Jordan Henderson did not deserve to be called up for England “in any way”, according to former Liverpool and Nottingham Forest striker Stan Collymore.
England head coach Thomas Tuchel made the controversial decision to bring Henderson back into the national team squad for this month’s World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia.
There were calls for the former Liverpool captain to be dropped from the squad following a transfer to Saudi Arabian outfit Al Ettifaq in July 2023 but Gareth Southgate kept him in the side.
That was until Euro 2024, when Henderson was dropped and deemed unlikely to ever play for his country again.
The 34-year-old currently plays for Ajax in the Dutch Eredivisie and has been a bit-part player this year, making his inclusion in Tuchel’s first squad all the more baffling.
The vast majority of England fans are against the call-up and in that camp is ex-Three Lions international Collymore.
The 54-year-old has criticised Tuchel for not moving away from “the old guard after Euro 2024”
Writing in his CaughtOffside column, Collymore said calling up Henderson for his “leadership skills” is “very patronising” as Tuchel already has lots of leaders in his squad.
“Jordan Henderson does not deserve England call-up in any way,” he began.
“From my perspective, there was an opportunity for England to completely move away from the old guard after Euro 2024, regardless of whoever came in to replace Gareth Southgate.
“Jordan Henderson is a great lad, and he has had a great career, but there is no way that he deserves to be in the England squad at this stage.
“If the suggestion is that he gets in because of his leadership skills, then that is very patronising. Jude Bellingham is a leader, Harry Kane is a leader, Jordan Pickford and Kyle Walker are leaders too, and Marcus Rashford can be also.
“Maybe Tuchel is being clever by thinking that he needs an older head in his dressing room because he has a lot of younger players, or maybe he actually believes that Henderson can be part of an England team that can win the World Cup.
“I would be very interested to hear whether readers believe this, and if not, then they should agree that he should not be included in Tuchel’s first squad.
“I think his inclusion sends the wrong message to players that have missed out on being included after playing very well, and this can lead to them deciding to turn their backs on England – it is dangerous.
“Tuchel must look to move away from players like Henderson, and the old guard in general.”