Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson believes that the leadership qualities displayed throughout The Reds’ current squad are just as important as the technical abilities they possess.
Henderson was being interviewed for Liverpoolfc.com as a celebration of the midfielder having played his 250th Premier League game for the club.
Only Jamie Carragher, Robbie Fowler, Pepe Reina, Steven Gerrard and Sami Hyppia before him have achieved that feat since the Premier League was formed in 1992.
In what is a very in-depth interview, and well worth checking out on the club’s site, Henderson spoke about Liverpool’s current mentality and the leaders in the dressing room.
“Our mentality is just as important as the technical ability of the team. I think everybody sees how talented the squad is, how many good players we’ve got in the team, but mentality is huge in football.
“We’ve got a lot of good leaders in the squad, a lot of great lads with a fantastic attitude towards football and the way they live outside of the game, so that’s really important when you’re playing every three days to make sure you’re doing everything you can to be 100 per cent for the next match. We’ve got that. Everyone is pushing each other, everyone wants to play, we’ve got that big of a squad with great players that it might change from time to time and players might rotate, but you want to keep improving, keep playing and keep doing the best for the team to ultimately win trophies.”
Henderson also spoke about the team’s focus and how they manage to keep their minds on the task despite the temptations of social media, among other things.
“You try not to read as much on social media and stuff like that. The manager is really good with that. He makes sure the focus in training is 100 per cent no matter what competition or who we’re playing. It’s not about what people on the outside are saying, it’s about what we do. Every training session is 100 per cent focus and 100 per cent concentration. That’s really important, that’s big for us.
“We’ve got great characters in the dressing room, great leaders in the dressing room, who can lead that and make sure that level doesn’t drop, the standards are set every single day. When you do that over a period of time, you get into the routine of doing that and then it becomes easier and easier.
“Now and again, someone might have to do something just to remind someone, or the manager might say something to make sure that standards are not dropping and the focus remains at 100 per cent. Now and again, you do need that, but overall we have a great squad that are always focused and are always wanting to achieve more.”
Liverpool return to action this Saturday when they travel to face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in the Premier League. For our full match preview, click here.
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