Former Aston Villa star Lee Hendrie has warned Liverpool that they are wasting captain Jordan Henderson’s influence by sticking him at centre-half, as reported by HITC.
Jurgen Klopp has recently favoured the England international in the back four, following injuries sustained to Fabinho and the club’s remaining senior centre-back in Joel Matip.
“I am looking at Henderson,” said the Sky Sports pundit. “And I think he has been fantastic for Liverpool, but when you put him back at centre-half, you are losing what you have got.”
“I know they had no choice but they have got two new defenders. I thought that was the time [against Brighton] for Davies to come in,” Hendrie added. “I just think having Henderson at central midfield, he dictates a lot of play, he is a big voice in the changing room and he’s a big leader.”
With the side having brought in the likes of Ozan Kabak and Ben Davies in the winter window, one of the pair will likely be brought into the fold in one of the upcoming Premier League ties.
Hendrie does have something of a point about Henderson’s influence, with Liverpool’s football suffering immensely at the hands of positional changes for the remaining players.
That being said, one can understand Klopp wanting to bring his new signings up to speed on the way we play before throwing them straight in the deep end, which the German may be forced to do tonight against league leaders Manchester City.
If we are to have any hope of retaining the title, a victory at Anfield against the title challengers is an absolute must.
Perhaps we could see the former Dortmund coach take a leap of faith and install one of our newest signings at the back in order to allow our skipper to return to his favoured midfield slot.