Henderson dismisses hangover fears for Liverpool from last season

Jordan Henderson dismisses fears Liverpool could suffer hangover after failing with unprecedented Quadruple bid last season… insisting Jurgen Klopp’s men ‘just want to go again’ ahead of Man United friendly

• Jordan Henderson insists Liverpool will not suffer a hangover from last season 
• Jurgen Klopp’s side lifted both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup in 2021-22 season
• They were pipped them to Premier League and also lost Champions League final
• Henderson dismissed any concerns that the disappointment would carry over 

Jordan Henderson insists there is no danger of Liverpool suffering a hangover from last season after their Quadruple bid fell agonisingly short.

Jurgen Klopp’s side lifted the FA Cup and Carabao Cup but lost out on the Premier League title to Manchester City on the last day and were then narrowly beaten by Real Madrid in the Champions League final.

However, Henderson dismissed any concerns that the disappointment would carry over into the new campaign and backed his team to mount another strong challenge.

Jordan Henderson insists there is no danger of Liverpool suffering a hangover from last season

Henderson lifted both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup as Liverpool captain in the 2021-22 season

‘There’s no need for that,’ said the Liverpool captain. ‘We’ve had disappointments in the past and we didn’t have hangovers, so we have always reacted in the right way.

‘We still won two trophies last year so it’s not all negative, there were still positives to take out of it. It was a fantastic season. Yes, it didn’t end the way we would have liked but that’s football, that’s life, you get on with it and react in the right way.

‘We just want to go again. You can only concentrate on the next game and we want to perform every single game. If we do that and concentrate on that, we should be fine.

‘I wouldn’t say it has made us more motivated, you are always motivated to win the biggest trophies. That’s why we play.

However, his side lost out on the Premier League title to Manchester City on the last day

‘We want to be successful. We want to win things and we managed to win two last year. It didn’t end the way we would like in the other two, but we pushed all the way and that is all you can ask for.

‘So you move on. You take the positives, improve on the things we can improve on and try and perform in every game we play. We have done that for a long period of time and now we just have to keep going, keep pushing.’

Speaking on Liverpool’s pre-season trip to Bangkok where they face old rivals Manchester United at the Rajamangala National Stadium on Tuesday, Henderson disputed that Liverpool see the new season as another two-horse race with City after the two clubs have dominated the domestic scene in recent years.

‘I never think it will be just us and City,’ he added. ‘ I always think other teams strengthen. You look at Chelsea, they are strengthening. United will strengthen. Spurs will strengthen, they have done so quite a lot so far.

Jurgen Klopp’s men were then beaten by Real Madrid in the Champions League final in Paris

‘Yes, we have bought some new players and hopefully they can help us going forward and freshen things up, but we have to keep doing what we have been doing for a large period of time: concentrate on what we can do and perform to the levels we are capable of, and that is through hard work and togetherness. It starts right now in pre-season.’

Liverpool sold Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich for £35million but broke their transfer record to sign Darwin Nunez from Benfica in a deal worth up to £85m and also persuaded Mo Salah to pen a new contract at Anfield. 

In addition, Luis Diaz will start his first full season in English football after proving an instant success following his move from Porto in the January transfer window.

Henderson said: ‘We always knew Mo would be here this season regardless. But when you see the (contract) get done, of course it’s nice to see it’s over the line and he just can now concentrate on playing for us.

Henderson disputed that Liverpool see the new season as another two-horse race with City

Henderson admitted it was nice to see star forward Mohamed Salah (R) sign a new deal

‘Darwin is a new option, a new dimension for us. We’ve got to adapt to that quickly and get used to it. Darwin is hopefully a huge player for us going forward. Hopefully he can settle in and hit the ground running.

‘Any team that loses Sadio, it will be a big blow because he is world-class player, for me one of the best forwards in the world.

‘So it’s always going to be difficult losing him. But at the same time we’ve got world-class players, especially in the forward line. 

‘Luis Diaz performed phenomenally well, Darwin coming in, Bobby (Roberto Firmino) is coming back, so we’ve got world-class options. Things move on, hopefully we can adapt to that quickly.

‘This is a good moment for us in pre-season to get everyone back to work. We’re at a good base level of fitness and we’re ready to go.’

Reds broke their transfer record to sign Darwin Nunez from Benfica in a deal worth up to £85m

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