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Liverpool will come up against former captain Jordan Henderson later this season, after the midfielder made a return to the Premier League with Brentford. That's presumably all part of his plan to maximize his chances of featuring at next year's World Cup.
With Thomas Tuchel at the helm, Henderson has so far had little to worry about on that front. The new England manager named the then-Ajax midfielder to his first ever camp back in March, citing his vast experience — which looks likely to be his ticket into the 2026 squad.
Despite angering a lot of the Liverpool faithful by moving to Saudi Arabia, Henderson can no doubt count on the well-wishes of most of his former fans in his bid to make it to one last major tournament. But not everyone is thrilled to see him back in the England picture, especially with former U21 stars like Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott struggling to forge a pathway into the senior team.
Elliott will hope that his deadline day move to Aston Villa will help him to finally earn a first senior cap. Jones has managed to make it to six appearances for the national side, but has not found a place in Tuchel's latest squad.
And former Liverpool player Emile Heskey believes that Henderson is blocking the pathway for players in this kind of position. He thinks that it all feeds into a long-standing England problem.
"Looking at Henderson, he has experience, but maybe he is blocking the way for youngsters who can be given a chance to play and make an England first team appearance," Heskey told the Daily Star and William Hill. "So it is a challenge Tuchel has to get the players to replicate their club form and as a group of players, perform with freedom and express themselves.
"I think Tuchel has the same problem other England managers have faced. You have a group of highly talented players, but it’s then getting them to put their club form into performing for their country."
It feels like Heskey is describing two separate issues. But it's true that any manager of a major country will always face the dual challenges of picking the best players from a very talented pool, and translating players' club form into a cohesive national setup.
Arguably, continuity is the best way of achieving the latter goal, allowing a tight-knit group of players to learn and grow together. But that runs the risk of stagnation, and overlooking players who have clearly done enough to earn a chance.
There is a feeling that Henderson's inclusion probably falls on the wrong side of that particular balancing act. England is stacked with talent in midfield, and the 35-year-old's place is hard to justify on merit.
Heskey, of course, knows all about trouble trying to get England players to play well together for the national side. He had a front-row seat as the golden generation failed to win anything.
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Indeed, though he has been unfairly turned into a figure of fun in the intervening years, he was absolutely a part of that generation. He made 62 appearances for England between 1999 and 2010, earning the respect of successive managers.
Heskey's spell at Liverpool is also often unfairly criticized. He managed to rack up 150 Premier League appearances and 39 goals; while he won't be remembered as one of the all-time greats, he was nonetheless a great player, and one who enjoyed more success at Anfield than most people can dream of.
If nothing else, he certainly has the requisite credentials to try and diagnose some of England's long-standing problems. Not many have represented the country across three separate decades.
But as to the solution, that's a harder question. Whoever cracks the formula will go into England folklore.
And it has to be said that it is quite hard to see a world in which Henderson is the answer. Heskey will not be the first or last to cast doubt on Tuchel's selection, and it will be up to the former Liverpool captain to prove his many doubters wrong.
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