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Jeff Stelling has claimed Liverpool is “missing” Jordan Henderson after the club’s former captain guided Brentford to victory against Arne Slot’s side on Saturday.
Henderson lined up against the Reds for the first time since his 2023 departure and put in an excellent performance from midfield as Brentford inflicted a fourth straight league defeat on Liverpool. The 35-year-old demonstrated the sort of drive, determination and leadership qualities that made him such a success at Anfield.
The contrast between the Reds’ disjointed midfield could not have been more stark, with Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai beginning the game in center. While neither played especially poorly, Liverpool's structure was lacking, as underlined by Kevin Schade’s goal, when Mikkel Damsgaard had all the time in the world to slide a defense-splitting pass in between the Reds' center-backs.
Stelling, who joked he is the “leader of the Jordan Henderson fan club,” said Liverpool could have done with the ex-Sunderland man’s presence in midfield.
“They're missing Jordan Henderson. Again, he was brilliant. He just controls everything. Brentford had 11 star players out there,” the broadcaster said on talkSPORT.
“I'm going to hold my hands up again. Jordan Henderson. Oh, my goodness,” Stelling said last week in the wake of Brentford’s victory over West Ham.
“He has proved me and a lot of other people so, so, so wrong. He controls everything. He wants the ball constantly. He makes them tick.”
Henderson has looked rejuvenated since his return to the Premier League this summer, putting to bed any doubts about his place in the England team under Thomas Tuchel.
He earned praise from Arne Slot ahead of Saturday’s game, who claimed Ajax’s form has dropped markedly since Henderson’s departure last summer.
The club’s 2020 Premier League-winning captain received warm applause from the away supporters at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday, and Henderson spoke of his enduring affinity to the Reds after the game.
“I think [it was] a little bit [strange] before because I've been at Liverpool for so long,” he told TNT Sports.
“It's always deep inside us forever there; I'd been there so long. It was my life for 12 years.
“It was a little bit strange, but having said that, I knew when the whistle goes, it was business as usual, and I was focused and I'd be ready to go and I'd be in the right frame of mind, which I was.”
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