4 1GG Saturday May 28 2022 | the times
thegame
There are mornings when Jordan Henderson
awakes, knowing his night’s sleep was invaded
by the image of the Champions League trophy.
Liverpool’s captain gets what he calls
“flashbacks” in his dreams to the moment when
he lifted the trophy in Madrid in 2019.
Henderson’s team had just beaten Tottenham
Hotspur, and he’d finally realised his greatest
wish, one that had stirred him since he was a
child growing up in Sunderland. The feeling of
hoisting the trophy aloft simply made him
desire it even more. That is why the European
Cup floats through his dreams.
He laughs at the suggestion that, approaching
his 32nd birthday and having won everything
with Liverpool, his yearning may be ebbing. “I’m
as hungry as I’ve ever been. Definitely.
Definitely!” he says. “I’ll never forget the feeling
when the final whistle went in Madrid and we’d
won the Champions League. The relief and the
emotion that came out of my body was a surreal
feeling. I crave getting that feeling back. I crave
the feeling of success. I crave the feeling of
lifting the trophy again.
“As a kid, all I ever dreamt of was to play in
the Champions League final, to win the
Champions League. I have flashbacks in my
sleep now and again to Madrid when I lifted the
trophy. When I wake up in the morning, it
might be just a random dream where I
remember that day, because it was the best day
of my career so far.
“It was a huge moment for everyone so I have
flashbacks. But always, the challenge is to stay
focused on the next big opportunity, the next
big challenge.”
Which brings him to Paris.
He misses the feel of the trophy, and longs for
reacquaintance with the 29in tall, 24lb silver
“cup with the big ears” at Stade de France,
where Liverpool face Real Madrid tonight. “It’s
incredible to hold, it’s a nice trophy. The detail
on it... The trophy is a piece of art. So when I
finally got my hands on it, it was pretty special.”
En route to seeing Henderson at Liverpool’s
training ground last week, I parked in a side
street, where a local came out to chat about his
beloved club. He had a huge picture of
Henderson on his front wall. “Ask him how long
he’s going to go on for,” he smiled, adding. “He’s
playing well.”
He is, but Fabinho, Thiago Alcântara and,
when fit and in such vibrant form, Naby Keita
arguably represent Jürgen Klopp’s first-choice
midfield three. Yet Henderson keeps
performing, and he shows no sign of
slowing up. “I want to play every
minute of every game,” he
says. The Champions
League will be his
62nd game of the
season for
Liverpool and
England.
Henderson is too polite to bristle at questions about his
age and whether the clock ticks louder. Instead,
he points out why hunger can intensify. “When
you get to 30 that’s when people start to ask
questions and you start to feel like people think
you’re coming towards the end,” he says. “Years
and years ago 30, 31 was quite old whereas now
I still feel very young, I still feel physically very
good.
“Players these days look after themselves
extremely well — nutrition, recovery, the way
they live their life — and I certainly do. I’ve
dedicated my life to football, my whole career. I
have proper nutrition. Mona [Nemmer,
Liverpool’s head of nutrition] is brilliant. The
detail she goes into, the quality of the meat and
produce that she’ll bring in. I’m sure the budget
will be through the roof so the owners might not
be too happy. It’s quality food coming in.”
He speaks to Nemmer about what best to eat
and when — the marginal grains. “For
breakfast, I’d have porridge with fruit and
maybe some toast,” Henderson says, running me
through his Paris match-day menu. “For lunch,
I’ll have some pasta and vegetables and then for
pre-match I normally have — you’re going to
laugh here — banana and peanut butter on a
bagel with honey on the top and a little bit of
rice pudding. It’s just fuelling myself to make
sure my body is ready — whether it’s 90
minutes, 120 — and I’ll fly in.”
Is he fitter now than ten years ago?
“Potentially,” he replies. “Up to 25, 26 I just
played, trained and didn’t really need to recover.
The older I got, the more I started thinking
about maximising recovery and nutrition to
make sure I’m in the best condition that I can
be in. I’m playing a lot more games now than
I was back then. To do that shows that age is
just a number. I look at people like Millie
[James Milner, 36], Luka Modric (36) and
Zlatan [Ibrahimovic, 40]. I want to play as
long as possible.”
And there is another motivation.
Henderson is at that stage of life where
his children are aware of his games. “It
adds a little bit more pressure,” he says.
“When I go home the eldest is asking
a few more questions. She’s eight and
her friends at school will talk about
it.
“If she goes into school and she’s
got a [Manchester] City fan who’s
won the league, she gets upset
sometimes when we haven’t won.
“It adds a little bit more
pressure to try
to keep them
happy.”
Parisbrings such a test in the form of a glamour
match-up. “When you think of the ultimate
European final, Liverpool and Madrid would be
right at the top of your list,” he says. Real have
13 European Cups to Liverpool’s six. “The two
clubs have an amazing history in this
competition,” Henderson adds. “That makes it
even more special.”
He knows Real’s quality, and thinks of their
midfield of Modric, Toni Kroos and Casemiro.
“Incredible, aren’t they? Modric is one of the
best players I’ve ever played against.
“Modric has got the lot. It’s the way he can
move with the ball; dribbles, low centre of
gravity, his work rate, winning the ball back,
seeing a pass and scoring. He’s someone
I’ve looked at a lot and admire a lot.
“Kroos is the same. Casemiro
is another amazing player.
They are really
experienced and
know how to win.
Those three are
top players
but I
watched
their
games
agains
tChelsea and City and you’ve got players like
[Eduardo] Camavinga and [Federico] Valverde
coming on. Top players — young, hungry, high
energy levels, good on the ball. Madrid have
world-class players all over.
“Vinícius [Júnior] is on fire — so sharp, scores
goals, incredible. The numbers Karim Benzema
has brought up [44 goals in 45 games for Real
this season], the goals against Chelsea at
Stamford Bridge [in the quarter-final first leg],
what he has achieved in his career, shows that’s
a special, special player.
“We could sit here all day and talk about the
talent in Real’s squad. Eden Hazard and [Gareth]
Bale might not have played as much but are still
hugely talented players that can change a game
in any moment.”
Henderson is also an admirer of their head
coach, Carlo Ancelotti. “Everything I’ve heard of
him as a manager is top drawer,” he says. “He’s
really close to the players, good man-manager,
speaks to the players a lot. Everybody that’s
worked with him loves him.”
Henderson pauses, then states quietly. “We’re
not too bad ourselves and if we can perform at
the level that we are capable of then we can
cause them problems.”
If Henderson starts, he may be on the right of
midfield, helping Trent Alexander-Arnold and
Mohamed Salah deal with Vinícius. He has
played both the more attacking, box-to-box No 8
role and also the shielding No 6 position when
Fabinho has been out.
“They are two roles I feel as though I can
perform in very well,” Henderson says. “That’s
something I’ve learnt over the past few years.
“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to the manager
in teaching me how to play in different roles,
especially the six. I never really played six until
he came. At first I found it really tough, but the
more I played there the more
understanding I got. I’ve learnt from
other players that play the position,
like Fab [Fabinho].
“I play that role different to
Fab, I feel. Fabinho is an
incredible No 6 at what
he does, reading the
game, defensively,
even linking the
player with the
ball. Just
everythin
g about‘The cup with big ears
invades my dreams...
I crave lifting it again’
Jordan Henderson talks to
Henry Winter about ego, giving
his children bragging rights and
pre-match peanut butter bagels