Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard believes that the current wearer of the Reds armband Jordan Henderson should be judged on his own merits rather than being compared to himself.
LA Galaxy player Gerrard was full of praise for how Reds midfielder Henderson has developed as a player since he arrived at the club from Sunderland for £16m back in 2011. He is quoted by Football365 as saying:
“People have got to judge Jordan Henderson for Jordan Henderson. What does he give to the team, what does he give to his team-mates around him? I know this kid and he has come out of Sunderland and has gone to a big club.”
“He didn’t get off to the best of starts – he knows that himself – but he has worked tremendously hard to improve in every single department. He really cares. He goes home and tries everything he can to be the best at what he does so he should be judged on what he brings to the team.”
Henderson has had to play in a similar holding midfield role that Gerrard ended up playing in in his latter career at Anfield under Brendan Rodgers. Although he is taking time to adapt to the role, there have been signs in recent matches that Henderson is getting to grips with the position, and he provided the assist for Roberto Firmino’s equalising goals against Swansea City at the weekend. That followed his goal of the month strike against Chelsea on Liverpool’s last league away trip.
