British media give Jordan Henderson striking assessment after Chelsea debut

Jordan Henderson endured a miserable official debut for Chelsea. The former Ajax midfielder started against his old club Brentford on Friday night but could not stop a painful 3-0 defeat. The English media were far from kind to the 36-year-old afterwards.

Having recovered from the wrist injury he suffered during the World Cup, Henderson was handed his first Chelsea start by coach Xabi Alonso. He played as the deepest-lying midfielder in a block of two and Brentford supporters, where he was still under contract last season, booed virtually every touch.

According to Evening Standard, Henderson barely managed to quicken Chelsea's play. "It was all far too sluggish," the newspaper writes. He was supposed to provide balance as the holding midfielder, but the outlet felt there was a clear lack of sharpness and penetration in his passing. That earned him a rating of 4.

Meanwhile, The Sun also gave Henderson a 4. The newspaper saw the veteran link a number of simple moves, but said his passing too often went sideways or backwards. His set-pieces were also unconvincing.

Things went badly wrong for Brentford's second goal. Henderson lost possession and Mikkel Damsgaard sent Kevin Schade through. Goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez still kept out his effort, but Igor Thiago reacted sharply and turned in the rebound. According to The Sun, that left Henderson clearly responsible for the decisive 2-0.

Brentford's fans clearly enjoyed the moment and immediately turned their chants towards their former player. "Jordan, Jordan, what's the score?" came from the stands.

Another notable detail was that former Ajax player Jorrel Hato remained on the bench for the entire match.