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)

[polymerpunkah]

Dennis Tooth, you mad mad bastard.

 

[Daisy]

New contract agreed 

[Sugar Ape]

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson is expected to end the uncertainty surrounding his future after striking an agreement in principle to sign a new long-term contract with the Anfield club.

 

The Athletic revealed in July that talks between the two parties were not progressing, raising the possibility of Henderson leaving before his current deal ends in the summer of 2023. But dialogue continued and then advanced significantly when the 31-year-old England midfielder returned from a post-Euro 2020 holiday earlier this month.

 

Liverpool proposed an improved deal spanning three years with the option of a fourth contingent on how many appearances he makes. Henderson has not yet put pen to paper but that is the direction of travel and will come as a huge boost to the 19-time English champions and their supporters.

 

Manager Jurgen Klopp is understood to have played a pivotal role in turning around a complicated and sensitive situation, which nobody involved wanted to have a detrimental impact on the squad.

 

“It is important but it will happen,” the German explained about the process in a news conference on Friday. “We will sort it, however it will be. We will sort it. No doubt about that. It will get sorted.”

 

Klopp was determined to avoid a repeat of what happened with Georginio Wijnaldum, whose recent move to Paris Saint-Germain was a result of unsuccessful negotiations to renew his terms. PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino also admires Henderson while Atletico Madrid and Roma have been linked too. If Liverpool’s owner Fenway Sports Group (FSG) gave an impression they might countenance his exit, such suitors may retain an interest regardless of a new contract.

 

The Henderson impasse was not about money, rather his role in the team and how FSG view him going forward. The Sunderland youth product believes he can continue to shine in a way that inspired Liverpool to Champions League glory in 2019 and the Premier League crown a year later.

 

Henderson’s impact is underlined by statistics — Liverpool perform better with him in the line-up than without — and he did not wish to be retained by FSG if that was only for his leadership skills. The groin injury that disrupted his 2020-21 campaign was overcome as Henderson helped England to the European Championship final and although he was not included in Liverpool’s squad for the 3-0 win at Norwich City on Saturday, it is hoped he will be in contention for Burnley’s visit next weekend.

 

Henderson excelled in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Aston Villa at Anfield yesterday, alongside Thiago Alcantara and others who were in need of some extra minutes on the pitch.

 

He is said to have conducted himself impeccably throughout and is now on track to join Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho and Alisson in extending their careers on Merseyside over the past fortnight.

[Pete]

Good stuff.  He should celebrate in May in front of a packed Anfield and another shiny Premier league trophy. 

[TD_LFC]

So the club get the 1 year they wanted with the second year protected against injury, Henderson get's the 2 years, injuries permitting, and the optional year taken out of the clubs hands (to an extent).

 

[dockers_strike]

1 hour ago, TD_LFC said:

So the club get the 1 year they wanted with the second year protected against injury, Henderson get's the 2 years, injuries permitting, and the optional year taken out of the clubs hands (to an extent).

 

It's 2 years with an optional 3rd based on appearances in the previous 2, I read it as?

 

It's a good compromise in my opinion. I dont subscribe to the view by some that Hendo is 'injury prone.' Last season and even the re started 2019/20 were outliers.

 

People complain our players are played to death yet if they dont play a minimum 38 PL games and others, they arent fit to play.

[TD_LFC]

2 minutes ago, dockers_strike said:

It's 2 years with an optional 3rd based on appearances in the previous 2, I read it as?

 

It's a good compromise in my opinion. I dont subscribe to the view by some that Hendo is 'injury prone.' Last season and even the re started 2019/20 were outliers.

 

People complain our players are played to death yet if they dont play a minimum 38 PL games and others, they arent fit to play.

I read it as 3 years with a 4th optional but given he's already under contract for 2 years I'm  looking at the 'new' years hence the 1 +1.

 

Probably wrong though.

[dockers_strike]

24 minutes ago, TD_LFC said:

I read it as 3 years with a 4th optional but given he's already under contract for 2 years I'm  looking at the 'new' years hence the 1 +1.

 

Probably wrong though.

Ah right. No, I think I got it wrong. It's supposedly 3 years with a 4th depending on appearances. Good news, at least it's been offered and hopefully he signs!

[Dr Nowt]

Hopefully the optional 1 year then becomes recurring, if he triggers it. Think he’d be 34/35 by the end of this contract wouldn’t he. That Milner role in the squad is invaluable.

[TD_LFC]

1 minute ago, Dr Nowt said:

Hopefully the optional 1 year then becomes recurring, if he triggers it. Think he’d be 34/35 by the end of this contract wouldn’t he. That Milner role in the squad is invaluable.

Never understood the criticism at the time the story broke, Utd rarely dished out massive contracts post 30, same with Arsenal. Giggs was on a rolling 1 year deal for the last 3 or 4 years he was at Utd.

[Barrington Womble]

3 hours ago, TD_LFC said:

I read it as 3 years with a 4th optional but given he's already under contract for 2 years I'm  looking at the 'new' years hence the 1 +1.

 

Probably wrong though.

it seems pretty reasonable to me - gives him effectively one more year than he has now, the 4th is dependent on him playing 23/24 and if he does, he gets 24/25 - by which time if he's still going surely a year by year signed after the midseason point is the fair answer there. 

[Antynwa]

Just give him whatever he wants plus another 10 years. He’s been integral to our success, and quite frankly I don’t want to live in a world where he doesn’t retire here 

[Bobby Hundreds]

Always under rated ready salted.

[Moo]

9 hours ago, dockers_strike said:

It's 2 years with an optional 3rd based on appearances in the previous 2, I read it as?

 

It's a good compromise in my opinion. I dont subscribe to the view by some that Hendo is 'injury prone.' Last season and even the re started 2019/20 were outliers.

 

People complain our players are played to death yet if they dont play a minimum 38 PL games and others, they arent fit to play.

It depends on your definition of injury prone but over the last 5 years he's averaged around 23 league starts.  It's not bad, he's not a sicknote, but he does miss a significant amount of games.

[m0e]

1 hour ago, Moo said:

It depends on your definition of injury prone but over the last 5 years he's averaged around 23 league starts.  It's not bad, he's not a sicknote, but he does miss a significant amount of games.

With rotation, that's probably closer to 30 that he's available for.

[Vincent Vega]

Nice interview with Hendo by Dominic King from the Mail on his 10 years at the club.

 

Jordan Henderson is looking forward to the future after he agreed a new contract with Liverpool but he has also been thinking about the past.

 

Earlier this summer, he celebrated a notable anniversary - 10 years since he moved to Anfield from Sunderland for £16million.

 

He is only the fifth man to reach a decade of service for Liverpool in the Premier League era and has made 392 club appearances - 196 of which have been as captain.

 

It has been a remarkable journey, filled with highs and lows, and Henderson has picked one picture from each season to tell his story.
 

1. WINNING THE LEAGUE CUP (FEB 26, 2012)

That’s the reason you come here, isn’t it? It’s all about winning trophies. If we had VAR back then, we might have the FA Cup, too! I played a lot of games but I didn’t have a great season. I had some good moments but my consistency levels weren’t great.

 

I was trying to find my feet but I had a bit of a shock about the pressure. You were expected to win every game. I kind of knew it before I joined but you don’t really understand it until you get there. You see what it means to the people, how passionate they are.

 

Lose a few games and it’s the end of the world. When you aren’t playing well, they let you know. I had to adjust to that. The hardest moment was losing the FA Cup final (2-1 to Chelsea). We didn’t do well in the league, either, finishing eighth. The trophy was good but it wasn’t easy.

 

2. EUROPA LEAGUE GOAL V UDINESE (DEC 6, 2012)

It wasn’t a great game but the importance of it was huge for me. I scored the only goal and we got into the knockout stages. The thing about it was, if it had been down to the club I wouldn’t have even been there to score it.

 

The club wanted to sell me as part of a deal to get Clint Dempsey from Fulham. I didn’t want to go but I knew, from that point, I wasn’t going to play much. But I used the period to be better, stronger, fitter. I knew I had to be ready if a chance ever came.

 

Fulham was a big moment in my career but also an easy decision. I didn’t want to go. I had four years left on my deal and knew I had more to offer. I’d heard good things about Brendan Rodgers as a coach, so I wanted to see what he was like.

 

Brendan was great because he used to bring me in his office and tell me what he needed. His sessions were brilliant and he was the first manager to make me think about things tactically. I didn’t start a Premier League game for him for four months but that period of time was crucial.
 

3. GOAL V TOTTENHAM IN 5-0 WIN (DEC 15, 2013)

I suffered a lot in my first two years but I always knew I had more to give. That summer, I did a lot of work to be ready for the new season. I played against Olympiacos in Steven Gerrard’s testimonial and scored. It set the tone, really.

 

That day at Tottenham was everything we were about. My consistency levels went through the roof and I ended up going to the World Cup. I felt so confident every game, playing with Stevie, Daniel Sturridge, Luis (Suarez), Raheem (Sterling). They gave me the confidence to perform.

 

We got so close [to winning the title]. I look back at my red card against Man City, being banned for three matches and the Crystal Palace game we drew 3-3 and things that didn’t go our way. Do I think of what might have been? I did until we won the title. Well, to be honest, I still do now. We deserved to win it.

 

4. THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD

I didn’t think Steven Gerrard was ever going to leave. He was flying that year (2015); he still had loads to offer. He was everything you expected him to be and more. I think Stevie appreciated that football was everything to me. 

He knew it was my life, so that made him want me to do well.

 

He wanted me to get rewards and I always felt that he had confidence in me. When it was tough, I still felt he believed in me even when other people didn’t.

 

I remember the day he told me he was leaving, in the gym at Melwood. It was a big shock. We had to deal with life without him. Suddenly I had gone from not playing to being vice-captain and then captain.
 

5. BEATING MAN UNITED IN THE EUROPA LEAGUE

The first Liverpool team to beat a Manchester United team in Europe. 
 

It’s a nice memory but it (2016) wasn’t a great year personally as I had a lot of injuries. I felt like I was out of the picture. We then went to the Euros and that ended badly against Iceland.

 

I could never get a rhythm and when I thought I was just about getting there, I got injured and missed the Europa League final. 

 

But it was the year the gaffer (Jurgen Klopp) came in and got us to two cup finals, which was brilliant even though we lost them both.

 

6. GOAL V CHELSEA (SEP 16, 2016)  

After the Europa League final defeat by Sevilla, I asked Jurgen: ‘Am I in your plans?’. I needed a bit of reassurance as my confidence levels were not so good. I just wondered if he wanted me.

 

Thankfully, he said he did and he said I was going to be an important part. I came back after the Euros ready to rock and roll. There is always an element of needing to prove yourself at Liverpool, it doesn’t matter how long you have been there.

 

I didn’t feel he had seen the best of me and I had to show him. He believed in me to play that role and that performance gave me a lot of confidence to go forward. The goal at Chelsea was big, so was the win. It put us back on the road to finish in the top four.
 

7. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL (MAY 26, 2018)

To get to a Champions League final was huge for us, it showed the progression we had made from the year before. I still can’t really look at this picture. I’ve never watched the game back. It was hard enough going through it in real time.

 

I remember bits of the game against Real Madrid; I know we started well. But it was just about key moments going against us. The performance wasn’t really that bad and, on another day, we come away with the trophy. I think we had to go through that pain to help us move forward.

 

Walking out as Liverpool captain in a Champions League final is a huge honour but what does it mean when you lose? Nobody remembers you losing in a final. I still felt confident there would be good things to come but I was asking myself: ‘How long have I got to wait?’

 

8. REACHING THE SUMMIT (JUN 1, 2019)

Beating Spurs in the final a year after the Real Madrid defeat was the best feeling in football I have had - and it was all down to Jurgen. 
 

Before he came, I remember watching Real Madrid v Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-final in 2013. We had gone to Madrid for a trip, as a group, to do something as Jamie Carragher was retiring.

 

We had tickets for the Bernabeu and I remember watching Dortmund and thinking: ‘They are absolutely unreal.’ I remember Jurgen being on the sidelines, with all that energy. I looked at it and thought: ‘Yes please! This is how I want to play — all that pressing, the counter-pressing, the tempo.’

I loved everything about it, so when I heard he was coming, I was so excited. I felt he was going to be the perfect manager for me but I could never show him early on. It took time to understand what he wanted. 

 

He always explained: you need to train for a good period to get used to me. I was like a sponge, listening to everything he said. He has taken me to another level all together. That night was everything. That moment, the two of us right there, was the best.

 

Jurgen knew he could take us there, that’s what the journey was about. You talk about the players here and everything but he showed us the way and we followed him. Without him, we don’t win the Champions League. That hug was just a special moment. It was my way of saying thank you.
 

9. LEAGUE CHAMPIONS (JULY 22, 2020)

When I came to Liverpool, I had one dream: to win the Premier League. That was what it was all about. When I learned they wanted to sign me, I thought we might have a chance. We got close in 2014 but I didn’t fully appreciate what we had got close to back then.

 

That 12 months was incredible: Champions League, Super Cup, Club World Cup. I just wish the stadium had been full the night we did this. The fans deserved to be there for everything we had gone through. But, at the same time, I’m just very grateful that we got the chance to win it and lift it.

 

The empty stadium didn’t take away from the sense of achievement. We have had a spell where the consistency was just off the charts and it took a global pandemic to slow us down.

 

10. INJURY NIGHTMARE (FEB, 20, 2021)

Stopped in my tracks that night [against Everton], wasn’t I? What a mad season. I never thought I’d be a centre half! 

 

But I never thought the Euros would be a problem because it was far enough away and everything had gone as I had expected with my rehab. I knew I was going to be out for a bit of time. I’d felt the [groin] injury a bit before but I wanted to keep playing due to the situation we were in. 

 

I’d say people wrote us all off then. So to finish third was good and the lads deserve credit. They could easily have fizzled away but we fought for the final 10 games.
 

THE FUTURE

All this has ever been about is winning trophies. When you do it, there is always a moment a couple of days later when there is a sadness. You feel a bit empty after you have gone that high and it is the come down. You get withdrawal symptoms.

 

I felt sad a couple of days after we had won the Premier League because it had been about the journey leading up to it. You look at the hard times and it is all part of the process. You cross the line and there is this huge relief: ‘We’ve done it!’ But I want to do it again.

 

There is another journey to go on to make sure we get the next one. I’m grateful for 10 years at Liverpool and I’ve got to thank everyone who has helped me to get where I am.

 

But we’ll push again.

[rubble-rouser]

How we missed him last year. A proper leader again today.

[El Rojo]

He’s a standard setter and a leader with a huge mentality. The turning point for him could well have been Rodgers trying to swap him for an ageing Fulham striker, as he really stepped out of Gerrard’s shadow after that, his suspension in 2014 probably as big a factor as Stevie’s slip in us losing the title 

 

Funny also to think that the conventional wisdom on here and elsewhere when we signed him was that Man United had secured their future success by signing Phil Jones, while we’d signed a dud.

[Tony Moanero]

47 minutes ago, El Rojo said:

He’s a standard setter and a leader with a huge mentality. The turning point for him could well have been Rodgers trying to swap him for an ageing Fulham striker, as he really stepped out of Gerrard’s shadow after that, his suspension in 2014 probably as big a factor as Stevie’s slip in us losing the title 

 

Funny also to think that the conventional wisdom on here and elsewhere when we signed him was that Man United had secured their future success by signing Phil Jones, while we’d signed a dud.

From what he said in that interview, it was the owners/club that wanted to offload him to Fulham, not Rodgers.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

One of my mates met him last week. My second reaction (after the obvious envy) was to tell him to fasten his fucking laces: we don't need any injuries!

 

 

[Dr Nowt]

35 minutes ago, AngryOfTuebrook said:

One of my mates met him last week. My second reaction (after the obvious envy) was to tell him to fasten his fucking laces: we don't need any injuries!

 

 

Isn’t that the fella who had the filmed sit down with Klopp about Kop Outs/the chant sang at Billy Gilmour? 

[Dr Nowt]

1 hour ago, Tony Moanero said:

From what he said in that interview, it was the owners/club that wanted to offload him to Fulham, not Rodgers.

Haha. I can certainly believe that’s what Brendan told him. Over the music at a Dizzee Rascal gig.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

6 minutes ago, Justice Negs said:

Isn’t that the fella who had the filmed sit down with Klopp about Kop Outs/the chant sang at Billy Gilmour? 

That's him. He works in our place.

[Dr Nowt]

4 minutes ago, AngryOfTuebrook said:

That's him. He works in our place.

Whilst fully acknowledging the shitty reason he was there, and that he’d no doubt prefer not to have needed to to be talking to them about it in the first place, not a bad week for meeting great figures within the club for him!

[AngryOfTuebrook]

37 minutes ago, Justice Negs said:

Whilst fully acknowledging the shitty reason he was there, and that he’d no doubt prefer not to have needed to to be talking to them about it in the first place, not a bad week for meeting great figures within the club for him!

Yeah. He met Virg, too, but didn't get a pic.

 

It's actually a good time for him, because he's had a lifetime of being uncomfortable as a gay bloke in what has always been an atmosphere in which homophobia (sometimes disguised as "banter") is commonplace - and then all of a sudden he's got our manager and captain speaking out against it.