Liverpool 2-2 West Ham United: In game and Post Match discussion

And you don't think he's a leader in this team? I personally think he is, but also think to expect only one player to carry all that responsibility is ridiculous.

In fact, the whole emphasis on the captain role in England is way over the top, a massive exaggeration typical to Britain. In Brazil, in South America in general, or even in Spain for example, you don't see that sort of emphasis on captains.

Off the field, captains represent their players inside the club and lead by example, and for that I think Hendo is more than good enough. On the field, the fact is that good teams never rely on one single great leader, they have many in their lineups. And right now, one could say we don't have enough, especially with Coutinho out of the team. I'm not pessimistic about this team, however, and think other players will grow as the season and years progresses - I have faith in people like Matip and Wijnaldum, for example.

Now that is an interesting concept, is there really any need for a captain, you see I think there is, I think a great captain can lift and inspire his team. We saw Stevie G do that on several occasions but I've yet to see Henderson manage to gee up his teammates for them to put in some extra effort.
Perhaps a better approach is to have a leader for defence, a leader for midfield and a leader for the attackers, that could work very well and would maybe take the pressure off just one player.

Now that is an interesting concept, is there really any need for a captain, you see I think there is, I think a great captain can lift and inspire his team. We saw Stevie G do that on several occasions but I've yet to see Henderson manage to gee up his teammates for them to put in some extra effort.
Perhaps a better approach is to have a leader for defence, a leader for midfield and a leader for the attackers, that could work very well and would maybe take the pressure off just one player.

I'm not saying there is no need for a captain mate, I'm just saying this is blown out of proportion in England. You need leaders all over the pitch to say the least. And leadership is a psychological attribute, the whole idea that a captain needs to score goals out of nowhere every now and again is just a really weird notion, perhaps because we are so used to Steven Gerrard. Real life is not like Roy of the Rovers though. Some of the best captains I've seen in recent times never "inspired" the team by scoring an important goal like Gerrard, they simply worked hard and led by example: I'm thinking of people like Cafu, Cannavaro, Dunga. Scoring key goals was left to Romário, Del Piero or Ronaldo. I'm happy to leave this to Coutinho, Firmino (who was IMO disappointing the last two games) and Mané.

You said we need a leader in midfielder because Lallana and Gini are not leading while playing in midfield. Why does that mean the fault is exclusively Hendo's, then, is beyond me. I'm not trying to read your mind, I'm trying to make sense of your arguments, which are confusing to say the least.

You think we need a leader in midfield, but you're OK with 2/3 of the midfield having no leadership at all, because that's "not what should be expected from them". So forgive me for reading this as if you're just trying to find an excuse for blaming Henderson.

Ha ha ha excellent points, well made.

If we've got this right... "I don't believe in Hendo's ability to lead, 'cause he's not a leader... However I will slate the F***ing b'jaysus out of him if he doesn't lead well." Furthermore...

"I won't slate other non leaders for not leading because [wait for it] they aren't leaders."  Brilliant 😂😂😂

This will rumble on for years. But for me, Hendo is our captain, and long may it continue. Loving his work.