Jordan Henderson: We showed a reaction but have work to do
Jordan Henderson believes Liverpool reacted in the correct way to claim a hard-fought point at Chelsea.
The Reds drew 0-0 at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night in a Premier League contest played only three days after they were defeated 4-1 by Manchester City.
Post-match, Henderson spoke to Sky Sports. Read the interview below.
On his assessment of the match…
Tough game. Both sides probably not on the highest level of confidence at the minute but we just wanted to come here and show a reaction to the last game, which I felt we did. I thought we made a fight of it, you could see the willingness to keep running, to keep working. [We] probably lacked a little bit of quality, to be honest, especially [in the] final third, I felt we got in some good positions [but the] last pass, last shot just wasn’t quite there tonight. But I think overall we gave it everything and we’ll have to take the point and move on.
On whether the most pleasing aspect of the game was the improvement from Saturday’s defeat and the fact Liverpool hung in under pressure…
Yeah, at times [we hung in there], they’ve got some good players. With their individual quality they’re going to have opportunities and we kept digging in, we had to show real fight towards the end or midway through the second half. So, it’s hard to judge it straight after the game but I felt as though the reaction was positive in terms of the mentality, the attitude, to work for each other and like I said [we] maybe lacked that little bit of quality in the final third.
A clean sheet away at Chelsea is never easy, even though they’re not in the best moment, so we’ve got to take that positive and try to build, try to work on the attacking play and try to finish goals off.
On how the team’s confidence was affected by the loss at Manchester City…
It’s not just after the weekend. The inconsistency of the season hasn’t helped us, the weekend doesn’t help of course, so you’ve just got to keep working, you’ve got to keep digging in. Stay together, staying together as a group is the main thing, and keep working for each other and in the end you’ve got to dig in [and] dig in. We got a point today, on another day towards the end of the game you might nick it and that changes momentum and changes confidence within the team. So, that’s football, you keep going. We’re professionals, we keep fighting, we keep working at the training ground to put things right and see where it takes us come the end of the season.
On whether he is puzzled by the inconsistency of the results this season…
Yeah, there’s been flashes of brilliance in performances over the season but just not enough. Not enough consistency, the energy at times hasn’t looked quite there and there will be loads of different reasons for that. I don’t think there is just one reason that you can go, ‘Oh, that’s it or that’s it.’ There will be a lot of noise from the outside but what is important is that you stay together, you stay positive within the dressing room and you don’t let outside influences affect what we’re trying to do. You’ve got to keep fighting – yes, it hasn’t been brilliant this season but we’ve got to keep fighting right until the end and see where it takes us, and deal with it when that comes.
On the opportunity to finish the season with a flourish…
Yeah, that’s the aim and that’s the plan, and it all starts off with the basis and the foundation of the attitude and desire that we showed today, the commitment to defend for each other. But of course there are things we need to improve on if we want to win games going forward, especially the next game [against] a team who are flying. So, it’s another opportunity to try to show the brilliance in flashes that we have shown this season on Sunday at Anfield.