Liverpool FC

Hendo on Injury Problems

It’s been a tough season for Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson. After a stellar 2014/15 and a good start to 2015/16 that included an assist against Bournemouth, he was struck down with a heel injury known as plantar fasciitis, an injury that affects ligaments in the sole of your foot. The injury kept him out for over 3 months and since his return he’s shown glimpses of the player he was last season that won so many admirers but has also been hampered by his injury throughout, drawing much scrutiny from impatient fans looking for him to be at Gerrard level. 

Despite undergoing a number of experimental treatments, including flying out to America for a series of injections, there’s not much the skipper can do to heal the injury properly until it ruptures totally. “Sometimes I can be my own worst enemy if I’m playing with an injury or different things,” said Hendo. “It’s my own fault at times but that’s just the way I am. I want to play football, I want to try to put myself out for the team. I feel as though now I’m starting to get back to the physicality – that’s a big part of my game – and when that’s correct then everything else seems to flow much better.”

“When I was away with England I think I put in one of my highest performances of the season in terms of the physical side of the game which was pleasing for me. I got confidence from that and I just need to continue to work instead of trying to play catch up all the time.”

Henderson is correct that he put in a better performance for England, thankfully for us he followed it up with another very good 90 against Tottenham on Saturday and the skipper now feels he’s learning to cope with the injury better and that it’s not restricting his mobility quite as badly. “It’s not an issue. After games it still gets a bit sore but it’s much better than how it was,” he added positively.