With Reds captain Steven Gerrard announcing that he will join LA Galaxy upon his contract expiry, a once inconceivable situation is edging closer to becoming a reality. Liverpool will have to begin a new era without their skipper this coming summer. Gerrard will undoubtedly leave a huge void in a club that he has devoted the last 26 years of his life to.
The man tasked with filling his boots as captain of the club, it seems, is central midfielder Jordan Henderson. He is described as everything ranging from a workhorse with no end product (admittedly by opposition fans who fail to watch him every weekend) to one of the first names on the England team sheet, depending on whom you ask. To say he divides opinion amongst other Premier League supporters would be somewhat of an understatement. He is adored by the Liverpool fans, though, and he is very much now “one of our own”.
The Sunderland-born, England international was appointed vice captain last summer, after Daniel Agger completed his move back to his homeland with Brøndby. In his first few months with the club, very few were convinced by the performances Henderson was producing, which were mainly from the right hand side of a midfield four. He was acquired in that infamous 2011 January transfer window and, until the beginning of last season, was still being thrown in with the Andy Carroll’s and Stewart Downing’s of this world, labelled as a waste of the £16m the Reds handed over for his services. Many seem to forget that he was only 20 when he signed his first contract at Melwood.
What a roller-coaster three years it’s been. Fluctuating from the extreme lows of being on the verge of a move to Fulham as part of a deal for Clint Dempsey, to the extreme high of being Liverpool’s heir to the throne that Gerrard will leave behind. Personally, if the next captain is already at the club, I believe that Henderson is the right man for the job.
The current skipper seems to share these sentiments, claiming that Henderson has the potential to be a great Liverpool captain. From the outside looking in, it’s easy to recognise the influence Gerrard has had on Henderson. By making Henderson vice captain, Rodgers gave him a great opportunity to learn from the Liverpool legend by working closer to him than ever, and I’m sure he will cherish these last 6 months and learn as much as he possibly can before Gerrard jets off to the US.
Even without the armband, Henderson is always organising and motivating the teammates around him, and is one of very few who looks a real natural leader in between the white lines. With the armband, however, everything seems to go to another level, as we saw with his brilliant performance against Swansea recently.
The 24-year-old has now earned the respect of the dressing room, and the armband is a great reward for his commitment and improvement over the last two seasons.
Is Henderson the right player to take on the captaincy? Who else could take the role? Let us know in the comments below.
