After a few hugely ineffective displays for Newcastle United, I was interested to see how Jeff Hendrick got on in the Republic of Ireland’s friendly with England on Thursday night.
To many people’s surprise, the long-haired midfielder showed a few moments of quality early on – which saw him gain plenty of praise in the first half – however things soon went downhill after a poor piece of defending saw him beaten too easily for England’s second.
Here’s what we found on Twitter from Newcastle and Ireland fans watching England’s 3-0 win at Wembley:
First half comments
Why aren’t we seeing this Hendrick for Newcastle? He’s playing a blinder so far hasn’t put a foot wrong, pinging the ball about and showing himself to receive the ball! #NUFC #ENGIRL
Hendrick bossing the midfield so far. Plenty of encouraging signs, although the English bench is strong #ENGIRL
This is probably already Jeff Hendrick’s best game for Ireland since the Euros.
Only England could make Jeff Hendrick look like a Prime Pirlo ..
When Jeff Hendrick plays in his actual position and not out wide he’s actually a pretty decent player
Hendrick playing centrally with some great early touches for Ireland. Completely different player to what we’ve seen so far for #NUFC this season!
Jeff Hendrick has made more decisive passes in 10 minutes than all season with @nufc Could it have anything to do with the coaching?
How come Hendrick can play it forward for Ireland yet can’t do it for nufc? Mental
Hendrick already looks twice the player for Ireland than he does for #nufc
Is the Jeff Hendrick who’s playing for Ireland the same one that plays for Newcastle United?
Jeff Hendrick has been very good in our last few matches #ENGIRL #COYBIG
Unpopular opinion but Jeff Hendrick is class and so underrated #ENGIRL
Watching Jeff Hendrick spray audacious 50-yard passes against England really makes me wonder why he’s not doing this for Newcastle?! #NUFC
Only 20 minutes in but Jeff Hendrick has played well, nice range of distribution
You know you’re in trouble when Jeff Hendrick is your best player #ENGIRL
The mood on social media changed as the game went on, however…
Second half comments
What is the purpose of Jeff Hendrick ? Closed eye’s with his back to the ball while “defending” ! Schoolboy stuff . #ENGIRL #COYBIG
Mason Mount running rings around Jeff Hendrick… hope this isn’t a taste of things to come next Saturday
Hendrick is shocking like….a Premier League/International footballer that ball watches like a hungover Sunday league player
Unreal attempt to block the shot with his eyes closed, legs open and hands in the air by Hendrick there….. #ENGIRL
Some of the stick getting directed at Hendrick is a bit petty. Still think it’s Bruce’s fault he isn’t finding form. Being played out of position and probably would benefit from being benched for a few weeks
Feels perfectly normal for me seeing Jeff Hendrick be absolutely invisible in midfield
At the very least, the majority of Irish fans don’t have to watch Jeff Hendrick every single week… Count your blessings.
Jeff Hendrick. The only similarity between him and Jack Grealish is a hairband #ENGIRL
Good to see Hendrick bringing his club form into the national team…Underhit passes all over the place #nufc
Jeff Hendrick is the weak link, he is incapable of making a pass to another white shirt. #ENGIRL
Although he started with a few smart passes, Ireland fans weren’t too impressed by his defending for England’s second goal and it soon went downhill from there.
As you can see below, he got nowhere near Jordan Sancho and saw the ball go through his legs and in as the Borussia Dortmund star made it 2-0 in the first half:
Roy Keane wasn’t impressed by Hendrick’s role in the goal, either, having this to say on ITV at the break:
“Jeff Hendrick has got to get tighter.
“There’s no excuse, there’s bodies around him, he’s in the box, Jeff has to close down.
“This idea that at this level that players can be two or three yards off a dangerous player like that, it’s not good enough, he has to get tighter.”
If he starts against Chelsea next weekend, hopefully we see the Jeff Hendrick who started well in this one – not the one who was beaten too easily for our second and got worse as the game went on!
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