Jordan Henderson explained how Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers were persuaded to hand over free-kick duties for the midfielder to complete his brace against Bournemouth, while praising the defensive focus shown by his team-mates in Saturday’s big win.
It was a home debut to remember for Henderson as he made his bow at Stamford Bridge. Having swept in the opening goal inside two minutes, he teed up Rogers for our second moments later and completed the scoring in a 5-1 victory with a pinpoint free-kick.
There were also two goals by Joao Pedro as the Blues made an emphatic return to winning ways after the international break, capitalising on yet another fast start to the game as we took our earliest two-goal lead of the Premier League era.
‘It was a good day,’ said Henderson with a smile after the final whistle. ‘It was my home debut so it was a big day for me.
‘So I was delighted to play here. It's been a while since my injury in the summer, so it was it was nice to be here at Stamford Bridge for the first time and play. We put on a good performance and got a good result, which is the main thing.
‘It was a very good start. We always say we want to start well, especially at home, which we did again. We started both halves really well, which is important, and got some good goals.
‘We've got the crowd behind us and it's important to start well, but then you need to be consistent throughout the game and that was the most important thing for me. I felt we were more solid throughout the game defensively, which gives us the platform to go on and score the goals.
‘Then it set us up for the rest of the game. I felt today the concentration, the focus, was very good for the majority of the game. When you do that you're just rewarded in the end.’
We continued our high-scoring start to the season with our attacking trio of Rogers, Palmer and Joao Pedro putting in another impressive performance. They drew praise from Henderson, but it was the work off the ball which was at the forefront of his mind.
‘They're fantastic players, with huge talent, of course,’ he continued. ‘What I was most pleased with today was the work we did and the defensive attitude without the ball.
‘That helps the team and that builds us, gives us a platform then, when we're defending as a team. When we win it back, they're so good on the transition. They can kill any team with the skill, the pace, the power, and they’re clinical in front of goal.
‘I know everyone will speak about the goals and that's what everyone wants to see, of course, but for me I thought they worked outstandingly hard for the team today and that's what I'm most impressed with.’
Henderson also explained how his younger team-mates were persuaded to step aside and hand him free-kick duties against Bournemouth, having worked on set-pieces with coach Austin MacPhee at Cobham during the international break.
It certainly paid off as he curled in what Xabi Alonso described as a ‘beauty’.
‘Some of the lads and Austin have a little bit of confidence in me, so when I have some confidence in me, I can step up and take it. But we've been working on it in training for the past week or two, to be fair, and I was pretty consistent.
‘Austin said: "Forget it, that's what we're doing”. Morgs wasn't too happy, but when we got there he said: "Go on then”. Cole said: "Which corner are we celebrating in when you score?!" So I said they wanted the right, then put it in, thankfully.
‘It was nice because it was something that we worked on in training and we executed it really well. So I was thankful for Cole and Morgs to let me have it.’