Van Dijk: We all truly respect Hendo as a leader

Virgil Van Dijk has given high praise to the performances of Jordan Henderson saying that the squad respects him at every level.

Henderson has been a lightning rod for debate among Liverpool fans virtually since he joined the club from Sunderland in the summer of 2011 for around £20 million.

He was viewed as Steven Gerrard’s long term successor, but as anyone who has been around a professional sporting team will tell you, it is virtually impossible to fill the identical role of a talismanic figure like Gerrard. 

It was even tougher for Henderson when he was handed the armband as the team was suffering a long malaise from the title heartbreak from 2014 as well as suffering from a range of injuries and inconsistent form himself.

However he had a clear supporter in Jürgen Klopp who despite all the outside noise, stood by his captain through thick and thin.

And he has been rewarded with Henderson maturing into the role season upon season and arguably has not played better than he has done in the past year

Van Dijk who was viewed by many as a captain-in-waiting when he joined from Southhampton, was glowing in tribute for the 29 year-old’s consistent performances as The Mirror reported:

“ He’s our captain. That’s what we all respect. He’s having a fantastic season so far.

“He’s been doing fantastically whether he’s filling in for Fabinho at the moment or he’s playing as a right midfielder where he’s giving assists and stuff.

“He has been fantastic, in and out of the pitch he is very important for us whether he plays or not. 

“We are all respect him on that level.”

Van Dijk says the ability of Henderson to block out the outside noise is one of his true assets, as is his adaptability.

"I think from him that is also the most important thing.

"When other people say negative things it doesn’t really matter.

“He was outstanding when he played centre half. I was really proud of him. 

“I told him after the game. 

“He has got a lot more respect for what we do in the back as well.

“It’s not easy and I know sometimes we make it look a bit easy but it’s difficult."

Van Dijk also discussed the magnitude of claiming the Club World Cup with victory over Flamengo on Saturday evening.

“Obviously it’s something special. 

“We are the first Liverpool team that have won it so we can be very proud of that and hopefully more to come.

“To be out there, to start a tournament you want to finish as the winner and that’s what we did. We are very happy about that.

“We had Flamengo fans next to our hotel and they were partying the whole time as well. We had already a feeling I know how big Flamengo is as a club.

"We knew Brazil was living for them to win this. 

“So I enjoyed the atmosphere, I enjoyed the passion they had and their team made it tough for us.”