Jordan Henderson: Passenger On The Mohamed Salah Hype Train

Saturday was a full day of victory for Liverpool as they dismantled Southampton easily at Anfield. The marker to the end of the most recent international break came with it’s usual set of nerves, naturally, as fears of losing the carefully earned momentum from the last three games gnawed away. Return of players like Sadio Mané, Philippe Coutinho, and Mohamed Salah meant that the attack could be almost literally on fire, but it was also the return of captain Jordan Henderson that ensured the ball could get past Southampton’s midfield. Speaking after the match, though, the captain was more than happy to direct attention to Salah - who had scored a brace in the first half of the match.

“I just want him to keep going and to be fair he hasn't took his foot off the gas,” Henderson told the club website following the match.

“He's kept working hard in training, scoring goals, working hard in games - it's not just his goals, it's his workrate as well, which helps us as a team.

“He's been brilliant for all the season so far but he's got to keep it going, along with other players.”

Liverpool have a habit of coming back lukewarm from an international break so the 3-0 victory over Southampton was a welcome change of pace and Henderson had no shortage of praise for the full squad’s ability to fight for the win.

“We're over the moon with the performance and the result,” Henderson added. “Before the international break, we finished well so it was important after the break that we started again with the all the good work we've done beforehand.

“It was fantastic from start to finish, a good result, and now we just need to keep it going.

“Sometimes it's difficult to get that momentum going again, especially when lads are away for a long period of time.

“But everybody's in the same boat so it doesn't really count for much. I thought we were brilliant today from start to finish, like I said, but there's still a lot of work to be done.

“It's a good start coming back from internationals and hopefully we can keep it going with another big game in midweek.”

The Reds are right at the start of their busy holiday season - with 13 fixtures coming in just 45 days - but with the return to fitness of Adam Lallana coming quickly (he was protected from the match against his former club), the captain is steadfast in believing Liverpool are up to the challenge.

He continued: “That's important for us over this busy period over the next few months, it's important to keep players fresh and raring to go.

“The players who didn't start today will definitely be starting in the next game or the game after that so everybody's got to be fresh and ready to go.

“[The big games] keep coming. That's what we've got to prepare for, we knew the next couple of months would be big for us so it is important to now recover and get ready for midweek.”

Hopes are high that this is just the start of a good run for Liverpool, especially to carry them through a spell in which they’ve usually struggled. If their traditional slump period has already come and gone, though, we could be in for very good things the next month and a half.