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John Aldridge has a theory behind Jordan Henderson’s improvement at Liverpool
Jordan Henderson has become a hugely important player for Liverpool over the past few years.
The 30-year-old didn’t always convince in the early years of his Anfield career, but has worked tremedously hard to do the club captaincy justice following the departure of legend Steven Gerrard in 2015.
Henderson assumed the armband and only in the past couple of years has he truly grown into the role of skipper.
Now, he is one of the team’s most important players, but John Aldridge believes something Liverpool did in 2018 is part of the reason for Henderson’s brilliance these days.
The Reds legend reckons the signing of Virgil van Dijk was something that put pressure on Henderson to improve as a leader.
: “When Virgil van Dijk came to the club, everyone was saying he would go on to be the captain and Jordan’s not soft, he probably knew what people were thinking and that the big Dutchman was a threat to his hopes of keeping hold of the armband.
Liverpool Football Club can confirm they have reached an agreement with Southampton for the transfer of Virgil van Dijk.
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— Liverpool FC (@LFC)
“But he upped his game as a captain, in the dressing room and on the pitch, and I really think he’s been a brilliant captain for Liverpool and deserves all the accolades which have come his way in recent times.”
TBR’s View – Aldridge might just be right
It is a fair point. The signing of van Dijk for a reported £75 million () was obviously significant in terms of, Liverpool were getting themselves a top-class defender.
But they were also getting a natural-born leader and a figure of authority, and Henderson probably knew that full well.
It is very possible Henderson felt threatened by the idea of van Dijk assuming the captaincy and so he’s been playing and leading out of skin as a result.
There was probably never really any danger of him losing the armband, but Liverpool fans would obviously be delighted with him if he really did see van Dijk’s arrival as a challenge.