I think you are overstating how many people are "realising" he isn't good enough. Klopp wouldn't pick him for the biggest games if he didn't think he was good enough. Literally, his most picked midfield for big games is Milner-Hendo-Gini. That says something about what he thinks about all of them including Henderson. I know people think we should have a Mo Salah/VVD type player in every position on the pitch, but we can't and we won't. You need some water carriers and as water carriers go, Henderson and Milner are about the best out there. Henderson knows what Klopp wants out of him and he carries out his plans and acts as the coach on the field. I don't think anyone outside of frustrated and overreacting fans have ever questioned that Henderson is a key part of Klopp's plans. That tells me that he's not the problem at all. And last night, our bigger problem was their phenom (Sane) was going against the side of our defense that is the most troublesome (Trent and Lovren) and we didn't do anything to really counter that. Maybe we should have had Fabinho in as a DM and had him help cover that side and left Gini and Hendo to roam...it's easy to second guess now, but in reality, we really played well enough to win yesterday save a couple of defensive brain farts and a couple of unlucky (for us) clearances off the line.
The frustrating is that it never fails...as soon as we lose or drop points, there's a brigade of you that want to organize a lynching for Henderson...like he's always the main culprit when we don't play 10/10. It would be a nice change if we could just look at this game for what it was...a tough away fixture against the title holders where we could have won if not for a few inches here and there. We took an L and we will continue forward beating everyone from here on out. And Henderson will be a big part of that.
I'm not over stating it. It's true. It's taken a long time but finally more and more reds are realising he isn't good enough for the level we currently find ourselves at.
Klopp has left him out of the side for big games on several occasions. I was expecting (and hoping) Henderson to be left out again last night. He's no longer in our strongest 11, do you not agree? Fabinho is better in the deeper role and we have a list of players who are better than him in the 8. So he no longer gets in this team.
Nobody thinks we should have a VVD or Salah in every position. Andy Robertson isn't a fancy type of footballer but he's probably my favourite player. James Milner is another one who is quite basic and just goes out and gets the job done and he is another player who I have a lot of time for. So that argument is just stupid and void. It's simply not true and it's something that winds me up how henderson supporters consistently come out with that.
I'm also sick of 'Henderson does what he's told'. Ok, so does that mean when fabinho plays he goes AGAINST what Jürgen tells him to do then? And just so happens to perform better? What about the few times gini has played in that position? Does he go AGAINST Jürgen too? And strangely and coincidentally, perform better as well? Another stupid argument from Henderson supporters.
Completely agree with you that there were other areas last night that were more of a concern and in particular that right side of defence. I've highlighted that in my posts and specifically said both Trent and Lovren were poor. Lovren being so poor is actually a reason why henderson has gotten off with another sh*te display because the focus is all on dejan.
I also agree with you that despite our players under performing to what we usually see from them, the performance was actually decent and I felt it was a very even game. A draw would have been fair for me and I feel sorry for the Jürgen and the lads because they've come away with nothing.
That said, I'm still frustrated that the same culprits continue to let us down in big games. If you search through my posts, I stated in pre season that our first eleven is very strong bar dejan Lovren and Jordan Henderson (this was when Lovren was expected to play more than gomez). I'm sorry to say but I still stand by those comments and last nights game is exactly why. Both dejan and Jordan are ok players to have for most games in the campaign but it's fixtures like last night where they really get found out and it's clear they aren't good enough for this level.
I give my thoughts and opinions on how I see it, game by game. If Henderson has played well in my opinion then I'll happily say so unlike his supporters who refuse to admit or accept he's had a bad game because they've spent years on here defending him and trying to justify his captaincy and place in the team.
I quite often see things like 'well Henderson was no worse than gini/Milner' or whoever else as some sort of argument to support his case. Most the time I dont agree with it anyway and usually think gini/Milner out perform him, but neither gini or Milner are wearing that bloody armband anyway. Jordan should be out performing the pair of them week in, week out. If it's too heavy for Jordan (which it clearly is), then he should do the decent thing and hand it over.