As news of Trent’s injury on England duty final settles in, anxieties around his team mate Jordan Henderson and his fitness as Euro 2021 looms.
The quad tear suffered by Liverpool’s number 66 rules him out of the first few weeks of pre-season in a hammer blow for the right back.
In the drama surrounding Southgate’s will he, won’t he on Trent’s inclusion and then subsequent injury has perhaps drawn attention away from the concerns that surround Henderson’s inclusion in the England squad.
The Reds skipper didn’t feature in the final 14 games of the season due to injury, and is now part of the England squad set for the vigours of a summer at an international tournament.
On one hand, you could suggest that Henderson is having a mini pre pre-season by getting himself up to speed with the national team. This isn’t a bad thing as he steps up his rehab and builds up his fitness.
But to not play for so long for his club to then potentially be thrown into the action by Southgate is a worry.
The England manager also has a bad track record of protecting players against injury, so it doesn’t sit so well that he’s basically overseeing his recovery.
It would be a bit more reassuring if he was back at the AXA centre with the physios and fitness gurus at Liverpool who know him inside out to avoid any extra strain being placed on him.
Throwing back to Trent’s injury, and you could say that Liverpool have got away with one in the sense that he’ll be able to complete most of pre-season.
But if Henderson was to pick up another knock, it’d be a real concern to have two key players potentially not fully fit and ready for the start of the new domestic season.
Henderson has struggled in recent years with niggling injuries, so add this to above, and it’ll be a nervous watch to see if he emerges from the summer unscathed.
He missed 23 games in all competitions for Liverpool this past season, so it has been a gruelling one for the 30-year-old.
That really takes it toll both mentally and physically on player, and too much too soon could be potentially disastrous.
We should never be one to deny players the chance to represent their countries, but it is a worry to see Henderson travel with the England squad after such lengthy lay off.
He’s such an influential player for Klopp that to not have him available for the new season would be a huge loss, especially as Liverpool look to improve on their third place finish last time out.
If Hendo was rested once or twice, or only given more brief cameo roles, it’d be preferable.
But his influence is also sizeable for England, so Southgate will likely use him more than Liverpool fans would ideally like to see.
We will all wait with baited breath to see if our skipper comes through trouble free. Serious questions might be asked of the England set up (again) if he doesn’t.
