A question of 'leadership'

Why the double standards when it comes to Black footballers?

- Jonathan Liew

How shall I lead thee? Let me count the ways. I lead thee by stepping up and being vocal, around the dressing room, setting standards in training. I lead thee quietly by example, the not-much-of-a-shouter-and-a-screamer-but-when-he-speaks-people-listen kind. I lead thee by having been there, done that, won everything. I lead thee by never backing down from a challenge. I lead thee by sheer gravitas.

By any of these measures, Jordan Henderson is a leader. He was a leader for Liverpool. He was a leader for the NHS and the LGBTQ+ community off the field. He was still a leader when he left Liverpool and moved to Saudi Arabia in an attempt to create - in his words - "positive change" in the country for his beloved LGBTQ+ constituents. Somehow he was still a leader when he walked out on Al-Ettifaq after six months, because leaders own their mistakes and front up when things go wrong. And at the age of 34 he continues to be a leader for Ajax, where this season in the Eredivisie he has started 58% of their games, played 57% of their available minutes and ranks 35th for pass success rate across the league.

And the point of all of this is not to malign Henderson, making a heartwarming return to the England setup under the new head coach, Thomas Tuchel. People err. People deserve to be forgiven. Pretty much anyone who has worked with Henderson describes him as a genuinely inspirational figure.

"He embodies everything," Tuchel said last week. "Leadership, character, energy and personality."

Henderson's selection, then, appears to owe as much to intangible factors as anything he has done on a pitch this season. England, so goes the prevailing thinking, lack leadership. Henderson embodies leadership.