Jordan Henderson replaced Steven Gerrard as captain of Liverpool in 2015 when the living legend moved on to LA Galaxy.
It was never going to be an easy task; Gerrard had captained the side through an unsuccessful patch which was sparingly littered with opportunities for silverware.
More often than not our former skipper would have grabbed our team by the scruff of their necks and pulled us over the line.
The No. 14 has been in and out of the team this season, due to both minor injuries and more rotation throughout the midfield line this season.
Liverpool’s last three fixtures have shown the stop-start nature of his campaign to an extent: he missed Fulham with an ankle knock, started but was subbed off against Spurs and then started on the bench at Southampton—but came on to great effect.
It’s only an away win at Southampton – compared to a Champions League final against Milan – but Henderson played a similar role on Friday night.
An assist for the vital Mo Salah goal, to put the Reds 2-1 up, was followed up by Henderson’s own first strike of the season to seal the win.
That came after being brought on by the boss in a more advanced role, a forward-thinking No. 8 down the right channel, similar to where he used to operate before under Brendan Rodgers.
Jurgen Klopp has described replacing Gerrard as captain as the ‘most difficult job in the last 500 years of football‘, which may sound like hyperbole until you give it a bit of thought.
“I’ve seen him a lot like that. That’s Jordan, that’s him.
“When I came in and thought first about the team, Hendo was a box-to-box player. We made him a No.6 and that’s good. I think it’s helped him a lot to play in different positions.
“I told him already that that doesn’t mean he will never play as a No.6 again. He thinks it makes sense, and that’s absolutely true. We play different systems.
“Millie [James Milner] and Hendo were both really pumped up. It helped us a lot.”
“That goal meant so much to him and to us. He’s just a fantastic boy. He deserves all the praise but he doesn’t get too much of it,” Klopp told the Telegraph.
“Hendo, from my point of view, is a brilliant player. He’s our skipper, he’s a fantastic character. If I had to write a book about Hendo, it would be 500 pages.
“So I’m very positive. The most difficult job in the last 500 years of football was to replace Steven Gerrard. In the mind of the people it was like if it’s not Stevie, then it’s not good enough.
“And he has dealt with that outstandingly well so he can be really proud. Now we have to think of the future and he is a very important part of our team.”
Have to agree with Klopp – it often seems as if Henderson gets the short end of the stick simply because he’s not Gerrard.
