Steve McManaman finding it difficult to predict who will be Liverpool captain after Jordan Henderson
In conversation with Horseracing.net (h/t Liverpool Echo), former Liverpool player, Steve McManaman, has expressed his opinions on the debate about the Reds’ next captain after Jordan Henderson.
The ex-England midfielder is of the opinion that finding a suitable candidate to replace Jordan Henderson as the captain in the long term is a difficult task in this Liverpool squad.
The 31-year-old midfielder has been the first-choice captain ever since Steven Gerrard left the club in 2015. He has seen the club return to its former glory under current manager Jurgen Klopp.
McManaman went on to comment on the predicament:
“You would just go backwards into defence and give it to one of the defenders. If anything happened to Jordan Henderson and James Milner, I presume you’d give it to Virgil. He’d be the ideal choice, but he’s now 30.”
The former Liverpool wide man then singled out the youngsters in the team such as Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate, but those two, according to him, are too young and inexperienced right now.
“When you look at the XI that started against Crystal Palace, nobody jumps out who is going to be there for the next ten years and be a leader. Not yet certainly.”
Jurgen Klopp spoke on the issue back in 2018 and revealed that Virgil van Dijk and Gini Wijnaldum were chosen as the 3rd and 4th options for captaincy. The latter has already left the club for Paris Saint-Germain.
Gerrard was a true Scouser in our team and had the Liverpool DNA ingrained in him, but Henderson has been an able successor to the legend as they have prospered under him in recent years. Trent Alexander-Arnold is another youngster who could go on to become an important figure in this squad.
The right wing-back was handed the armband in a Champions League fixture against FC Midtjylland. This shows that the management is confident in his ability to lead the team.
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That being said, the youngster still has a long way to go in his career but could definitely be in contention for the role one day. With Milner, van Dijk and Henderson in their 30s it seems like the need to identify a new leader is more important than ever.
