Think he covered a lot of grass today so physically he is good at the moment.
Mentally the break might come at the perfect time for him.
Thinking about dropping him is just ridiculous.
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The other issue is they all focus too much on playing their own games. As individually better rated any of our midfielders might be than Hendo, there is a tendency that the midfield as a unit gets disjointed when heās not on the pitch, in a way that rarely happens when Hendo is playingā¦ However, a few games recently not even Hendo has brought that solidity and that an indication that things are not going well for him as much as anything he is personally seen to be doing.
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Yeah, I canāt quite put my finger on it but I fail to remember any Kloppās Liverpool midfield looking as porous and disjointed as this season in general. I can understand being outplayed by Man City and Chelsea in particular but getting consistently overloaded by Brentford and outmatched by Brighton doesnāt sit well with meā¦ I donāt remember Trent and Robbo getting as little help from midfield as it is the case this season.
That said, there are a few mitigating circumstances. Fabinhoās personal tragedy must have had an impact on him, Hendersonās had some injury issues, Milner is in his twilight years, Jones and Elliott are very young and have had injury issues, Keita and Alcantara are perennially injured, while AOC is barely a midfielders these days. I feel a change coming this summer to a Liverpool midfield near you.
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Yeah, I always liked Gini as a player better than most, but I wonder if his consistency of availability and the familiarity that brings is being missed.
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I donāt see Hendo losing his position any time soon.
Perhaps for the odd game or two here and there or coming off more often, but in terms of what is our best XI, nah, not yet. I doubt it will happen this season at least. I could see possibly Elliott playing more in that role if everything goes according to plan.
It was funny to see us try Elliott at RCM and Hendo for the first time at LCM against Chelsea at home in the league, Hendo didnāt play well. Itās at LCM for now where I see more room for change, Thiagoās/Keitaās availability vs Jonesā development, etc.
Our right side dynamic has been probably the best side of a football team in Europe so far this season.
I donāt want anyone playing in that RCM between Trent and Salah + also whoever is our weaker RCB. Trent gave an interview about his game and you felt what is needed from our RCM and thatās certainly not what Thiago par example does best, which is exactly why I had a problem when Klopp played him there.
Iām very happy with that balance on the right side.
I think Jones has it in his locker to be the successor in that position, but maybe not the one to carry the armband once Henderson retires that role. Need someone who can keep driving them forward. Jordanās more vocal that Stevie was, a bit more feisty. I do like the tradition of the long-tenured captaincy, I donāt see Trent being that kind of leader though.
Virgil is the VC with Milly I believe, but who in the club could take that armband full-time for 5+ years starting in 2025?
is that player even at the club yet?
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Trent will almost surely be among the candidates. Perhaps he will be able to do it in his way (plus, he can also evolve in that aspect, with more responsibility). Just like Hyypia was a different captain to Stevie, who was different to Hendo, etc. More than the armband though, you want to have a few leaders. We have some, hopefully we will have new ones, too.
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Iām thinking Trent or Jones would be the most obvious candidates, but some players donāt want that kind of responsibility on/off the pitch. But a scouser captain would be ideal. 2025, Jordan would be 35, Jones 23, Trent 27?
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Hasnāt Trent suggested ā¦in some interviewsā¦he would love to be Captain at some timeā¦
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Iād be surprised if Curtis also didnāt want to be captain someday.
I think Trent is dead set to be skipper someday. Heās won the PL and CL being an integral part of the team, heās a major cog in the machine now and heās still also to get to that so called āpeakā age.
Curtis is going to have to do a helluva lot to be skipper seeing as their hopefully long, illustrious and trophy laden Liverpool careers will share a significant overlap, somewhat like Gerrard and Carragher.
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(with a body)
Weāll see when is even the need for a new captain. There might be another option (maybe Virgil) before potentially someone like Trent.
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Heās not being quite the presence on the pitch he has been previously. Needs to buck up or drop down the pecking order at the moment.
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Iād say we start to worry if we end the season without a trophy or maybe have a run without win in important games.
Until then the so called experts can STFU.
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I do think he has looked tired thankfully for the first time in Kloppās time here we have options.
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I wouldnāt say we need to āworryā yet, if the implication is that Henderson has lost the ability to play, but he quite obviously needs his minutes managing in the coming weeks. He doesnāt look 100% physically, heās not playing anywhere near his best and we have lots of quality options available again. He doesnāt need to be relied on as heavily as he was earlier in the season.
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I think some signs of body language/face expressions (of course Iām no expert, can only tell what I feel) lately also made me feel like heās a little bit frustrated with his form. Iām positive he will rediscover it again. They all had their little off periods, him, Fabinho, Gini, Thiagoā¦
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Think heās by far our midfielder with the most minutes this season, so Iām not surprised at a mild downturn in form. Heāll be back stronger, Iām sure.
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