Jordan Henderson getting injured was obviously a bad thing for Liverpool, but it may have been the best thing for Jordan Henderson. Not often we say that.
The Reds have played three and a bit games without their captain since he went down with a hamstring injury against Atlético Madrid, and all of those 280 minutes have been absolutely tortuous.
Some problems for Klopp to grapple with but a sense of perspective important. #LFC have dropped 5pts all season and could still retain the Champions League. The next time the Reds see Chelsea, Lampard's men will be forming a guard of honour at Anfield. https://t.co/XTKWcOvbK4
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) March 4, 2020
It started in that 3-2 win over West Ham. Just a vile game of football. Possibly the worst 3-2 that's been played. On paper, a 1-0 to 1-2 to 3-2 twisty turnaround should've been a banger, but it was dull. West Ham played badly, Liverpool winning was inevitable even when it wasn't, and if not for an offside decision, it could have been (a somehow more unremarkable) 4-2.
However you slice it though, Hendo's first game out was a Lukasz Fabianski howler away from finishing 2-2. At Anfield. Against a team in the relegation zone. Then they lost 3-0 to Watford and 2-0 to Chelsea. Which is bad.
Did Henderson's absence actually have an impact? Not a scooby. It's properly hard to figure out what kind of impact someone like him has on a game by game basis, because there isn't an Opta feed for 'desire', and 'leadership', and whatever else pundits kinda think the 29-year-old brings to the table. There's no metric for 'passion'. We asked.
The really troubling thing for Liverpool (apart from the 'conceding seven in three games' bit) is that they haven't scored in three out of their last four games. For someone who isn't really a 'tactics guy' or a 'stats guy' or a 'football expert', it seems a little bit like the player who's sixth in league assists for the team – with a whole three goals of his own – doesn't actually have that much to do with that.
Jordan Henderson. Captain.
— Anfield Watch (@AnfieldWatch) March 1, 2020
pic.twitter.com/eEjUJaWmpD
Maybe he does! Maybe there's some sort of hidden mechanical reason in this particular Liverpool team that means they're utterly dependant on a stodgy Mackem for their attacking moves, rather than Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino. And Mohamed Salah. And the rest of them. Don't know. Don't care. Not the point.
The point is the narrative switch. He was probably favourite to win the PFA Player of the Year award before this little injury layoff, but now? The last three weeks has made it very clear (even if it isn't actually that clear and might not be, y'know, true) that Henderson really is the beating heart who makes this Liverpool team tick, the one who ties it all together, the man who brings the intangibles and drags them back from the brink.
Mané, Alisson, Virgil van Dijk – they could all have taken these games by the scruff of the neck and made the case that they are the driving force behind this team's greatness. Didn't happen.
Henderson's injury is bad for Liverpool. They've lost their best ever chance to go through a Premier League season unbeaten, they might throw away all of their cup chances, and some of that might (???????????) be because he got injured and missed a tiny, miniature handful of games.
Never ever, ever, ever criticise what Jordan Henderson provides this side again
— Empire of the Kop (@empireofthekop) February 29, 2020
For him, though? Great. Cracking. Get that PFA trophy engraved right now, he's the real MVP – even if he got there by only caring about the stuff that his teammates have screwed up in his absence.
For more from Chris Deeley, follow him on Twitter at @ThatChris1209!
Source : 90min