UK Edition
Jordan Henderson: I want to be England captain
The Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson, one of the contenders to succeed Wayne Rooney as England captain, says that the team’s aim must always be to win a World Cup.
The 27-year-old is back in the England squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Malta on Friday and Slovakia three days later after a long absence with injury that kept him out of action from February to the end of last season.
He has made a strong start this season with Liverpool and, speaking at St George’s Park on Tuesday, said that he hoped to be under consideration for the captaincy having had the armband against Slovenia and Spain last season.
“It’s a massive honour,” he said. “When Gareth [Southgate] gave me the opportunity to captain for the first time, in November, it was a huge honour for me and looking at Harry when he captained the squad, it was a huge honour for him. Joe [Hart] has done it, Gary [Cahill] has done it. There’s a lot of lads in the team that have done it and that can do it so, like I say, it’s totally down to the manager and what he feels is right for him and the team.”
He added: “As a team, that is what we want to achieve: to get to the World Cup, first and foremost, and then when we get there we want to do well. We will definitely think about it but at the end of the day, you have got to do the business in the next few game that we play to qualify. So it is a big couple of games for us but we will be prepared and ready come next summer for the World Cup.
“We have spoken together as a squad and the target is to be the No 1 team in the world, however long it takes, we don’t know. It is down to us as a team how far we want to go and how far we want to push ourselves. Hopefully we can do that sooner rather than later. I know it is going to take time, but I feel as though we have a great set of lads, a great set of players, a lot of talent, a lot of hard work goes into it.
“At the same time, we have not performed in the last few tournaments I have been to, definitely, and a lot more before that. We need to change something. First and foremost we have to get there and make sure we are there. Then the mentality has to change and we need to go and be better than we have been. Obviously we know the Euros was not good enough and the World Cup was disappointing. It is a big challenge but one I feel we are ready for.”
Henderson said that the injury that caused him so much trouble last season was a kick to the top of his foot and the “stress response” on one of his metatarsals. “The problem with the second metatarsal healed a little bit slower than normal. I tried to come back too quick at one point which set me back a little bit. It was tough to go through but I’m stronger for going through that and I feel good in myself.”