Most influential player

[Nineteenx]

I can think of five or six off the top of my head.. I think someone could put together a good video at the end of the season

Five or six very good passes with a bit of no look showboating thrown in for good measure that actually amount to nothing - What is very noticeable of the Hendo clips, is the speed, accuracy and how quickly up and down those medium to longer passes are, I did watch a clip side by side with that of some of Thiago's efforts, it's very clear the majority of his long to medium passes aren't nearly as accurate, or hit with the necessary backspin and are too flighty, whippy and in the air too long, he really hasn't got them down except for the very rare one

I think the clips also very clearly display (looks for Rollseyes emote) Hendo not really doing anything or contributing anything other than making sure everyone else is doing what they should be as Taskin suggests

[Taksin]

I think the clips also very clearly display (looks for Rollseyes emote) Hendo not really doing anything or contributing anything other than making sure everyone else is doing what they should be as Taskin suggests

I didn't say that's all he does..

I did also have him as 5th in influence, with Thiago not making the list.. but carry on

[Nineteenx]

I didn't say that's all he does..

I did also have him as 5th in influence, with Thiago not making the list.. but carry on

My bad then I thought that's what you meant by this

So much of what he does is oriented to making everyone else work properly. That in itself is a strange phenomenon - that for the team to play well, one player in the middle of the park has to be shaping things for everyone else.

[Taksin]

My bad then I thought that's what you meant by this

'So much of what he does', yes.. he also weighs in with important balls and the odd goal

Most of his passing is very simple though

[CCTV]

Van Djik is my second choice because the coherence of the defence and the coherence of the whole team are directly related. And the moral spirit of the team is perhaps even more important (if they can be separated). As 19x says, Henderson does seem to have a similar effect on the whole team.

What it boils down to for me is that if we have a midfield without Hendo or a defence without Van Djik, I am still expecting the team to be able to function to a very high level without them. When TAA is out, I am expecting us to lose a larger portion of our incisiveness. That right foot is magic.

Although we are building a team that functions all over the pitch, at all times, in a coordinated manner, what is coming from that corner of the field is the icing on the cake. Without the icing, the whole cake looks a bit dry. Those long balls have become fundamental to our style and the range of passing from TAA is very consistent- hence the high assists rate.

I accept that Van Djik would probably win in a poll but it says something that I am now looking at the 23 yr old as potentially more important.

Paragraph one applies for many players as I see it, certainly so with Robbo.

In PL and CL there's very little between them this year for goals and assists, in recent times its Robbo to the fore.
Trent has a great right foot, but Robbo is a machine. Presses like a madman, runs like a madman and is better defensively.

With our keeper and back 4, I think they are undoubtedly the best group going in club football, and it's pretty hard to make a case for others above them.

[CCTV]

My bad then I thought that's what you meant by this

He's a Roy Keane, not a Zidane

[scientificred]

At ground level everything is different. The heat or the cold, the sound of people breathing and shouting, the dips in the ground, the cut of the grass, the softness of the turf, the shouts from the bench and the crowd, the sense of space and the sense of pace, the sense of distance, the mood of different players close or distant, a player's own sense of fitness and of others around. Watch from afar and have fun but you can not get close to why things happen the way they do. It is different down there.

[Nineteenx]

'So much of what he does', yes.. he also weighs in with important balls and the odd goal

Most of his passing is very simple though

He is the leading midfielder for forward passing according to the recent BT mini documentary by Ferdinand, quite a lot of the medium to longer passes and switches he produces are the type of passes that were Thiago or De Bruyne to produce, which neither do as they are both actually far less accomplished at those particular type of passes than Hendo, everyone would be waxing lyrical about.

I think this reverts back to the patterns, there are a couple of examples of it in the footage posted, but it's a regular occurrence in our games, one of the things he does with the more simple passing, that almost all our fans seem to be entirely oblivious to, is he uses it together with his simple but devastatingly effective movement, especially between Mo and himself, to move opposition players around and create/build up to a moment when he can release Trent wide to deliver or play the ball back to Trent arriving in the space he and Mo have created to cross towards the 2 players we have arriving the other side of the penalty spot to assist

He also uses it to set up for Mo, Mane, Jota or Diaz to be making a run in behind he can connect or go back to Virgil for one of his trademark long balls with 2 runs in behind to choose from and with our other players set to win any second ball

[Nineteenx]

He's a Roy Keane, not a Zidane

Keane never had anything like Hendo's ability with the ball, not even close, even Fab's probably better than Keane and he sucks Hendo's medium to long passing is world class, that's not even in question, there are many highly rated midfielders who everyone fawns over who are better at different types of passing and whose technique looks more sexy for the likes of Steveo, but I can't think of one of them who is on Hendo's level and consistency with the medium to long passes

[CCTV]

Keane never had anything like Hendo's ability with the ball, not even close, even Fab's probably better than Keane and he sucks Hendo's medium to long passing is world class, that's not even in question, there are many highly rated midfielders who everyone fawns over who are better at different types of passing and whose technique looks more sexy for the likes of Steveo, but I can't think of one of them who is on Hendo's level and consistency with the medium to long passes

Maybe in the future there will be a more technically gifted midfielder than Hendo

Keane -
Played 575
Scored 70
Assisted 42

Hendo -
Played 527
Scored 39
Assisted 70