RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Losing Jordan Henderson is EMBARRASSING for the Saudis

Before we get to Saudi Arabia and Jordan Henderson, let’s talk about other big fish and the volatile nature of food chains. I’m thinking of a striking-looking creature called the zander. In appearance, they’re pretty similar to pike, with a mouth fronted by two vampire fangs, and they’ve generated debate around our waterways since long before Henderson was born.

For some reason they came up in conversation with an angler friend last year. The point here is they are non-native to Britain, but more than a century ago they were introduced to a few canals and caused a bit of havoc — roach, gudgeon and the like all found that life was harder when the zander moved in.

The zander, rather like Saudi Arabia in football’s ecosystem, became a problem and then a question: how do you stop these scary mother******* (copyright Phil Mickelson) from taking over?

Well, the Canal and River Trust had an idea and so they started zapping the canals with electric poles and when a stunned zander arrived at the surface, it would be scooped out. I suppose that is one way of preserving the old order, but here’s the issue — they couldn’t possibly get to all the zander quicker than they reproduced. And so they are here to stay, just as the Saudis are in football. But both now know what it is to absorb a zapping, because even predators can have a bad day. Even hunters can be hunted.

It’s natural to view the Henderson situation through the Henderson lens. To focus on the cost to his reputation when he accepted a mountain of cash to look in different directions. But the 33-year-old’s departure this week for Ajax, so urgent in his eyes that he abandoned the loot after just six months, is as bad a look for those he has left behind as it is for him.

It is