Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson wins captains’ duel with Jonjo Shelvey

What is talent? There is a tendency to prioritise what looks good over what works, to be wowed by a player with grace rather than somebody effective, to rave about a footballer who can swoop by another with a sway of the hips or in a blur of feet, or who can caress a shot into the top corner, and to be slightly dismissive of those whose game seems based on graft, who have through dedication and focus made the most of their gifts.

At which, enter two exhibits, the two captains at St James’ Park: Newcastle’s Jonjo Shelvey and Jordan Henderson of Liverpool. They arrived at Anfield a year apart, Shelvey as a highly rated 18-year-old who had already amassed 42 league games for Charlton, Henderson as a 20-year-old worth £16m. There was a time when they represented a possible future for the centre of the Liverpool midfield: both scored in a 4-1 win over Chelsea in May 2012, in what turned out to be Kenny Dalglish’s last home game as manager.

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At that point, Shelvey was arguably the better prospect. He had a grace and a poise, a right foot capable of delicious passes. Henderson was a trier who, as Alex Ferguson noted, had a slightly odd way of running. That he happened to be an excellent crosser of the ball had largely been forgotten after Steve Bruce had moved him from the right into the centre of midfield. It was Shelvey who appeared the more talented.

But then talent can take many forms. In 2013 the former England cricket captain Mike Atherton wrote a column on the retirement of Mark Ramprakash. It wasn’t hard to detect a slight note of irritation as he discussed how “talented” Ramprakash was perceived to be. “If [talent],” he wrote, “is generally