Henderson: “Anfield With Fans is Extra Special”

Finishing third after the season Liverpool had isn’t something many of us predicted, and yet here we are. Third in the league. Qualified for the Champions League. Ready to nap until it’s time to return, ideally with all of our players back in full form.

The final game—a victory against a Roy Hodgson-coached Crystal Palace held with fans at Anfield—felt like the perfect catharsis to a season that most of us will be happy to forget. Jordan Henderson took time after the game to discuss the final match and the season as a whole:

“It was important for us to qualify for the Champions League, with everything we’ve experienced through this season, I think at the end of the day, it’s a good outcome for us to finish in the Champions League,” Henderson said. “At points in the season, people probably didn’t think we would, but the last seven, eight, nine or 10 games or so, the performance levels have been better, much better results and deservedly got the Champions League in the end.”

The fact that the final match was held on home ground and that the team got to hear the fans sing You’ll Never Walk Alone before kick off obviously made a difference.

“Anfield is an amazing place, but with fans, it’s extra special. Today, I sensed that straight away, the lads from the first to the last whistle were brilliant and the fans were outstanding, so hopefully we can have more of this.”

“We spoke about [playing without fans] at the beginning more, because it was a bit different at the beginning,” he added. “I think you get used to it as the season goes on and the more you do it. But for me, it’s a different sport playing without fans - totally different, the outside pressure, the atmosphere.

“Yeah, totally different game altogether, but you’ve got to adapt to it and during the season, we didn’t really cope well with certain things, not only the fans but injuries and things like that, but at the end of the day, we finished strongly, got the job done and we know we need to be better next season.”

Good. Excellent. Now everyone wrap yourselves up in blankets and nap until next season.