England U21 boss Stuart Pearce admits Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson was exhausted at the end of last season.
Henderson maintained his eye-catching start to the season when captaining England to a 6-0 thrashing of Azerbaijan on Thursday night, playing with dynamism and scoring a terrific goal in their qualifier for the 2013 European U21s Championship.
It was a performance, though, that was in stark contrast to the way he played during the Under 21 finals in June, when he failed to make an impact.
"He captained the side well," said U21s coach Pearce.
"He will be a great talent for the future. But we have to nurture everyone in this squad.
"The one thing that did affect him (in Denmark) was the season. A lot was said about Jack Wilshere and his condition.
"But Jordan Henderson was the one player that we realised at the end of the season was flat.
"He took the move to Liverpool in his stride. But he was physically on his knees come the summer, if I'm being quite honest, and that was the only distraction for him.
"I thought he had a decent tournament but come the last group game he ran out of gas."
