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It didn't turn out quite how we'd expected, with Daniel Agger's tenure as vice-captain lasting only a year before he moved back to Brondby, and Lucas fading from the first-team picture to the point that his departure appears only a matter of time. But Jordan Henderson's appointment as vice-captain was something to be celebrated nonetheless, as it capped a terrific turnaround for a player who willed his way back into the first team picture under Brendan Rodgers and hasn't looked back.
Today could give us our first glimpse of Henderson as captain if Rodgers decides to rest Steven Gerrard late in the match against West Ham, and the man currently wearing the armband has no doubts about the decision, noting that it's only a matter of time--and the slightly larger matter of his retirement--before Henderson is the full-time skipper:
"I'm sure Jordan will be the main man and club captain in a few years when I've gone. He epitomises everything a captain is - he works hard both on and off the pitch, he's well liked in the dressing room, he leads by example and let's not forget, he's a top player as well."
Big words from a man that Henderson praises as one of the greatest captains in Liverpool and England history, but on current evidence, there's little to argue with. It's just not possible for anyone to keep up with him in terms of workrate, and by all accounts his lifestyle is built around ensuring his career as a footballer flourishes. He's still got plenty of development left in that regard, of course; he's come on leaps and bounds since arriving at Liverpool, and he's certainly the league's most industrious midfielder, but rounding out his game remains a priority if he will eventually prove a true successor--if that's even a thing--to Gerrard.
And yet for as much as we all adore Jordan Henderson, there's just some things that don't seem replaceable. Consider his account of the dying moments against Ludogorets:
"The pressure you're under, the Kop singing your name, and Stevie slots it into the corner, no problem. He was never going to miss."
Just a little bit of ground to make up, then.
