I keep seeing "lack of leadership" mentioned. What does that mean? What is leadership?
Good question. For me, leadership in relation to our current team isn't about who takes responsibility with goals. Mane, Salah, Bobby, Coutinho and one or two others will always provide that (in fits and bursts sometimes, but still more than enough). Leadership in this team in my opinion is about this: When we are under pressure and need a cool head, who do we look to for inspiration and guidance to help get us over the line and see out a difficult period in the game?
As captain, Henderson is the natural scapegoat when we have a meltdown like against Sevilla. Captains do not have to rant and rave but they do need to have an underlying authority and an aura about them. We do not know what Henderson is like behind closed doors. We only see a couple of games a week. We see the tip of the iceberg if you will in terms of the actual games but so much more goes on in training and in other aspects of being a footballer. I don't doubt that Henderson is respected by the other members of our squad. I don't doubt that most of them probably think he's a worthy captain and I don't see any evidence of him being undermined. But to be perfectly honest given the personal make up of our squad I don't think anyone would have it in them to be nasty or cause grievance with Henderson's position as captain. We have a bunch of lads who seem like great fun and who are harmless and I don't see it in any of them to cause strife. They are all probably too nice, but that is for a different discussion.
So, you look to your captain for guidance and to lead. As I said, not to shout and be macho but to be assured. I've got this and by extension, we've got this. Henderson doesn't do that. He just doesn't. He panics. His first touch is off. He doesn't hold onto the ball. He does pass the buck and leave it to others. I don't know if it is fair to say that he 'hides', but he certainly doesn't act like a captain. If your captain doesn't seem to want the responsibility to help you navigate rough seas then who the hell will? The phrase 'captain' is exaggerated at times in sport but there is an importance to it. There are roles and responsibilities, you have a duty to guide your other 10 players when you need them. Does Henderson do this adequately?
It wouldn't be fair to single Henderson out. Our defenders never learn from any scenario they have previously faced. Call me old fashioned but I think your centre halves and goalkeeper need to be the ones propping up the defence, they are the heart of it and they need to act like it in terms of leadership also. Does Lovren lead? No, he never hides (sometimes to his detriment) but he doesn't lead, he's way too panicked and erratic. Mignolet is exactly the same. He doesn't have a calming presence. The opposite is often true. Klavan seems more passive and calm but his ability (or lack of) counter balances that. We miss Clyne in a way of him being a pure defender, and while Moreno has improved in spite of his Sevilla display he's not someone you would call calm and collected in choppy waters.
We have a number 6 and captain who doesn't play like one and who isn't very vocal and panics when the chips are down. We have defenders who try hard and don't hide but don't have a calming influence and aren't ever going to learn how to manage a game. We have forwards who play at 100mph and who want to run and gun and don't seem to know when to slow the pace down. We have a manager who wants his teams to play at fast pace with heavy metal football. We don't have any older heads in the team, Milner and Klavan are 30 odd but that is about it. We don't have a plethora of players in the team who are comfortable enough on the ball to be able to recycle it and take the sting out of the game when the game needs it. We also don't have too many winners. We have a squad of great players, but not too many winners and that is in a literal and figurative sense.
I've gone off on a tangent here and haven't really answered your question, I suppose I'm just jotting down reasons why I don't think we have the proper leadership we need. In terms of what is leadership? I think it is being able to do something on the pitch that the opposition would not want you do to. Take Sevilla the other night. They scored, they were on the up, the crowd was into it, we looked shocked. What did we do? We retreated and tried to hold fort, something we've hardly ever been able to do. We invited them onto us. We gave away silly fouls. We enabled them to get back into the game. We should have done the opposite: slow the game completely down. Win silly fouls. Have responsibility on the ball. Trust each other. All of the things Sevilla would have hated us doing.
There is no leadership because we don't have the right players to lead. We don't have enough experienced heads. We don't have enough players tried and tested in tough situations. Leadership is being able to navigate to the next checkpoint. Being able to see out tough periods. Leadership is bringing the rest of your teammates together in unison, leadership is taking responsibility and ensuring that you don't become your own worst enemy by the decisions you make. Leadership is an art, it is seeing danger in front of you but instead of being scared by it, you challenge it, face it and defeat it. In a nutshell, leadership is the complete antithesis of whatever it is we do when we find ourselves in a tough environment on a football pitch.
