Jurgen Klopp has praised captain Jordan Henderson for his progress at Anfield, suggesting the player is finally stepping out of the shadow of Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard.
Henderson has struggled with injuries but returned to the starting line up in the Premier League against Newcastle, with the former Sunderland midfielder running the show.
The 27-year-old is looking to secure a place in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the World Cup this summer, and speaking ahead of Liverpool’s second-leg clash with Porto in the Champions League, Klopp revealed his admiration for his skipper.
‘He knows what I think about him and Gareth Southgate is thinking about him,’ he told reporters.
Jurgen Klopp praised Jordan Henderson for his performance against Newcastle on Saturday
‘Can he improve? Yes, he’s young enough to do so.But is he a very strong player? Yes, 100 per cent as well. That’s why he’s playing for us, that’s why he’s our skipper.
‘Last game was an outstandingly good game from him in a lot of parts. He controlled the game, switched the side, his passing range was brilliant. He was patient, won the challenges.
‘He has the most difficult job in England – he had to replace Steven Gerrard. That’s not a nice job to have.
‘Hopefully people don’t think about that too much now and see him as a single person. As a fantastic footballer. I always thought he dealt really well with it.
Menanwhile, Klopp has suggested he will not make wholesale changes against Porto despite Liverpool’s five-goal advantage.
Liverpool head to Manchester United on Saturday and Klopp could be forgiven for resting several senior stars including Mo Salah for the second leg of their last-16 tie.
The German claimed he is yet to make a decision but wants to ‘respect’ Porto and indicated he will only tinker lightly.
Klopp believes the skipper had one of the most difficult jobs in football in replacing Gerrard
‘We are in a moment in the league where we all have to deliver and play constantly,’ Klopp said. ‘We don’t rotate to avoid something, we use the players in the best shape.
‘If it is a different line-up to Saturday it is only because we want to win. Maybe one, two, three changes but only to win the game.
‘We won the game there in quite an impressive way: six shots on target and five were in. We respect Porto too much and the competition too much to think about real rotation.
‘We had a big game on Saturday and we had knocks and ill players – I didn’t make a decision so far about the line-up.
‘Yesterday we trained with nine players, today is the second day of recovery. We will prepare ourselves for the game and we want to win the second half of the tie.’