It would be fair to say that Steven Gerrard was the greatest captain in Liverpool’s history, therefore one knew that it would be difficult to find a successor to his throne at Anfield. 5 years since moving to Liverpool from Sunderland, Jordan Henderson is currently undergoing a rough patch in his career. He was handed the captain’s armband last summer by Brendan Rodgers but one year on, there are still many among Liverpool faithful’s who doubt whether Henderson is the right guy for the job or not.

The former Sunderland player confirmed that he had questioned his contribution as the club captain last season but is pretty sure about himself going into the new season. The England international who made just 17 Premier League appearances last season as the Reds captain said, “I’ve never felt that I didn’t want the captaincy but there were times last season when I was very down because I wasn’t playing and I questioned my contribution as captain because of that.”. Henderson was going along nicely before injuries took a heavy toll on his form. The midfielder further added, “It was a very difficult time and I was down. There were a lot of things going through my head and though there was never a time when I didn’t want the captaincy or doubted whether I was the right man for it, there were times when it was hard to feel like the captain because I wasn’t contributing on the pitch.”

Henderson is yet to hit full speed this season but that is mostly due to Klopp using him as a holding midfielder due to the injuries to Emre Can and Lucas Leiva. Despite 22 goals and 34 assists in his 212 appearances for Liverpool, there are many who question Henderson’s contribution in the attacking third. His lack of creativity in and around the box and the inability to find an end product are often used by his critics to point out how the pressure of the captaincy is affecting his general game.

However, we should remember that Henderson is still a player with tremendous quality if he can manage to stay fit, and there is no doubting the fact that he will improve. Prior to last season, Henderson enjoyed two very successful seasons with the club. He made a total of 71 starts, in which he scored 10 goals and earned 16 assists. He played a very pivotal role in the season in which Liverpool narrowly missed out on winning the league title. Henderson should focus primarily on staying fit this season and getting as much game time as possible.