Jurgen Klopp has hailed the performances of Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson at this year’s World Cup.
Henderson was impressive for England as they reached the quarter-final in Qatar, forcing his way back into Gareth Southgate’s starting XI. And speaking in his pre-Aston Villa press conference via Liverpool FC on YouTube, Klopp assessed how his skipper, and the Reds’ other World Cup stars are looking.
“All the players back from the World Cup now look really on it, that’s very important,” said the manager. “Some of them could regain confidence, everybody probably was not that low before, but a good World Cup like for Hendo, for example, is for sure helpful.”
Hopefully Henderson can take his good form for England into the rest of the season. If he needs Jude Bellingham alongside him to raise his levels again, then so be it – Liverpool will simply have to get that deal done!
Henderson looking to keep momentum going
It was great to see Henderson back in action for Liverpool yesterday, although his performance was a little subdued.
As a player who exudes so much energy in his displays, there has to be a slight worry of burnout. Klopp perhaps didn’t expect the 32-year-old to play quite as much as he did in Qatar.
As a result, he may be a little more fatigued than initially expected. With Liverpool still looking a little light in the midfield area, that could be bad news.
However, as Klopp mentions, this could also be beneficial to Liverpool.
Henderson is very much in the rhythm of playing now. As the season gets back underway, there’s no reason he shouldn’t continue that, apart from maybe fatigue.
So, Klopp may have to just balance his captain’s minutes over the festive period. Naby Keita is now back and available, and looked relatively sharp in his 20 minutes on the pitch last night.
With Fabinho and Thiago Alcantara getting plenty of rest during the World Cup break, it could be that the boss decides to alternate between Keita and Henderson to play alongside those two.
Whatever happens, you can always rely on Henderson to give it his all. His tail should be up on the back of a good showing on the world stage. Let’s keep that going now.
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