Jordan Henderson believes football is a “different sport” without spectators inside the stadium as Liverpool welcomed back fans to Anfield for their 2-0 win over Crystal Palace. Henderson opened up on what, overall, has been a tough campaign for the Reds after last season’s heroics and hailed the significance of having supporters in attendance.
Jordan Henderson said: “It was important for us to qualify for the Champions League, with everything we’ve experienced through this season, I think at the end of the day, it’s a good outcome for us to finish in the Champions League. At points in the season, people probably didn’t think we would, but the last seven, eight, nine or 10 games or so, the performance levels have been better, much better results and deservedly got the Champions League in the end. This makes a huge difference. Anfield is an amazing place, but with fans, it’s extra special. Today, I sensed that straight away, the lads from the first to the last whistle were brilliant and the fans were outstanding, so hopefully we can have more of this. We spoke about it at the beginning more (having no fans), because it was a bit different at the beginning. I think you get used to it as the season goes on and the more you do it. But for me, it’s a different sport playing without fans – totally different, the outside pressure, the atmosphere. Yeah, totally different game altogether, but you’ve got to adapt to it and during the season, we didn’t really cope well with certain things, not only the fans but injuries and things like that, but at the end of the day, we finished strongly, got the job done and we know we need to be better next season. I was itching to get on, but I’ve only trained a few times with the team, so it’s probably not the wisest thing. But I feel good, I’ve been training the last few weeks on my own. Now, hopefully I can get fit for the Euros. Fingers crossed. I know I haven’t appeared for a long time, but I’ve still been working hard in the background, so I feel good, but I’ve obviously got to train, hopefully with England, and be ready for the Euros.”
