Jordan Henderson: England can use World Cup as 'fuel' for greater things
Last updated on .From the section England
| Uefa Nations League: England v Spain |
|---|
| Venue: Wembley Stadium Date: Saturday, 8 September Kick-off: 19:45 BST |
| Coverage: Live on BBC Radio 5 live and the BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app, plus live text commentary. |
Midfielder Jordan Henderson says England players can use this summer's World Cup semi-final defeat by Croatia as "fuel" to go on to greater things.
Liverpool's captain, 28, was a key player in Russia as the Three Lions reached the last four of the tournament for the first time since losing on penalties to West Germany at Italia 90.
"We had the belief we could achieve something really special and go even further," he told BBC Radio 5 live.
"So we can use that and go forward."
England face Spain in the Uefa Nations League at Wembley on Saturday (19:45 BST kick-off) in their first game since the World Cup, before a friendly against Switzerland at Leicester's King Power Stadium on Tuesday (20:00).
While England failed to progress to their first World Cup final since winning on home soil in 1966, Gareth Southgate's side were praised for their approach.
The squad in Russia had an average age of 26 - the third youngest at the tournament - but went on to achieve the Three Lions' best result since reaching the last four of Euro 96.
Henderson, who has 44 caps, wants the players to "use that as fuel to be better and want to be the best", adding that "the nation fell back in love with England" over the summer.
"We have a lot of young players in the squad and we can learn from that experience in a positive way.
"That experience will never be forgotten - for me personally and the rest of the lads.
"It's very powerful when you have a nation right behind you like we did in Russia.
"It's up to us to keep that going and keep putting those good performances in. I'm sure if we do that we will keep growing and hopefully we can achieve something special very soon."
Southgate the alchemist
Meanwhile, another England midfielder, Fabian Delph, credits manager Southgate for creating that positivity and generating "the chemistry and energy" he experiences at club level with Premier League champions Manchester City on the international stage.
Delph, 28, says the England boss helped to bring about the feeling of "a lads' holiday" in Russia.
"It was just absolutely fantastic, but when we were on the pitch we mixed it up - it was very serious, we had our gameplans," he said.
"The energy here is the same [as at City] - if not better. Gareth is a brilliant man-manager. He knows how to get the best out of the players. He has a system he likes to play and he has got the players playing where he wants.
"When you are starting off like that you are already ticking one box. With the boys being so young and still developing, I can definitely see nothing but improvement in the team.
"Pulling together in difficult situations, getting over the line in difficult games - it's all going to have to come. We will have to go through that.
"I'm definitely confident in the future."
Comments
Join the conversation
"If Dier hadn't scored that penalty against Columbia and saved the hapless Henderson's blushes after his pathetic spot kick, England would have gone out and the world cup would have been yet another disaster."
So if a completely different sequence of events had unfolded, then the outcome would have been........well completely different..........cool.......thanks.
That comment came in quick, did you even read the article or just reacted to it because you seen the name of a Liverpool player related to it? How sad and bitter
How is Klopp trying to ease him out of the team - by offering him a 5 year contract?!
Henderson along with Trippier were England’s best and most consistent players at the World Cup. Also, off the pitch Henderson is an excellent role model to girls and boys playing or interested in taking up the sport. That ranks highly as a quality needed in a national team captain.
This team have outdone the 'golden generation' at the first attempt, played better football than any England since 1990 and we're still whinging.
As much as I enjoy mocking Scottish football, they do at least support their national side through the continuous whuppings. I think they deserve to swap with some of you... you'll appreciate the team more then!
Henderson has his critics and some may say deservedly so but like it or not his distribution was second to none for England during the world cup.
He did the things you expect but also tried to move the ball forward quickly which he hasn't always done in the past.
Hopefully the positive vibe from the summer can be maintained in this Nations League.
Have to say however that he has improved 10-fold under Klopp at Liverpool and he was quality at the WC.
He's the only real leader in the England set-up so should be the skipper to be honest.
I support Saints btw, not Liverpool.
If Dier hadn't scored that penalty against Columbia and saved the hapless Henderson's blushes after his pathetic spot kick, England would have gone out
___
Oh dear you havent a clue how penalty shootouts work do you,,? Even if Dier missed it still wouldn't have knocked England out it would have gone to sudden death
Which old days were those?
I thought WHU won the world cup in 1966 - been nowhere near since
Tunisia (top ranked African nation)
Panama (Qualified ahead of a USA we've previously failed to beat)
Colombia (A decent S.American side who topped their group)
Sweden (A decent side who beat France, The Netherlands and Italy to qualify)
Belgium are a top, side who beat us twice. We were competitive yet wasteful vs them.
Well..
Hahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahhahahaahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaahahhaahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahaahhahahahahahahaha
You’re having a laugh Kevin? You couldn’t even beat Belgium twice or Croatia 😭😭
5 minutes ago
Have you seen the French league? How many foreigners play in their top division? Or Croatia's top flight?
There are losers than winners in the world of football. The England players involved all progressed further than Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar and a whole host of other players who don't own a world cup winner's medal.
"Gerrard, Lampard, Carrick, Scholes and now we're stuck with a crab from Sunderland. How times have changed. "
Not a huge Henderson fan but in his defence, what did Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes ever get us?
"Fuel? expect them to conk out against the likes of Croatia again then... "
Just remember Germany conked out to South Korea, Spain to Russia. Perhaps Croatia aren't such a bad team eh?
Kante is probably the best defensive midfielder in the world so Henderson clearly falls short in that comparison.
He's the best we have in that position at the moment though. There are other midfielders who need to provide more creativity than they have shown recently in an England shirt e.g Lingard, Alli. That's a more pressing concern in my opinion.