Current Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has revealed that the discussion he had with a sports psychologist when he moved to Liverpool in 2012 helped him to become a better player.
The England international joined Liverpool from Sunderland when he was just 20 years old for a transfer fee of £20m. He, however, turned out to be one of the worst signings and many fans didn’t enjoy his style of play.
The Reds had a difficult domestic campaign that year, and Henderson was just one of many new players who struggled with consistency and bad form. The future captain almost lost his position under new manager Brendan Rodgers in 2012 due to the extent of his bad performance on the pitch.
Henderson credited a psychologist on Rodgers’ backroom staff for helping him turn things around. He ultimately chose to stay and went on to become one of the club’s most successful captains ever.
“Looking back now, when I was 20, 21, I was very, very introverted,” he told Nike’s new Never Done documentary.
“I wouldn’t want to speak to many people about things and wanted to deal with a lot on my own and sort things out on my own really, that’s just the way I wanted to work. I ended up speaking to Steve Peters, who came into the club out of the blue when Brendan was there.
“He [Peters] basically had a meeting with all of the players and said ‘I’m here if anyone needs to speak about anything’ and said he could maybe help, not with football, but with how players feel in general and their morale. I couldn’t really lose anything and I didn’t feel great so it was worth speaking to him.
“From that moment, I feel as though that really helped me find who I was in myself. For me, it was a big moment in my career that I met Steve and he gave me the right tools to use and the right mentality to use to get out of a mindset where I wasn’t feeling as confident as I was before I came to the club.”
After a difficult 2012/13 season, things began to change for Jordan Henderson as he improved his game and helped Liverpool to finish second in the English Premier League then.
Henderson later got the opportunity to become Liverpool’s captain and he has won all the trophies available in club football.
From 2011 to 2022, Jordan Henderson has made 448 appearances in all competitions in which he scored 33 goals and provided 58 assists for Liverpool. His effort has helped Liverpool to win the Premier League, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, FA Cup, and EFL Cup.
