I also agree that Henderson is beyond criticism with some reds who flat out refuse to admit he's had a bad game at times. I'd go as far as saying he has been the worst player on the pitch in some games and you still get reds saying he had a top game.
Kiev was a good example actually. I might be harsh here with my choice of words but I thought his performance was an absolute disgrace and not what I expect from a Liverpool captain in a European cup final. The focus has all been on karius of course, but when I've pointed out to people that our captain was non existent I've seen people say he actually had a very good game!
I think a lot is down to being skipper. Because he's the captain of our club it's like he's immune to criticism from certain people, I don't know I can't explain it, it's just weird and downright bizarre sometimes.
I disagree on your next point though. Hard work, tactics, game plans etc only get you so far. Yes those things can win you a one off football match, maybe even the majority of your games, but over the course of a season it still isn't enough.
Remember the song we all dream of a team of carraghers? Now imagine a team of hendersons. Would be relegated in no time!
On your final point, If Henderson was a squad player for us then I'd very much welcome that. He's the perfect squad player actually. But should Jordan Henderson be captain of our club and therefore first name on the team sheet? Absolutely not.
I've spent hours and hours criticising him on this forum and we all just go round in circles but like i said earlier, in 10, 15, 20 years time there won't be any reds looking back saying what a player Jordan Henderson was. It's just a shame that some reds can't see it presently.
Yeah that's the part I'm having trouble with too. Hendo being captain yet only a rotational player. He's not old enough (or injury prone) for that to work like with, say, Kompany. And I have our most productive midfield as Fabinho, Keita, and Ox (or a new #10 style mid).
And hey look, I get what you mean about the calibre of player he is, and how his legacy will be soon forgotten compared to even players who only had 2-3 years at the club (but at least truly excelled).
I was also disappointed with the Kiev game. But I was mainly disappointed by the whole group. It looked like the air had been let out of their tyres. After such a decent break before the final, I expected them to come out of the traps pressing and working hard, and forcing Madrid to play killer balls with no time to do so. Instead it was something in between. But as you say, as captain, you'd expect Hendo to be able to get a real reaction from his players. You definitely wouldn't expect to see Ramos and Ronaldo go down with a whimper the way we kind of did.
But I do stand by our system being more important than having world class players. As nice as it would be to have a midfield of, say, De Bruyne, Silva, and Fernandinho, I actually don't think we're too many pieces behind City now. And despite Madrid winning the CL, I still consider City as the benchmark.
With our two new midfielders, we're just a GK and a #10 short. With those, I think our system would consistently trump theirs in a battle for the title. Obviously, we could also do with a new CB to pair with VVD, but Man City have their own similar liability in Otamendi, so we match there at least.
One could, of course, also argue about our relative lack of quality in depth to theirs, but against lesser teams where we'd rotate, it was really our lack of a commanding GK and a creative #10 that let us down.
Anyway, here's hoping we get the replacements in those two positions at least, and that Klopp can work the rest out!
