Jordan Henderson spoke to Tony Barrett earlier this week about the pressure of succeeding Steven Gerrard as captain.
“There can never be another Steven Gerrard, whether that’s as a player, a captain or whatever,” Henderson said, and he’s right.
Gerrard grew-up supporting Liverpool, came through the club’s youth academy, captained the team for the best part of a decade and won the European Cup.
In an era when the game is more globalised than ever, with clubs recruiting players from all over the world, the chance of that feat being repeated is very, very remote.
However, Henderson has grown into his role as captain over the past year and isn’t trying to be Steven Gerrard. He just wants to be the best captain and player for Liverpool he can be.
“I look upon it as just trying to captain a very good side, one that I believe can be successful, in my own way, leading by example and trying to help the players like he helped all of us on and off the field. All I can do is do the best that I can.”
Henderson displayed his leadership qualities on Tuesday evening, following Liverpool’s 2-0 victory over Leeds United in the EFL Cup quarter-final.
The Liverpool skipper congratulated 17-year-old Ben Woodburn, who became the youngest goalscorer in the history of the club with his second-half goal, on his performance and gave the forward a much-deserved pat on the back.
The moment was captured on the club’s tunnel camera, and shows exactly why Henderson is Liverpool captain.
Michael Lundy joins Wooly for a wide-ranging discussion that starts with a chat about Ger Loughnane, dodgy transfers and Davy Fitzgerald’s training methods. Subscribe here on iTunes.
