Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
NO HIDING
Henderson: The manager protects us but players it is down to us to change this tough
IT IS a slump that is not just shocking but, as champions, almost unprecedented.
Since mid-november, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool have won just seven of 20 matches.
If the reasons have been obvious – 16 different central defensive pairings tells a story of luckless injury – then the focus on Reds boss Klopp has been no less intense, even provoking wild rumours of him walking away at the weekend.
The German remains defiant, of course, ready for the challenge presented by RB Leipzig in the last 16 of the Champions League tonight.
The match has become a watershed moment in the club’s season... the last chance of a trophy in a campaign turned upside down in a matter of weeks.
Klopp (right) doesn’t stand alone though. While he protects his players by almost obsessively shouldering the burden of blame, they know the truth, according to Jordan Henderson.
“The manager is really good in situations like this,” said the Liverpool skipper. “Through adversity he is the one we listen to. He is always there for us and tries to protect us.
“But deep down we know we take full responsibility and it is down to us to go out on the pitch and change this tough
period. It is down to us to change the situation we are in. It is down to us to go out there, to keep fighting.”
Henderson has been through these times before, his own career at Liverpool almost stalling, with a move to Fulham proposed, before he fought back to lead the team to a golden new era.
And he knows who he wants at his side. “The manager handles situations like this really well,” he added. “That is why we want to go out there and put on a performance for the team, and for him as well.”
Leipzig could not be a sterner test: semi-finalists last season and challenging Bayern Munich at the summit of the Bundesliga.
Yet Henderson (right), the leader on the pitch, expects a reaction in the Champions League, a competition
that Liverpool have come to view as their own in recent years.
“It is a new opportunity, a new challenge, that is what a new game brings,” he said. “We have to go out there against a very good side and be at 100 per cent.
“To set standards for a long period, then lose a few games is not normal for us, so it is something we need to adapt to.
“But I feel once we do come out of it, we will be a lot stronger. Strength comes from adversity at times.
“Right now, winning is the most important thing, but if you perform at a high level you have a better chance of winning. So both would be
very nice, a performance and a result. For large parts against Leicester on Saturday our performance was at a high level, but in a very short time the game got out of our control.
“So we have to give that performance and take the mistakes away. If we can do that then I am confident we can get a result.”
Divock Origi and new signing Ben Davies return to the squad after injury kept them out at the weekend.
But Klopp is unlikely to risk either Fabinho or James Milner. Both players missed the final training session before the first leg in Budapest.
The manager has also left Naby Keita and Diogo Jota behind to give them more intense days of training as they recover from long injury spells.