaign
Gerrard’s slip at home to Chelsea wasn’t the reason why Liverpool lost their grip on the Premier League, believes Fowler, who recalled the midfielder sitting out three key games against Norwich, Chelsea and Crystal Palace. Henderson was hit with a three-match suspension after being sent off in the Week 34 meeting with Manchester City for a studs-high challenge on Samir Nasri. Liverpool needed to win the remaining four games to lift the league but lost to Chelsea and drew away at Palace which allowed City to pip them to the title by two points.
Henderson is one of six Liverpool players who are feature in the bookies’ top 10 of candidates to win the 2020 PFA Player of the Year, which last year went to his club team mate Virgil van Dijk.