Jordan Henderson seems to be growing into the role of vice-captain at Liverpool already, judging by a moment during Saturday’s 2-1 win over West Brom that saw him bellow orders to none other than Steven Gerrard.
With the clock ticking down, the Reds skipper received the ball deep on the right flank, and was instructed by Henderson several yards behind him to run the ball into the corner and see out the game.
Gerrard chose to ignore his advice, and almost set up Mario Balotelli for a third goal with a cute pass inside.
But the moment showed Henderson is not afraid to speak his mind on the pitch, to whoever it may be.
Although the 24-year-old admits he probably won’t need to bellow orders at his skipper too often in the future.
“I don’t think I’ll do that too many times,” said Henderson, who scored the winner and provided the assist for Adam Lallana as Liverpool picked up a much needed three points.
“I was just telling him to keep it in the corner but I think he saw a pass to maybe score another goal.
“I learn a lot from Stevie. That was a pressure moment in the game and I thought we should keep it in the corner but to be fair it was a great pass into the box and we could have scored as well.”
Henderson may well be the captain elect, but the midfielder says Gerrard remains very much the leader at Anfield, with his outspoken comments after the Champions League defeat to Basel in midweek a testament to that.
“He is our leader and captain and we look up to him but we knew as individuals we hadn’t played well as a team or individuals,” added Henderson.
“You don’t need anyone to tell you and we were sat in the changing room afterwards saying ‘That wasn’t good enough’.
“We all knew that we were far too soft away from home. We still should have got something out of the game and that is what we need to be better at.”
The Basel performance was just one of the reasons the Reds needed three points so badly, heading into another international break.
“It was important to get back to winning games and I thought we showed good character to go on and win the game, especially when it went to 1-1,” added Henderson.
“It was a good three points and hopefully we can kick on now.
“I felt last week we did enough, we were better than Everton and should have won, but that’s football – it’s hard sometimes.
“We had to take than on the chin and it was important to get the win this week.
“It was an improved performance but I think our performances can be better – but the performance was good last week and we didn’t get three points so this was all about the win.”
