The date is 9th June 2011 and Liverpool announce the signing of 20 year old Sunderland midfielder Jordan Henderson on a long term deal. A signing which was questioned as to whether or not it was the correct decision, possibly overshadowed by the overall business Liverpool did that summer signing such players as Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing, players who lets say, failed to hit the ground running at Anfield. Henderson had a slow start to his Liverpool career however did start the 2012 League Cup triumph over Cardiff City on penalties, being replaced by Craig Bellamy in the 58th minute after a quiet performance. Henderson then went on to play in the FA Cup final where Liverpool went down 2-1 to Chelsea, it overall went down as a disappointing season for Henderson however he was certainly not the weakest link in a poor Liverpool team.
Dalglish left and in came Swansea City manager Brendan Rodgers who's long term idea was to move Henderson from a right sided midfielder in to more of a central minded midfielder. Rodgers did however try to put a deal in place for Fulham forward Clint Dempsey, using Henderson as a makeweight in a swap deal, something when looking back at the situation will go down as a bullet dodged. Whilst working under Rodgers, Henderson started to blossom into a 20 million pound central midfielder playing on the right side of a central diamond formation which saw captain Steven Gerrard move to a more defensive role, Henderson started to add more goals to his game under Rodgers but his strongest season under Rodgers was his first season as vice-captain in 2013/14, the season where Liverpool came within inches of a first league championship since 1990. Henderson starred in a midfield role alongside Gerrard and Brazilian Philippe Coutinho, giving service to the destructive front 3 of Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge and Golden Boot winner and PFA Player of the Year, Luis Suarez. This was the season where Henderson matured into a full international, gaining a call up for his first World Cup with England and gaining plaudits from many saying he had been one of the most important cogs in such a strong Liverpool team. However one of the low points in the season and a moment in which many see as a turning point in the title race, Henderson was sent off in the last minute of the clash with Manchester City and being awarded a 3 match ban which saw him miss the games against Norwich, Chelsea and Crystal Palace, a run of games in which Liverpool took only 4 points out of 9 and ultimately missed out on the title.
At the end of the 2014/15 season, Steven Gerrard was to leave Liverpool after spending his whole career at the club and move to LA Galaxy, a move which saw Henderson promoted to the Liverpool captaincy, a move which was universally agreed by Liverpool fans saying that it was the correct decision and the right direction they wanted leadership to go in. The first season under the leadership of Henderson saw another change in the dugout, Rodgers was sacked after a 1-1 draw away to rivals Everton and in came the former Borussia Dortmund boss, Jurgen Klopp. Klopp decided that Henderson was to be his captain and to carry on leading the side in a season which saw Liverpool get to 2 finals, the League Cup final against Manchester City which they lost on penalties and the Europa League final against Sevilla losing 3-1 in Bern. Henderson was not without his critics for a few years, some fans asking for him to be replaced as captain by either the experienced James Milner or the defensive colossus in Dutchman, Virgil Van Dijk, this something that clearly has not been in the mind of Klopp. Henderson's next final as captain was to be the European Cup final in 2018 in Kiev, a season where Liverpool had performed impeccably going into the final, forwards Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and 'Bobby' Firmino all scoring big goals in the knockout stages to get to Kiev and became the most feared front 3 in Europe. However Kiev was to end in heartbreak, a disastrous game from German goalkeeper Loris Karius handing winners Real Madrid 2 goals in a 3-1 win for the Spanish outfit in a game where Mo Salah was injured by Sergio Ramos who somehow escaped a red card for the challenge.
Going in to the 2018/19 season, this was to be a huge season for Henderson, if he was to struggle, Klopp may have seen the positives in changing the captaincy to the afore mentioned Van Dijk. However what was to come was to be the best full season of Jordan Henderson's career. Liverpool were to have an impeccable season, finishing on 97 points in the Premier League, finishing 2nd behind eventual champions Manchester City after a tussle where neither team gave an inch, both winning every game from mid-March to the end of the season. It was on the European front where Henderson was to finally get his hands on more silverware after a 7 year wait and the first piece of silverware as Liverpool captain. After wins over Bayern Munich and Porto, Liverpool somehow came back from 3-0 down to win 4-3 on aggregate against Spanish champions Barcelona, Henderson outstanding in the return leg at Anfield, you could see how much it meant to the captain at the end of the game with emotion pouring out onto the Anfield turf. English outfit Tottenham stood in the way of Henderson and Liverpool winning a 6th European Cup, Liverpool overcame the challenge of Spurs, beating them 2-0 in Madrid with goals from Salah and cult hero Divock Origi. Henderson in tears at full time after another captains performance where you could see he had put everything into the performance, embracing manager Klopp and struggling to stand up, running on empty and capping off his best season in a red shirt since the 2013/14 campaign.
If the 18/19 campaign was impressive then this season's performances have been nothing short of superb from the Liverpool captain. Tremendous performances against reigning champions Manchester City, away to title rivals Leicester City and the World Club Championship final against Flamengo have stood out and made people aware of exactly what Jordan Henderson is capable of. Flamengo manager Jorge Jesus was quoted as saying he believes Henderson is the world's best midfielder, a statement which would have been laughed at 24 months ago however at this moment, with the captaincy element involved, I feel Jordan would be a fair enough contender for that title. Henderson has formed a formidable partnership in Liverpool's midfield 3 with Fabinho and Gini Wijnaldum which looks like Klopp's preferred trio when going into games and has been solid in the big games, it was also the midfield of choice in Madrid. Liverpool have been without Fabinho for around a month now and Henderson has stepped in to the void and has done his job tremendously, at this moment arguably the best footballer in the league and a good outside bet for Player of the Year. Henderson has also become the first captain of a British team to lift the international club treble, lifting the European Cup, Super Cup and World Club Championship in the last 12 months, a feat many would not have seen coming when Liverpool lost 6-1 to Stoke City in the last game before Henderson became Liverpool captain.
Liverpool sit 16 points clear at the top of the Premier League with a game in hand on their rivals and if they were to go on to win the league, there aren't many people who would deny that there is no man in this current squad that deserves that trophy as much as Jordan Henderson, what a player he has become and the reception he received off the Kop when leaving the field after defeating Manchester United was massively deserved. I just hope that the roar is even louder if his name is hopefully read out before lifting the Premier League trophy.
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