25 Jun 2026 19:41:10
Liverpool have a bad habit of not signing elite midfielders and then crying about forwards.
The last real elite midfielders we had was Alonso Mascherano and Gerrard back in 2008-09.
25 Jun 2026 19:51:19
I think it could be argued the club signed an elite midfielder in Thiago. Of course he didn't turn out elite for the club but that was due to factors outside of their control.
When signing Grav and Szob, no doubts the hopes are they can both become elite.
And, just come into my head, Fabinho was an elite midfielder.
25 Jun 2026 19:52:35
Fabinho was elite, mate.
Wirtz, hopefully, will be next season too.
Certainly was sought after as if he was.
25 Jun 2026 19:54:51
Harry, is that you mate?
25 Jun 2026 20:19:18
That was a considerable run of success we had under Klopp considering we supposedly only had one elite midfielder.
High profile names are no guarantee of success on the pitch.
25 Jun 2026 20:24:56
Can't believe you don't think Keita was high calibre.
25 Jun 2026 20:47:48
Alonso certainly turned out to be an elite midfielder. He certainly wasn't when we signed him.
25 Jun 2026 21:07:34
Henderson was elite, he just wasn't fashionable. He's probably the best actual CM Liverpool have had in my lifetime. Gerrard was a generational AM but was too rash as a CM. Alonso was good for us at CM, peaked after he left. Mascherano was a limited player despite being a very good DM, hence why Barcelona made him a CB.
Henderson is so criminally underrated. He might not have been a game changer or a headliner, but in his prime he was at least in the same conversation as the likes of Essien, Carrick, Gundogan, Fernandinho, Kante, Keane, Bernardo, Rice etc. You ask Pep Guardiola who the best side he's faced is, and he'll say it's the Liverpool side with Henderson in the engine room, for good reason.
Listen to Ben Foster's podcast, where he talks about Henderson during Covid and how amazed the whole Watford team were at how every player on the pitch looked to Henderson for instructions; that kind of leadership and game management is a criminally underappreciated skill.
I think Vieira and Rodri are the only Premier League DM/CMs in my lifetime who were undeniably and discernibly better than Henderson personally. The likes of Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes, De Bruyne, Fabregas etc were phenomenal in terms of their offensive contributions, but if you're talking about the elite water carriers who enabled those kinds of players to shine, Henderson is up there with the absolute best.
{Ed025's Note - lets not put Hendo in the same bracket as Kante MK, i know you are a staunch red mate but thats just ridiculous, you may as well say there was not much between Salah and Thierno Barry mate FFS..
25 Jun 2026 21:13:13
Definitely in your opinion, Mk. Many might agree with you. Many might not.
25 Jun 2026 21:14:38
Well said, MK.
{Ed025's Note - i think MK has been out in the sun too long Gibbs..
25 Jun 2026 21:18:24
MK, totally love this post. Jordan, for me, the best midfielder we have had since Souness. Yes, Stevie G had more talent (and was also a 10 or rm in my view), but Jordan was so like Keegan: just drove himself beyond his technical ability.
A superb captain too. We miss him.
{Ed025's Note - very good Captain MS i agree with that, but lets tell the truth here mate he was a bang average footballer..
25 Jun 2026 21:32:15
I love Henderson. But there are plenty of Central Midfielders who were better than him in my opinion.
(Definitions of a central midfielder may differ, but for the purpose of this post I will consider anyone who played CDM, CM, CAM).
Off the top of my head, I think these were all better than Henderson, and I think most people would agree with at least a few of them:
Gerrard, Bruno, David Silva, Fernandinho, Fabinho, KDB, Kante, Keane, Vieira, Rice, Fabregas, Bernardo Silva, Lampard, Scholes, Rodri, Modric (better after he left Spurs).
{Ed025's Note - i agree NK and i could add another 100 to that list mate..
25 Jun 2026 21:34:05
Thing about Hendo was: every game I watched, when he wasn't playing, I'd always be muttering "we're missing Henderson" after about 50 mins.
We always missed him when he wasn't playing.
25 Jun 2026 21:14:35
Sorry Harry, all of the Croatian midfielders are finished now.
25 Jun 2026 21:37:42
Agree totally mk, he wasn't fashionable, but his leadership was up there with the best for me, screaming out for someone like him now and you have to think they were trying to get rid of him as well.
25 Jun 2026 21:38:50
100% agree with MK and Ron.
25 Jun 2026 21:41:20
I agree with all of the positive Henderson chat. Fantastic player and captain. Gave absolutely everything.
{Ed025's Note - a fine skipper SG, but more of a traffic cop than a baller im afraid mate
25 Jun 2026 21:46:28
ED25 Henderson a bang average footballer? A lot of people on the Liverpool staff would disagree with you.
{Ed025's Note - then they dont know their arse from their elbow Stevie..i was being kind with "average" mate..
25 Jun 2026 22:08:00
Monster, oh my god.you actually saying Hendo was better than Gerrard, Gerrard was a midfielder n everything else.next time you go out in the sun remember to put factor 50 on
25 Jun 2026 22:21:04
Thristforwirtz, your point is completely incorrect; none of the elite players you claimed we signed were elite at the time we signed them. Gerrard came through the academy, Mascherano and Alonso were signed for their potential, before making a name for themselves at Liverpool. It was only after their stints with us that they were taken into elite consideration.
Szoboslai, Wirtz and Gravenberch are all very much in that same 'signed for their potential to become elite' bracket.
MK, I love Hendo, and I always backed him even in the early days when he caught nothing but criticism. Stevie was a tough act to follow, but putting Henderson in the same bracket as Keane is complete and utter nonsense.
25 Jun 2026 22:42:08
Gerrard was the best midfield player the Premier League has ever seen. He's not talked about in the same bracket as Keane and Viera because he had a rubbish team around him for most of his career, but for me he was easily a better player. He carried us for years, pretty much on his own.
Hendo was a decent player but not at the same level, and simply can't be in the conversation when the best midfielders in the Premier League are being discussed.
Great captain but a very limited player for me. Loved the Hendo shuffle though.
{Ed025's Note - spot on mate..
25 Jun 2026 22:44:02
Hendo will never be included in a list of elite midfielders because his attacking ability was limited. You wouldn't look to him for stepovers or bangers from 40 yards. However, I do think he is underrated - his passing, for example, improved tremendously over time. So, to call him bang average is, I think, an exaggeration.
But MKS is on the money when he says that every midfield needs a player like him. Someone who will do the hard yards, who will work his socks off, and cover the gaps that people like Gerrard would leave. Who will help the midfield seize control of a game. Who, as MKS said, allowed the stars to shine. For me, it was when Hendo got that red card in 2013-14 that I felt we lost the season.
Hendo will never make the list of top 10 individual midfielders, but he definitely would be in the discussion of "players who make a midfield elite".
And you need to note MKS was talking about CM not CAM or AM or any of the other acronyms. A true CM will be constantly offering themselves as a passing option in possession, tracking opposing player, protecting the defence, linking attack and defence, winning the transitions. So, they need a huge engine and will often go unseen because they are doing the dirty work. They won't make the highlight reel, but without them you wonder why you aren't winning games - which was noticeable when Hendo didn't play.
25 Jun 2026 22:59:55
Naby Keita was a talent, no doubt - his body just wasn't cut out for the Premier League intensity - he has never recovered from the injuries, sadly, and his career is now going downhill as a result.
25 Jun 2026 23:36:59
Sorry, Hendo was bang average? Don't talk rubbish. He's not Kante level or in the same galaxy as Gerrard, but who is. Hendo was a very good player, simple as.
26 Jun 2026 00:11:57
Hendo was an excellent footballer and captain for us, but I'm sorry, putting him in the same bracket as Kante and Keane is just nonsense. Roy Keane wasn't just a dm, he was everything. Prime Kante was like an entire midfield on his own, he was absolutely everywhere.
26 Jun 2026 00:37:36
Stromz, you are arguing against an empty punch bag. At no point did I say Hendo was a better midfielder than Stevie G. I just mentioned that we won a few titles with workhorses in midfield.
I don't think Hendo was the most talented, but he is up there with Keegan for making more than the most of his ability.
He was, for many years, the guy who made the team tick - and we really suffered whenever he was injured.
26 Jun 2026 00:52:17
Monstersouness, you're digging some hole mate! First you claim Henderson's the best midfielder since Souness! He's not even top 3, maybe top 5. Now you're pivoting by making it out like Keegan lacked ability?! Let me know when you get to China, mate!
26 Jun 2026 01:27:11
Monster, I loved Hendo myself, but you wrote he was the best midfielder for us since Souness. Gerrard was even better than Souness, a supreme player, one of the elite footballers. He was classed as the best midfielder in the world for few years by Zidane n a few others.
26 Jun 2026 03:41:37
In my opinion, Stevie G makes the top 6 midfielders in the history of the PL, but I'd say both that Rodri and KDB were the best defensive and attacking MFs respectively.
Hendo is similar to Richard Starkey.
Starkey wasn't the most gifted drummer there has ever been but he was an integral part of the best group the world has ever seen and without him they wouldn't have been as good.
He was the right shape to fit the last piece of the jigsaw.
Hendo is the same, not the most gifted MF but was part of a team that was collectively much better than the sum of the parts and, as somebody said above, was missed when he wasn't there.
26 Jun 2026 06:54:05
And still, he was better than every one of our midfielders last season at his mature age.
I got slated on a WhatsApp group for suggesting taking him back on a two year deal. He wouldn't have let the standards drop last season like they did, that's for sure!!
Would have made a massive difference in the 6 position for us last season.
26 Jun 2026 09:04:21
Didn't we finish 5th in Hendos last season?
26 Jun 2026 09:30:59
Isn't an elite water carrier a contradiction?
26 Jun 2026 07:08:32
I'm more with MK than ed25 and others belittling Henderson's footballing ability.
His game intelligence and positioning and off the ball were another level. You can only have the ball so long with another 22 players on the pitch so what you do off the ball and help others do is vital.
His athleticism was another level too.
Can't remember which season it was, but it was the Suarez etc season where we were cruising the league under Rodgers and then lost Henderson for the last few games and lost the league to city. That sums it up for me. You miss him when he's gone.
Whilst we're on great midfield buys another of my favourites was wijanuldum. Some player
{Ed025's Note - it’s all about opinions LTV. Except what I say is not an opinion it’s FACT mate
26 Jun 2026 10:56:34
You sound like Benitez there, Eddie25.
26 Jun 2026 11:47:02
Hendo had elite mentality hence, he was elite.
I wouldn't pay that much attention to Ed25. He is still trying to convince himself that Tom Davis was better than Gini Wijnaldum.
I wouldn't hold my breathe if I was him.
{Ed025's Note - in the end there was not much between Gini and TD Oli, both wastes of space mate..
26 Jun 2026 13:38:33
There can't be another 22 players on the pitch. Not unless one team is playing with 12 men.
26 Jun 2026 16:23:22
He was an elite team player.
He didn't have elite ball skills if you look at him in isolation, but players who did have elite ball skills are often poor team players.