Liverpool got back to winning ways, with a 2-1 win over Bournemouth on Saturday lunchtime. This performance, however, was not convincing and Liverpool were again lackluster. Again the Reds were without Jordan Henderson, whose importance to the side which shown in the past month.
Jordan Henderson was at first considered a flop but is now a Champions League winning captain. It has only taken until this season for everyone to see his importance.
Jordan Henderson has proved pivotal
Henderson is one of the favourites for PFA Player of the year and has been absent for Liverpool’s recent poor run of form, which has seen the potential of an unbeaten treble disappear.
Henderson went down injured during the 1-0 Champions League first-leg loss at Atletico Madrid which was the beginning of this current poor run of form.
A further hard-fought 3-2 win against West Ham followed, aided by a Fabianski mistake which was further followed by Liverpool suffering their first loss in the league in 44 games in a 3-0 away defeat at second-bottom Watford last Saturday.
The misery was further compounded with a 2-0 loss to Chelsea in the FA Cup.
Henderson was also absent towards the end of the 2013-14 season, his red card at the end of the 3-2 win over Man City meant that he missed the 2-0 loss to Chelsea at Anfield and the 3-3 draw away to Crystal Palace.
This is not a coincidence.
Henderson has been much maligned for a lot of his career and this has been largely down to the job role he has.
First of all he is a fantastic captain and whilst he is not on the same level as his predecessor Steven Gerrard, he does a lot of the unnoticed work and is a real cog in the Liverpool team.
Whilst Fabinho is there in the holding role, Henderson is missed due to the way he plays. His leadership, his passing range as well as his ability not only to protect the ball but also contribute going forward.
Everyone thought when Fabinho got injured, that this would be the start of Liverpool’s downfall but Liverpool won the majority of their games except the league cup defeat and the draw against Napoli. It has actually been the captain Henderson who has proved a bigger miss.
Whilst Jordan Henderson is not considered one of the best players in the world in his position, he is now being seen as a bigger miss than Fabinho was, who many consider to be one of the best defensive midfielders in the world.
Many fans have now come to the realisation of how important Henderson is. Many fans of the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham and the other top Premier League clubs have been the critics of the Liverpool captain.
Whilst plenty of Liverpool fans have been fighting his case for years, it appears that it has taken the injury of Henderson to show important he is and how much Liverpool miss him when he’s absent.
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