Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson walks tall for Brendan Rodgers

Posted Sunday, October 05, 2014 by theguardian.com

· Manager praises midfielder after West Bromwich Albion display
· Rodgers hopeful that Reds will soon be back to their best
· Henderson made one goal and scored another in 2-1 win

Jordan Henderson celebrates his decisive goal for Liverpool in their 2-1 Premier League win over West Bromwich Albion.

Sir Alex Ferguson questioned his gait, but Brendan Rodgers was full of praise for Jordan Henderson’s running and passing after the former Sunderland player made one goal then scored the winner in the 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion.

"Jordan has a wonderful physical capacity, everybody knows he is a great runner, but he has lovely technique on the ball too,” the Liverpool manager said. "He played a part in a wonderful opening goal, then turned up in the right place to score the second. He is playing with confidence now. We played him a little further forward because we want him to arrive in the box more often, and he has shown he can do that.”

Liverpool, as a whole, are not exactly playing with confidence yet – not by last season’s standards at any rate, though Rodgers is hopeful the old conviction will return when Daniel Sturridge is available again after the international break. "We thought Daniel might play a part today, but he wasn’t quite ready,” Rodgers explained. "But now we’ve all got a rest because of the international break, and he will definitely be back for the game against Queens Park Rangers.”

Though accepting Liverpool were not at their best against organised opponents in West Brom, Rodgers stressed that the points were important. "We have had a few injuries and, performance-wise, we still have a way to go, but you have to find a way to win and that’s what we did,” he said. "It was vital to get a win before the international break.Now we have done that, we might be looking at a full squad to choose from for the next game and, hopefully, we will be back to what we were at Tottenham last month.”

Rodgers was again critical of the match officials. Last week, he thought they missed an obvious penalty when Gareth Barry handled in the area in the Merseyside derby; this time, with just as much justification, he maintained Dejan Lovren’s foul on Saido Berahino took place outside the box. Even Alan Irvine, the West Brom manager, accepted television replays suggested as much.

"The referee didn’t get much help from his linesman,” Rodgers said. "They are supposed to run to the corner flag if they believe a penalty should be given, but I thought the linesman was very slow. The referee had to make the decision himself, and he got it wrong.”