Jordan Henderson could be a little special

Nov 7 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

Jordan Henderson is already being talked about as a future England international. Chief Sports Writer Luke Edwards heard what makes him stand out.

THE words had not even finished forming in his mouth when Steve Bruce frantically tried to put them into some sort of context.

The impact, though, had been made, the reference had been given, the comparison drawn. Jordan Henderson could turn out to be Sunderland’s Ryan Giggs.

Bruce is far too wise and far too aware of the pitfalls and distractions out there for young footballers to allow Henderson to ever start to believe his own hype, but there is no disguising his excitement about the diamond he is polishing at Sunderland.

In the last two years Henderson has grown from an awkward, uncoordinated teenager who was on the brink of being released by the Black Cats into a sparkling prospect and one of the best young English players in the top flight.

If former Black Cats boss Roy Keane had spotted the potential in the 19-year-old former Farringdon Community Sports College pupil, Bruce has unleashed it following a brief but hugely successful loan spell at Coventry City at the tail end of last season.

When Bruce arrived back in May, he knew plenty about most of the players he was inheriting, but it was Henderson who grabbed his attention, a teenager who was already giving the senior players a torrid time in training and a natural athlete who was capable of lung-bursting performances in every fitness tests.

It reminded him of someone who had once had a similar effect on him when he had been skipper of Manchester United almost 20 years earlier.

“I was with David Beckham and no-one at 17 or 18 would have predicted he was going to be a superstar,” said Bruce, whose chances of ending a poor run of away results have been badly damaged by injuries and suspensions against Tottenham Hotspur today.

“He was always a very, very good player. No one would have predicted it about Paul Scholes, though he had problems when he was young. The only one who jumped out was Giggsy.

“Now I am not saying Jordan is . . . please do not write that . . . but all the others, the (Phil and Gary) Nevilles, (Nicky) Butt, all of them you could never predict they would go on and have what they had.

“All very good players, but Giggs was the only one you would say ‘My God, what is that’. It is very difficult because they go through growth spurts. The good thing about Jordan is he is levelheaded. He has had a fantastic start but it is just raw potential at the moment.” And he will need to be. As a Sunderland boy in arguably the best Black Cats team for a generation, Henderson could easily slip into bad habits if the praise and kudos goes to his head.