Jordan Henderson Calls for Consistency

Consistency. It’s long been a bit of an issue for Liverpool. With their best players, on their best nights, this is a side that could beat any club in Europe. The problem is that one week will see this side at its best and the next, well, it won’t.

Triumphant highs like their 4-3 defeat of Manchester City seem, far too often, to be followed up by 1-0 defeats to Swansea. Now, coming off their most complete performance of the season, Jordan Henderson is calling for a little consistency.

“We have to do that more often,” said the Liverpool captain following their 5-0 demolition of FC Porto on the road on Wednesday night. “I thought the lads, the whole team, were brilliant from start to finish. That should be normal for us.

“Before this game, I’m not sure how many teams would have wanted to play us because when we are on it, like we were, we are very hard to play. But that has to be our norm and we have to be consistent with performances to get results like this.”

Nobody would be particularly surprised if 5-0 on the road against a Porto side that had conceded just ten league goals all season was followed up by dropped points in the league against West Ham. But, perhaps, awareness is the first step towards fixing that problem.

The players are aware consistency is an issue, as will be manager Jürgen Klopp. Now they’ve got ten days—including a mid-season training camp in Marbella—to prepare for their next opponents and try to figure out an answer for it.