I’ll give Hendo credit for one thing - doing the interview and allowing himself to be skewered by Ornstein and Crafton. It wasn’t good from a PR perspective for him, but it’s good that he had the tough questions put to him and that he responded.
Not only does he show himself to be a complete hypocrite in that interview, but he also comes across as an entitled dickhead who’s a bit short on brains. He claims that no-one at the club made him feel wanted and that’s why he left. From TIA:
One of the overriding themes in his conversation with Adam Crafton and David Ornstein was that he no longer felt “wanted” by Liverpool following talks over his role with Klopp.
“If one of those people said to me, ‘now we want you to stay’, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” he insisted.
“And I have to then think about what’s next for me in my career.
“Now, that’s not to say that they forced me out of the club or they were saying they wanted me to leave but at no point did I feel wanted by the club or anyone to stay.”
Henderson added that his meeting with Klopp “put me in a position where I knew that I wasn’t going to be playing as much.”
Which is totally at odds with what Klopp said at the time:
“It’s not about [convincing him to stay]. The relationship between Hendo and me has grown over eight years, and it’s not about that.
“We knew exactly the situation: that we want to keep him but that we would not [stand in his way].
“If he wants to leave, there’s no reason why we should throw any rocks or stones in the way.
“It was full of respect and full of everything you need in a situation like that. It was not about me convincing him, it was about me reacting to what’s happening.
“That’s what I did and that’s how I understood my role in that moment.”
So not only a hypocrite but also someone who apparently twists other people’s words to suit his own ends.
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Lost so much respect for him.
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This sort of thing is very common with players at that stage of their career TBF. Neither Hughes nor Thompson left liverpool on good terms, with both unhappy at the club’s perception of what they had left
I don’t even think there is anything inconsistent with what he Klopp are saying, just the difference in perspective of a manager hoping a senior player would be amenable to a changed role and a player rejecting the reality of his ageing and not wanting to hear it. Ultimately this is most normal part of the story.
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So Henderson met with Klopp and Klopp told him something like “You were fucking abysmal last season, so this year you’ll be a backup and we need your experience to help integrate our new signings as the club needs midfield to get younger and more energetic”
To which Henderson responded hes got offers of first team football - and a fuck tonne of money - elsewhere and Klopp said sure thing mate I won’t block you if you want to leave.
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I can understand a proud, elite sportsman, who has captained the club to all the major honours, feeling a bit gutted that his time is coming to an end. So many players have left clubs in a similar vein. No issues there.
Getting paid a clean fortune to send sportswashing tweets for human rights abusers is a different story.
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Hendo’s complaint is very much like that of a recently broken up with man upset at no longer being wanted and complaining that his ex didn’t use the right words when breaking up with him.
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Yeah I remember breaking up with my ex and she warned me that “theres a guy at work who has been asking me out”, I said sounds good you should go for it 
Sounds like a similar situation.
Milner could easily make a jump to Saudi. Fact is he didn’t. Even if it meant paying off his initial Brighton contract.
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Is that a good example? Maybe I’m not understanding your point, but the guy played for City! Based on that, I doubt he’s making a stand against the human rights abuses in those countries and more likely its a lifestyle choice he’s making for his family - He probably just doesn’t want to live in a desert regardless of the pay.
He just put himself before the club, where gave him everything he has. Leader my ass.
This is embarassing
“The Potemkin village presented to us in Qatar was not like the horror stories, so I assume that Saudi is actually nicer than the bad stories said about them as well.”
As I said, internal justifications that dont stand up to even 2 seconds worth of consideration.
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Question for you all: Is Gerrard still a legend? There was all that bullshit with Chelsea but he stuck around for his prime years when he could have easily gone to another higher performing club and won stuff. And even though he didn’t stick around to the very end, he was a help bringing through another generation. Moreso than Henderson.
But he’s coaching in SA. And poaching current Liverpool players. It’s a slippery slope revoking ‘legend’ status post-Liverpool career. Is there a point where it’s irrelevant what happens on and off-field with a player provided they have delivered X for Liverpool? I’m interested in the responses on this…
“We know they killed (Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident ) Jamal Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." - Phil Mickelson explains exactly why he chose to join the LIV Tour.
At least this prick was honest about it.
My favourite line from Henderson’s interview ; “All I’ve ever tried to do is help. And when I’ve been asked for help, I’ve gone above and beyond to help,” he said. “I’ve worn the laces. I’ve worn the armband."
Hero. How could anyone ever have doubted his commitment ?
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I don’t know how to feel about this to be honest. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else in football willing to answer these sorts of questions: They and their reps would shut the interview down so fast.
But it seems moreso utter stupidity on his part (don’t footballers have agents and reps to ensure you don’t do shit like this?) at not vetting the questions or at least seeing the interview through the prism of his past. It’s just mind boggling that he even did this. There was no winning for him, and his truth actually makes him look far worse than any of us fans could have imagined.
An absolute car crash.
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Gerrard has always had problematic threads.
His advancement of the Rafa is cracking up narrative, when the entire exercise was done to change the conversation and take pressure of Gerrard’s possible pending assault charges is the one that sticks out for me.
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Isn’t Fowler doing the same thing?
OMFG. I had to read that a second time. The money has made him delusional. Wow, Hendo! What a shock that a country with a horrible human rights record has managed to gloss over (read: hide) all the horrible shit from millionaires like yourself for a short period during the WC!
Fuck! Off!
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It’s like a classic Beckenbauer quote after visting Qatar in 2013, ‘I haven’t seen one slave in Qatar. They all move around freely and aren’t in chains.’
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Saddens me to agree with this. Hugo is dead.