England boss Gareth Southgate has defended his decision to call up former Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson despite his move to Al-Ettifaq.
- Henderson called up for England
- Southgate wants midfielder to feature
- Talks about watching him in Saudi Arabia
WHAT HAPPENED? Southgate admitted that the Saudi Pro League doesn’t provide the same level of the competition as the top European leagues, the England manager will travel to check in on Henderson, who is in his team for the forthcoming games against Australia and Italy.
WHAT THEY SAID: Southgate said [via Daily Mail]: “His physical data is fine. The games are not at the same intensity as the games here. The heat is part of that. There are two or three drinks breaks per game, which is an indication of the climate, and that his having an impact on how teams play. It is a situation that we are tracking closely. I will go out and watch games.
“We will get to his games the same way we get everybody else’s. That’s a longer trip and in these first couple of months, we’ve felt it more important to see as many games live as we can, as quickly as possible, by getting around our country more.
“But as time moves on, we’ll get to more of the Milans, the Madrids and the Bayern Munichs, as well as out to see Hendo.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Henderson received a lot of flak for his move to Saudi Arabia due to the country’s poor treatment of LGBT+ people. The 33-year-old had previously shown significant support for the community during his time with Liverpool.
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IN TWO PHOTOS:
WHAT NEXT? Henderson has been called up for England’s friendly against Australia and their Euro qualifier against Italy on October 14 and 18 respectively.
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