Henderson: “We’re Pretty Low On Confidence”

Yesterday’s 3-0 defeat at Brighton was a low point for a struggling Liverpool. While results and performances this year have left much to be desired, the most recent loss was probably the worst 90 minutes the team has played in at least a decade. They created very little, allowed Brighton to completely control the ball, and never really showed any signs they could find a way to earn a result.

Jürgen Klopp sounded out of ideas to try and revitalize a floundering team while admitting the performance was the worst he’d been a part of in his career as a manager, and captain Jordan Henderson expressed similar sentiments in his own post-match interview with Sky Sports.

“I thought Brighton were better than us in all departments, to be honest. It’s a real low point for us today as a team,” admitted the captain. “We need to stay together. There’s an honest bunch of lads in there and it’s a tough moment for us as a team, for sure, but we need to get together, we need to stay together and try to change things really quickly because the games are coming thick and fast and we need to try to learn from the day as best we can and show a reaction.”

As for what went wrong to lead to such a poor display, Henderson admitted it was hard to really pinpoint a single thing after being so thoroughly outplayed by Brighton and that things just haven’t been quite right for this side for some time.

“I think there wasn’t one thing, I think there were numerous things that weren’t right at all and haven’t been right probably for a little while now,” said Henderson. “Like I said, we need to be a lot better than that – everybody knows that. In the dressing room after the game, we all know we can be better individually, collectively, everything across the board. And I’ll take responsibility, the lads will take responsibility to try to put it right.”

More worrying than the poor results and performances this season has been the clear lack of energy and mental strength that has allowed the side to will themselves back into matches in the past. The recent displays show Klopp’s Reds are no longer the Mentality Monsters that won Champions League and Premier League titles and came within two matches of winning the quadruple last season.

Not only can we all see this, but Henderson freely admitted it after last night. In the past, when this team has gone through tough stretches, they never really lost their belief that they would work their way out of it. Now though, one has to wonder if that belief is still there, and the team’s on-field leader admitting their confidence is shot is not a great sign.

“Not good, as you can imagine,” Henderson said of the mood in the dressing room following the defeat. “Pretty low, low on confidence – you can see that when we’re playing – energy levels low, everything. Like I said, it’s no good feeling sorry for ourselves. I’ve been through moments like this in my career and you’ve got to keep fighting, you’ve got to keep going and hopefully we can change it sooner rather than later. “

Liverpool won’t have much time to reflect and work through their issues as they’ll be playing two games a week for the foreseeable future. If they don’t turn things around quickly, a disappointing season can quickly turn into a nightmare. According to Henderson, the most important thing they can do to avoid that is to simply work through it together, as a team.

“Of course it’s really disappointing and we know we can be a lot better, we know we can play better, we know we can give even more – which is the real disappointing thing. But you’ve got to keep working, you’ve got to keep going. There’s no point in just sitting feeling sorry for ourselves.

“Like I said, the games are coming thick and fast – one midweek against Wolves and then Chelsea at the weekend. So, big games coming up and you’ve just got to keep your head down, work together, stay together as a team. Because this is the moment where people can think individually and do their own thing – but it’s important we stay together and come through this, and it’ll make us stronger in the end.”