Think people put far too much importance on the captaincy. At quite a few clubs, it's just the player that has been at the club longest. At some other clubs he is chosen by his fellow teammates. I'm pretty sure that if our current players had to vote, that they'd go for Henderson again.
We've been blessed with quite a few remarkable leaders and captains in the past, but everyone fills in the role of captain the way he wants to. None of us know how important Henderson is behind the scenes, how well respected he is as a player among his teammates, how much he talks with the players, how important he is for the manager, ... Everything we've heard from both Klopp and Gerrard so far is that he fulfills the role very well. As Swab said, we're talking about professionals here, they get tons of information before the game starts, down to what the opposition right back has had for breakfast. All of them have to chip in and coach each other when they set foot on the pitch.
If you look at the other top teams, who is their captain?:
- Valencia at the mancs
- Cahill at Chelsea
- Silva at City
- Lloris at Spurs
- Koscielny at Arsenal
Hardly the most inspiring lot. Are they the players their teammates look up to when things aren't going well? Do they lead by example? Do they 'take the game by the scruff of the neck'? (love how often that cliché gets thrown around). Bar Silva on occasion, none of them do. Yet they're all captain for their respective clubs.
If I had to make a top 3 for when Henderson / Milner aren't playing, at #1 would be Wijnaldum for me. He was PSV's youngest captain and he led them to a league title. I think people underestimate his importance in our team. We've had pretty much every possible combination in midfield so far this season, one constant has been Wijnaldum. If he's fit, he plays. Always. People so often say that they have no clue what he's doing, calling him "Mr. Invisible" etc. If he's so bad, Klopp wouldn't put him in his starting line-up almost every single game.
#2 Firmino, he leads by example. Not the most vocal player, but he always gives it his all.
#3 Matip
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