Boss on Hendo's development, PL trophy lift and personal records
Jürgen Klopp saluted the development of Jordan Henderson the person and footballer on the five-year anniversary of him becoming Liverpool captain.
The No.14 succeeded Steven Gerrard in the role back in 2015 and has since lifted the Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup with the armband on for the Reds.
A knee injury will prevent Henderson from appearing in the remaining four fixtures of this season, but Klopp insists it won't stop him from raising the Premier League trophy aloft at the end of the campaign.
Read on below as the boss discussed the skipper and more at a press conference ahead of Saturday's fixture with Burnley...
On Henderson's five years as Liverpool captain...
He's the only captain I had here at Liverpool and I'm overly happy that this decision was made before I came in. It's cool. How it always is in life, people have to grow in new roles. He had to do that and it was the most difficult job you could have, honestly, because in whatever manner the person who is doing the job after Stevie, it would always be difficult. But Hendo grew in that role. Meanwhile, he's probably a role model for the next generation of Liverpool skippers. Absolutely great. Nice to be part of this development really. He became a man age-wise and he became a really proper captain, that's exactly how it should be. On top of that, he improved. He was always a good player but made big steps in his game as well and that's while you are massively under pressure from outside expectations and stuff like this. That's a pretty interesting achievement, I have to say, and it's not easy to do. He did. So after his career when he looks back, there are a lot of reasons why he should be really proud.
On the skipper lifting the Premier League trophy...
We know since yesterday that the injury is not as serious as we really thought. It was a big relief because, for what he played in the last years now, he deserves being in that spot in that moment. But life is like [how] life is. If he would have had surgery, would've been in hospital and stuff like this, then it would have been difficult. But now he's not, so no surgery needed, rehab starts immediately, he will be fine in a few weeks and will train again and play again. We will find a solution that we show the respect for what he did. But all the other boys around, they all want that, by the way. They all want him to be there and that was one of the first things I heard after we won the league, I think Virg told him, 'You can do the shuffle again.' I'm not sure if he's able to do the shuffle but that's probably the smallest problem of all.
On how useful individual accolades are for certain members of his squad...
Look, if Ali wins the Golden Glove, that means we have obviously how many games with a clean sheet, which would really help us as a team. If we provide the winner of the Golden Boot, that means we have a lot of goals. So that helps absolutely. My players don't need individual targets to be highest motivated, but they don't disturb. They are absolutely rather helpful than anything else. But in the end, it's all about winning a football game. If it would be different, I would tell them it's not OK. But in the end, it's always first and foremost about winning a football game and not about the other stuff. But it's nice when you can win both.
