Phil Thompson assesses Jordan Henderson's time as Liverpool captain

Henderson was appointed the successor to Steven Gerrard in June 2015 and has been part of a side revolutionised under Jurgen Klopp - resulting in Champions League success last season.

Here, Liverpool legend Thompson discusses Henderson's spell with the armband, alongside the furlough decision made by the club which has since been reversed.

What were your thoughts on the Premier League players donating wages to NHS Charities?

I thought it was a fantastic gesture, a needed-to-be-done gesture. After being put in awkward positions by the people in government, and although they are earning a lot of money, when they become more experienced like the captains, these players become more responsible. I do not think they needed telling too much, but it was a case of when to do it. I do think the PFA could have handled it a lot better on their side.

The players were doing what they thought was best, but you need guidance from the PFA, who seemed to be dragging their heels. I was very pleased and you have seen some good, responsible people come out of these football clubs, none more so than Jordan Henderson, who him along with others, seemed to be at the forefront of the #PlayersTogether group.

His standing within the game has risen enormously because of this. It was a very difficult time to take over the captaincy of a club like Liverpool after Steven Gerard. He had to work hard, play hard, but showed great responsibility with what comes as being a captain of our club. It was great to see he was ahead of the game in doing this. He showed fantastic responsibility, not just for football people but to other business people too. These young men do have a social conscience.

Is Jordan Henderson now showing his leadership qualities throughout the league?

On a footballing side, even pre-Christmas, one guy who was at the forefront of the PFA, and the Football Writers, should have been Jordan Henderson. I am not denying Kevin de Bruyne any credit, as he is a tremendous footballer, but there was something about Henderson over the last 18 months which has elevated him to leader and captain status, along with a responsibility status too.

He has edged out in front with his performances on the pitch and his performances off the pitch too. Not that Jordan will have thought anything about it, but when they sit down and decide who are the best when they hand out the rewards, I do think he will come through with it.

We have seen it before. I don’t think it should influence the decision-makers, but it will certainly give them something to think about. What has just happened, combined with his on-field performances, should place him as the leading candidate

How impressive is he as a captain having had to take over from Steven Gerrard?

It wasn’t easy to take over and he took his criticism. He never shirked an issue and never moaned about it. He is learning all the time, both on the field and learning how to be captain in general, and being a responsible captain of Liverpool Football Club.

He has shown and come through it with flying colours, captaining his side in two Champions League finals, a League Cup final, along with everything else, especially the Premier League that will be coming soon.

To lead Liverpool into these games, and now to be winning these type of clashes over the last couple of years, has just been tremendous.

As much as Steven Gerrard will be remembered for generations to come, so will Jordan Henderson once he lifts that Premier League crown, after 30 years of hurt. Maybe for a different reason, Jordan Henderson will also go down as one of those great names because of what he has been done for this club.

What’s his best quality as a captain?

Jordan knows his limitations as a footballer, and I do not mean that in a detrimental effect. You have to know and grow as a player, and as a captain. He has accepted the responsibility. Sometimes it can be a burden and you can shrivel. If you can accept it and push on to greater things, it shows more about you as a footballer and as a person. Jordan has elevated that.

One of the great things about this Liverpool side is what we have seen; they never give up, they never know when to stop and keep on grinding teams down and pushing each other on. You need a captain to be at the forefront of that, and Jordan is one of those players.

I have been looking at Sky Sports retro and saw the Liverpool 3-2 Man City match. You realise, beating them 3-2 with four games to go before the wobble happened, was it any coincidence that Henderson was sent off against City in the last minute and proceeded to miss three of those four games? This was before he was captain too.

Is he the best leader in the Premier League?

I think from Liverpool’s position and what they have done in these last two seasons, I think you would have to say that Henderson has been the best leader.

Vincent Kompany, if he was still playing in the Premier League, I would certainly have to look at him. Since he has gone, I have to question, is it Fernandinho or David Silva who captain Manchester City? Even with the rotation policy.

For Liverpool to be doing what they are doing, along with what he has just done to rally all of the other captains, speaks volumes of his standing within the game. I would have to say he is the best captain at the moment.

What are your thoughts on the furlough decisions at Liverpool and Tottenham?

I think like most people, I was bitterly disappointed in my football club. At this moment of great difficulty that is about, with the value and traditions of my football club, it just did not fit. Like with most, it was hard to get my head around it. I thought it took a lot of brave people to admit, as it is harder to admit when they are wrong, that they did in fact get it wrong.

For the club to listen to everybody, particularly our own group of fans, was the right thing to do. As big as they are, clubs do listen at times to what fans have to say, and I was very glad that they responded within the 24 hours or so and reversed the decision. I am glad they acted on this very, very quickly.

It was one of those things. Everyone in the Premier League are all at differing standards with finances, and probably all football clubs have said that there are bigger institutions, with the likes of multi-millionaire businesses that make billions of profit per year, who could not wait to furlough their staff, and their profits are far bigger than that of Premier League clubs.

Their first thoughts are that they are not institutions like these sides, and that is where they have got a bit confused with the acceptance of the government’s help too easily. What we are with our football clubs, we are standards and pillars of the community, rather than these multi-millionaire businesses.

We are more virtuous than what these bigger companies are and we are very responsible within our areas and the demands upon our football clubs, and what we stand for. I was glad that we turned it around as quickly as we did.

Tottenham, came under more criticism than Liverpool, and Newcastle similarly. Many expected these teams to do it with Daniel Levy and Mike Ashley. I thought Tottenham could have reacted a lot quicker than what they did do, but I was glad they did reverse it more so.

Again, the fans came together there, and they eventually saw sense. The big clubs, you can see where they are with the huge fan bases. With the smaller clubs like Norwich and Bournemouth, one could maybe understand it a bit, but the bigger clubs are in a much better place now.

My former producer at Sky Sports was a massive Tottenham fan. We did debate it, and he was very disappointed in his football club. Liverpool made a swift decision, but he was hoping his football club would do the same. It took a little while but they came to the right decision in the end.

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