“Why are you so miserable?”
Jordan Henderson reveals that a conversation with Jurgen Klopp about dancing, or the lack of, was when he knew that their new manager was special.
It might seem unusual, but then if Klopp was the same as everyone else then he wouldn’t be special, and what he achieved with Liverpool in such a short time was truly remarkable.
Henderson was already the club captain when the German arrived to replace Brendan Rodgers after a string of disappointing results.
The turnaround was pretty much immediate as the former Dortmund boss guided the Reds to the League Cup and Europa League final.
Unfortunately for the Anfield faithful, they lost both finals and the Europa League defeat in particular really stung Henderson, who was yet to lift his first trophy as skipper.
A Daniel Sturridge goal gave them the lead early in the game, but they eventually lost 3-1 to Sevilla, and Henderson struggled to deal with the disappointment.
“Going back to the hotel where there’d have been a party if we won, as a player you’re just so down. You just want to go to bed really and just try to sleep,” Henderson told the High Performance Podcast.
“There were a few of us in the corner because he [Klopp] said to everybody when we get back, to go down to the reception bar area. Everybody comes down and a few of us are sitting in the corner with our tails between our legs.
“He comes over and said: ‘Are yous going to be like this all night, why are you so miserable? It’s a bad moment but that’s when you stay together and need everyone together. Also, this is just the beginning.'”
That’s when the penny dropped for Henderson and he realised that this man didn’t come to the club to reach a couple of finals, and that he had much bigger plans in mind.
“By the end, he basically said he wanted us all on the dance-floor by the end of the night.
“We were signing ‘We are Liverpool’. It was totally different to anything that I’ve ever experienced before.”
Related links:
The FootballJOE quiz: Were you paying attention? – episode 10
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