Jordan Henderson, MBE: World Club Cup, European Cup, European Super Cup, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup & Charity Shield Winning Captain of Liverpool (and massive sellout)

[El Rojo]

Leaving aside the usual brilliance of Salah and Firmino, Henderson and Milner were absolutely colossal for us on Tuesday. This can't be stated enough. The body language of Nainggolan, Strootman and De Rossi from early into the second half was a joy to behold. They just couldn't deal with the intensity.

[Guest]

https://twitter.com/BTLComps/status/989172140598595584?tfw_creator=GiveMeSport&tfw_site=GiveMeSport&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.givemesport.com%2F1301464-video-of-jordan-hendersons-performance-vs-roma-has-liverpool-fans-talking

[Hades]

After the game, Ruud Gullit made the point that Henderson always turns the wrong way when receiving the ball and this explains a lot of why we struggle to control games and build play through the middle. In Henderson's defence we're not set up to give the man in possession a lot of options beyond a passback or a long forward pass. Perhaps it explains the interest in Neves.

[dockers_strike]

I think Gullet is talking bollocks there.

[The Guest]

Henderson is a credit to the club and he showed it last night.

[Dicko]

He was excellent last night.

And was against City as well.

[dockers_strike]

The guy who sits next to me at Anfield keeps going on about Henderson not being a Liverpool type player. Mind you he used to call Coutinho Cortino. He will probably be going ape over this article as a number of his detractors here will. Some say he passes the ball back too much but that ignores the fact we are retaining possession and not pumping the ball aimlessly forward to no one in particular. Older one amongst us will remember the moaners on the standing Kop when we did this and people moaned. It also ingores the simple fact that all our players pass the ball backwards just the same.

 

There is absolutely no sign Klopp is going to change or replace his Captain anytime soon.

 

It is time to get off the Captains case and back him like Klopp does.

 

Along the corridor that leads towards Jurgen Klopp's office at Melwood, there is a sequence of significant pictures.

It's not unusual for images of club legends to be on display at the training ground but this particular gallery is different: the men who adorn these walls are those who set the standards. These walls are dedicated to Liverpool captains.

 

All the greats are there: Steven Gerrard (473 games as skipper), Emlyn Hughes (337), Alan Hansen (195), Graeme Souness and Phil Thompson (both 147). Perched alongside them at the end of the passageway is Jordan Henderson, who has now led Liverpool on 104 occasions. 

 

 

His critics will wonder how he has reached that figure. Being Liverpool captain should command instant respect - particularly so after leading the club to an eighth European Cup final - but there is still a proportion of fans who regard him as a pale imitation of those who went before.

 

'He's got something in his game that certain fans don't see,' explained Ronnie Whelan, who has his own spot on the corridor after wearing the armband 83 times. 'I know what it's like, as in my early days I had a lot of stick come my way. But if I was fit, I played. It's the same with Jordan.'

Shortly after Klopp arrived at Liverpool in October 2015, Henderson met his new manager. He was aware the German would have had his own views on the captaincy and was prepared to accept whatever decision Klopp made. A change, however, was never on the cards.

 

In the two and a half years that have followed, Henderson has become a hugely important figure for Liverpool. He plays in the same way as Whelan, doing the thankless tasks with supreme efficiency and never shirking a battle. 

 

The Englishman leads his team out for Wednesday's huge game against Roma on Wednesday

His influence off the field is arguably even more important.

 

Henderson is the main reason the dressing room has been harmonious all season. He glues the squad together, ensuring there are no cliques or division. Nobody is left isolated. Virgil van Dijk and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, for instance, credit him for helping them settle in so quickly.

Henderson has never forgotten how Gerrard and Jamie Carragher helped him when he arrived as a novice with a £16million price tag from Sunderland in 2011 and he has utilised that experience. Another story revolves around Mohamed Salah and the PFA Player of the Year awards.

 

The timing of the ceremony - a Sunday night, 48 hours before the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Roma - meant Klopp would not allow the squad to travel to London en masse. 

 

 

The 27-year-old midfielder is a hugely influential figure both on and off the pitch

655 

Touches by Henderson in the Champions League this season, more than any Liverpool player. 

He has also made the mosttackles (22) and interceptions (14) in Klopp's squad   

 

 

Salah was disappointed, but he sought out Klopp and insisted Henderson travel to London with him. The Egyptian's closest friends are Sadio Mane and Dejan Lovren but respect for his captain meant there was only one man he wanted alongside him.

It's moments such as these that resonate with Klopp.

 

Henderson, who celebrated Liverpool's progress to Kiev with a bottle of orange Fanta, is the conduit between the manager's office and the dressing room and the bond between the pair has arguably never been stronger. Klopp has complete trust in the 27-year-old and the same is true of Gareth Southgate. England's head coach advocates a leadership group in his squad and it is why he has rotated the captaincy.

 

But, as we creep closer to Russia, he will have watched Henderson's influence with interest.

Harry Kane might be England's one genuine world-class player but Henderson is precisely the kind of figure to keep harmony in the squad and ensure things run smoothly. This is a man devoid of ego, whose sole focus is relentless improvement. 

 

Henderson leads the way as the Liverpool players thanked their supporters after the game

'He suffers sometimes because he is not Steven Gerrard, but it's unfair to make that comparison because they are different players,' said Whelan.

'But they do compare in attitude, in putting the team first. And when you captain Liverpool, it's not about screaming and shouting. You are surrounded by good players, so you get the message across of, "Do as I do - I will lead, you follow".

 

'That is what I've seen from Jordan. He isn't captain because he is Klopp's favourite. He's captain because he's the right man for the job.'

He was the right man in Rome and he will be the right man in Kiev on May 26. And should he become the fifth Liverpool skipper to lift a European Cup, his place on the captains' corridor will be there forever more.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5688621/Liverpools-Jordan-Henderson-leader-men-pitch.html#ixzz5EWTraq7F
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[moof]

Hendo is boss. I don’t think anyone can deny he’s grown into the captaincy recently. I’d love nothing more than to see him lift number 6.

 

Obviously we need another top class midfielder in, but I can still see him playing in the majority of games next season - especially if he can stay injury free.

[3 Stacks]

I think Gullet is talking bollocks there.

 

Haha yeah, top midfielder doesn't know shit about a very specific aspect of playing midfield. Ok. Pundits usually talk shit when they speak generally and in cliches, but on technical things like this they know far more then you or me.

 

Especially you clearly, because that's been a very noticeable weakness in Henderson's game throughout his career. 

[janmolby]

Fuck that shit with Herpes? 

[dockers_strike]

Haha yeah, top midfielder doesn't know shit about a very specific aspect of playing midfield. Ok. Pundits usually talk shit when they speak generally and in cliches, but on technical things like this they know far more then you or me.

 

Especially you clearly, because that's been a very noticeable weakness in Henderson's game throughout his career. 

 

Haha. You clearly have not got a clue. Tell me how successful as a manager this top midfielder Gullit was.

[Captain]

Haha. You clearly have not got a clue. Tell me how successful as a manager this top midfielder Gullit was.

More successful than you?

[Bamo]

Some other "expert" reckoned he has a funny gait, doesn't stop him being A very good player, not world class at anything but crucial because he's very good at most things

[TheHowieLama]

Haha. You clearly have not got a clue. Tell me how successful as a manager this top midfielder Gullit was.

 

He won the FA Cup if that helps

[G Richards]

His fitness has been the issue for a couple of years. When fit he is well worth his place in the side. Not every player has stardust in their boots, and only a few are able to keep grabbing the headlines. But if you know, you know, and Henderson is a good player. We need more in the midfield and it’s on the way, but credit where it is due for our Captain, who had led this side to a CL final.

 

The article did well to point out the harmony Henderson helps to create in the camp. Some previous captains have been the best player on the pitch. That’s not Henderson. His role is to do what the manager asks him to do, and as he goes about his business he helps to make the whole team better.

[The Woolster]

Yep, I stopped slagging him off as soon as I noticed this.

 

He's doing something off the ball that we aren't clever enough to notice, but obviously Klopp is.

Because on the ball all I ever see is passive passes, but like you said, when he's on the pitch we play better.

 

I believe the same is true for Gini as well, we take more shots, concede less shots, and have a better goal difference when Gini is on the pitch. At least we did a couple of months back anyway

[dockers_strike]

He won the FA Cup if that helps

 

Oh 6 games from greatness then. Did you forget the Rudi Rudi whats the score chant. I love it how posters like 3 Stacks et al get out of their tree because one expresses an opinion but whatever. I still think he is talking bollocks and I prefer to go with Klopps judgement rather than a 1 time FA Cup winning manager.

[G Richards]

Gullit is entitled to his view, and obviously he is more qualified than most. But Klopp’s view on Henderson is the one that ultimately matters.

[TheHowieLama]

Well there is the chance, albeit a slight one, that Klopp may also understand and accept Jordan's limitations on the ball -- which maybe why he is encouraged to get it off his foot quickly, without trying to do to much.

[dockers_strike]

Well there is the chance, albeit a slight one, that Klopp may also understand and accept Jordan's limitations on the ball -- which maybe why he is encouraged to get it off his foot quickly, without trying to do to much.

 

That is laughable.

[G Richards]

Exactly. Klopp knows what he wants Henderson to do. If Henderson isn’t doing it, I don’t see how he stays in the team.

[G Richards]

PS - I’m not downgrading Henderson, but someone used the phrase ‘water carrier’ a while ago. It may have been Cantona speaking about Deschamps.

 

Anyway, the point being, it’s all about creating a team. I think Shanks said it best with the quip about carrying a piano.

[3 Stacks]

Haha. You clearly have not got a clue. Tell me how successful as a manager this top midfielder Gullit was.

 

A former top midfielder is commenting on a current midfielder's technique. Management has nothing to do with it. I'm not saying Henderson has no qualities, I'm saying Henderson is bad at turning with the ball, a very observable weakness that Gullit has correctly underlined.

 

Stop getting mad every time someone criticizes a Liverpool player. It's embarrassing. 

[scudger99]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and Henderson, Lovren and Karius to name but 3 seem to attract divisive opinions the most.  Yet for all those 3 are supposedly holding us back and we need to get rid (according to many on here), Klopp disagrees and has just watched his team with those 3 in it beat fuck out of some of Europe's finest en route to the Champions League final.

Yeah there are better players out there in each of their respective positions, but Klopp has proved repeatedly in his career that he know how to build a team that wins things.

No player is perfect, yet plenty on here prefer to focus on the weaknesses of players rather than their strengths and what they bring to the team.

I can understand why Klopp despairs of that attitude, especially when he hears it from the crowd on match days. 

Still, each to their own.  I'd like to think that nobody would be cunt enough to be resentful if Henderson got to lift that trophy in Kiev, but fuck all would surprise me.

[dockers_strike]

A former top midfielder is commenting on a current midfielder's technique. Management has nothing to do with it. I'm not saying Henderson has no qualities, I'm saying Henderson is bad at turning with the ball, a very observable weakness that Gullit has correctly underlined.

 

Stop getting mad every time someone criticizes a Liverpool player. It's embarrassing. 

 

I am saying I trust the judgement of our manager rather than an albeit excellent ex player who won the sum of 1 FA Cup.

 

It is laughable you say stop getting mad everytime some one critises a Liverpool player when you criticise every comment you do not like. There is only one mad person here and it aint me. Why are you trying to turn it personal into challenging something you have said. My comments are directed to Gullits comments. Then you jumped in to which I replied. But whatever. I have noticed that is your MO.