Manchester United goalkeeper holds great season.
Tuesday. Dean Henderson takes a punch from Gabriel Jesus, a few seconds pass, and Bramall Lane explodes with a chant: “The first number of the England team, the first number of the England team!
Yes, Manchester City ultimately defeated Sheffield United 1-0 thanks to a goal by Sergio Aguero in the second half, but Henderson, leased from Manchester United, played a crucial role in keeping the score equal to the last 20 minutes.
Henderson, who played for Carlisle until he turned 14 before moving to Old Trafford, also made great saves after being hit by Rahim Sterling and Nicholas Otamendi - it’s even a pity that he did not play for zero.
But in general, Dean’s game only increased his chances of getting into England’s bid for Liverpool’s summer championship.
From the blunders in a match with Liverpool to a model of reliability So impressive was Sheffield United's unexpected success this season, as beautiful was Henderson’s path from Premier League rookie to challenger for England.. But on this way there were a couple of stones.
An important moment happened in September in a match against Liverpool. “Blades” went to an unexpected draw against the leaders of the Premier League, until Dean missed a weak blow between the legs of Jorginho Veinaldum, who became the only goal in the match.
Sheffield United coach Chris Wilder’s response was rather rude: “If he wants to play for top clubs and England, then he should be better, he should concentrate more. I'm not going to strangle Dean, but he just has to be better. "
Later, in response to a question from the Air Force about whether this moment helped Henderson to grow to the current level, Wyder said: " Sometimes you need a fly in the ointment, and he had it that day. "
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Behind 26 Premier League rounds, Henderson scores nine dry fights. By this indicator, he shares second place with Nick Pope of Burnley and Casper Schmeichel (Leicester). Ahead - only Alisson Becker, who with Liverpool's reinforced concrete defense 10 times kept the gate locked.
Dean's progress did not surprise Wilder. The only thing that surprises him is why he is not considered an unconditional contender for the number one post in the England team..
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" This guy has a great future.. The match against Man City was a big event for him and for us as a football club. "
What is compared to other goalkeepers?
Jordan Pickford is the first number of the “three lions” for a little over two years and behind him is the beautiful 2018 World Cup, where Everton's goalkeeper helped the team reach the semifinals.
However, Pickford approaches ambiguously for Euro 2020. Questions about his place at the base of the England team began to arise back in March last year after a series of not-so-good performances for “toffee,” which continued at the start of this campaign..
Jordan conceded 38 goals in 26 games this season, six times playing for zero. By comparison, Henderson only missed 21 in 25 games..
Dean's statistics also look good against another competitor, Nick Pope of Burnley.. “Burgundy” is often praised for organized defense, but this season is not easy for them - during the campaign there were periods when the team was dangerously close to the relegation zone. Pope missed 39 in 26 games with the same nine “wedge-shields”.
In terms of goals conceded, Henderson is superior to both Pickford and Pope.. However, England's coaching staff favors goalkeeper Everton because of his kicking - and this seems to be an area where Dean is having difficulty.
The accuracy of Henderson's passes in the current submarine is 34.3% - less than that of Pope (37.5%) and much less than that of Pickford (56.3%).
Another England candidate, Tom Heaton from Aston Villa, will miss the rest of the season due to a serious injury, and it is unlikely that anyone will consider his inclusion in the Euro 2020 application.. And Ben Foster, who could also claim a place in the “three lions” application, has not played for the national team for seven years.
In October last year, Dean was called to the England team for the qualifiers for Euro 2020 just in place of the injured Heaton. However, he still did not make his debut for England, finding himself only in reserve for matches against the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Kosovo.
Can Henderson drive David De Gea out of Manchester United?
Henderson's uniform is good news not only for England, but also potentially for Manchester United.
Compared to De Gea, the young goalkeeper has a better percentage of saves this season - 75% compared to 69% for David.
But again, Dean fails the accuracy of his passes with his feet - at De Gea it reaches 72.7%.
Henderson can be seen as a reliable reservist and, in the long run, De Gea’s successor.
However, Chris Wilder hopes that Henderson, who has made such progress, will remain in Sheffield United after this season..
" It would be great if he stayed with us for another year - we have already begun negotiations with Manchester United about this "
Gary Rose, BBC.