He has been groomed for this role by Steven Gerrard himself: Henderson played alongside Gerrard for a few seasons and was vice captain under Gerrard. He was the natural successor to Gerrard, and it wouldn't be too obscure to think that he learned quite a lot from him both on and off the pitch. He was also picked to captain several under-age sides in his youth, which won't be for no reason. He's used to having the armband and leading a team.
That's the best you can do? Using one of our greatest ever players to justify your backing of Henderson and to manipulate others?
So what he played in the same midfield alongside Steven Gerrard? So did Igor Biscan. That doesn't mean Igor Biscan is a good player or leader.
Don't be using one of our own legends and one of the greatest ever players to have played the game as some sort of reason on why Jordan Henderson should be our captain. They're miles apart and Jordan isn't fit to lace his boots. Henderson was only ever chosen as vice captain and then later captain because we lacked candidates. No other reason. He wasn't the 'natural successor' at all. When Stevie called it a day we all wondered who would get the armband and even though Henderson was vice at the time, many thought the likes of Sakho might have got it.
Most professional footballers have captained at youth level at some point. So what? The Liverpool FC armband weighs much more than the Sunderland U15 armband. I'm comparing Henderson to our previous captains but captains from our rivals too, the likes of Terry, Keane, Vieira and Henderson doesn't fall in that category. Those players will always be remembered as fantastic players, fantastic leaders, fantastic captains, premiership greats and Jordan Henderson wont be. Are you telling me he will?
He is an excellent communicator: He is constantly talking on the pitch, I cannot stand when I see people saying he's quiet on the field because it's just not true, watch the game, watch Henderson, he is constantly pointing and shouting orders. In particular, he has been looking out for Moreno this season. Next time they play together, watch the dynamic. Moreno's improvement and his listening to orders from Klopp and Henderson is no coincidence in my eyes.
Excellent communicator? How on earth would you know? Do you know what he says do you?
I have a season ticket. I'm there every week. All of our eleven players talk and shout. Its a football match and they're professionals - so they should.
Just so you know, Henderson doesn't talk any more than any other player. He does not demand more from his team mates than anybody else. Both Milner and Lallana are much louder believe me - you can hear them.
Moreno's improvement has f**k all to do with Henderson
... His improvement has come from cutting out his rash tackles and his poor positioning play and understanding when its right to bomb forward and when its not. That comes down to himself and from his management. Not from his team mate.
Work rate: Passed off as a 'water carrier' by the doubters... Just another excuse against the captain. Henderson puts in the miles and work that a captain should. He leads by example in terms of sheer effort and grit. He will bust a gut for this team in terms of the miles he will run. That should and in my eyes does count for something.
I've said it myself several times on here that his one and only asset are his energy levels. When the other team have the ball then Henderson can be quite handy to have in the midfield because he's fairly quick and covers a lot of ground. When we press, Henderson can be very much a part of that but rather than winning the ball, he forces the opposition into making mistakes. There is nothing particular wrong with that, but the way Stevie, Vieira, Keane would all bully their opponent off the ball - Henderson doesn't, does he?
So busting a gut might be taking it a little bit far. I'm not convinced Henderson is the sort who would put his body on the line for us. I cant remember him ever throwing himself in the way of a shot or flying into a 50-50 tackle taking the opposition out, can you?
Professionalism: I don't think there is any argument over this. A class act off the pitch and represents the club well.
Similar to your argument of him being a 'excellent communicator', he is no more of a professional than either Lallana or Milner. In my opinion, both of those players are better pro's. But yes, he is a decent professional and represents the club well, still doesn't make him a great leader or captain because he comes across as an alright lad on camera though?
He earned it: At the start of his career he was not good and to be honest I think a lot of people just can't shake the player they seen under The King. Kenny for some reason had him playing from Right Midfield, a terrible decision which hampered Jordan in his early years here. Since being moved to the middle he's progressed from strength to strength, gaining 36 England caps and a front runner to be the captain of his country now too.
With that logic, why don't we just make Moreno captain then?
Just because he has improved somewhat (which I don't agree with by the way), that doesn't mean he should be our bloody captain!
Jordan Henderson has only ever had two spells where he has played well for us. The first was the nearly season under Rodgers when we were absolutely flying. Even then he was shadowed by the likes of Suarez, Sturridge, Gerrard, Sterling, Coutinho and Flanno who put in better and more consistent performances than him. Henderson was very much a part of that side but he wasn't even in the top 6 players for us that season.
The second stint was the start of last season when again we were flying, but that was mainly down to our front four of Mane, Coutinho, Firmino and Lallana. Klopps decision to put Lallana in the middle benefitted Henderson just like he benefitted playing alongside a great player like Gerrard. Put him in the midfield with Emre Can or Lucas and you see just how much he struggles. When he came back from injury, he went back to his usual dire form.
He's a f**king good player: I've harped on about this enough now. I claim he does a good job, and I have statistics to back me up. Those that say he's not only have 'oh I know what I seen and stats prove nothing', yea well I know what I've seen... AND I have statistics too so I make that 2-1 to me. Like I've said many many times, his role is to get the ball back for us and make sure we have possession. In terms of ball recoveries this season, I could only find Kante who has more in the Premier League. Yes he could be more adventurous, but the sideways passing thing is so old. People completely ignore the 30+ yard passes he pulls off time and time again. Completely ignore the fact that he has by far the most passes into the final third of any other player in our team. Completely ignore that he creates more chances and has more key passes than Gini and Can combined this season. Nah, he's just that sh*te right winger we signed from Sunderland.
Stats don't always tell a true story. I see opposition fans quite often comparing stats of their players to the likes of Coutinho. I remember seeing one of coutinho and Antonio - it might have been last season. West Ham fans were saying ''look, look, Antonio is as good as coutinho, the stats don't lie!'' Erm, ok, so which one would you rather have? Which player are Barca and Psg fighting to sign and willing to spend over 100m.
When we signed stewart downing, he had the most assists in the league. I said at the time he wasn't anywhere near good enough for us and guess what, he wasn't.
If that's his role 'to win the ball back and make sure we have possession' then we don't need him in 80% of our games during a season do we? Because it's us who usually dominates the play - just like we saw on Saturday.
No, you're wrong, Henderson occasionally trys switch passes and he quite often loses the ball by doing so. Re watch the game against Huddersfield and there were a few times in the first half he was clipping the ball sideways or into the box which gave possession to huddrsfield and it got a few groans from the crowd. Some fans watch the highlights on motd though and see his one brilliant pass to firmino in the second half and then believe he is some pirlo or something. He isn't. From every 10 of those passes he tries only 1 will find his team mate. He can't pass a ball the way Gerrard could, the way Scholes could, Lampard could, Pirlo could, Xavi could, Alonso could - he simply isn't in that mold, is he? Or are you telling me he can pass every bit as good as those players?
And that what it boils down too. I want a midfield of Gerrard, Alonso again. I miss that quality. We need that quality if we want to be contenders. and Jordan Henderson IS NOT that quality which is my whole point.
I don't know what else people want, maybe these will help:
What? Three sh*t videos? Show me some of him diving infront of the ball blocking shots. Show me some crunching tackles. Show me grabbing the ball from his team mates to take a penalty instead of being slapped down by balotelli. You won't find many and he has been here since 2011.
Part of me also thinks if he was Spanish people would be drooling over his ball retention and 'tiki taka' passing, how magical it is how he keeps the ball. (that is unless you're a moron and can't read a graph indicating how often he loses the ball eh Riba)
Tika Taka and Jordan Henderson should never be put in the same sentence. What on earth are you watching? You're sat here saying you don't know what more people want and you're gobsmacked they cant see all of Hendersons talents and then you come out and say if he was Spanish we would be drooling over his tika taka football. What the f**k are people actually watching? Do you actually watch our games? Because Jordan Henderson is not a tika taka footballer! Far f**king from it!!!
Imagine Jordan Henderson in the Barca side
I'm not saying he's a world class talent. I'm not saying he's going to get the Premier League player of the year.
Good. Because he's not. And he won't.