Jurgen Klopp wasted no time in texting Jordan Henderson after Germany was were confirmed as England’s Euro 2020 round-of-16 opponents, the Liverpool captain has revealed.
Jordan Henderson said: “ The gaffer at Liverpool has been very influential at Liverpool. The charisma he’s got, a lot of people love him, even if you’re a neutral fan. He’s had a big impact on English football and the Premier League. Yes, he has (been in touch). To be honest as soon as the final whistle went, he just sent me a smiley face emoji.”
Henderson is well aware of the threat Germany will pose to England as he highlighted Toni Kroos in particular as one player Southgate’s men need to get the better of.
Jordan Henderson said: “It’s especially important to keep the ball, especially against Germany. They’re a fantastic team who have very good, technical players who can dominate games with the ball so you need to be really solid without the ball. Defensively solid, as we have been, so we need to continue that because they have players like Kroos that can hurt you as we’ve seen plenty of times in the past. A world class player who can really hurt you with time and space, so we need to make sure that without the ball we’re really, really solid and when we get it, we need to be calm and composed, but also positive with the play, getting the ball forward and trying to create as many chances as we can.”
While Henderson has first-hand experience of playing the likes of Kroos, England team-mates Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham will be particularly aware of a number of the German squad thanks to their exploits in the Bundesliga for Borussia Dortmund. And the 31-year-old praised the young duo, who have both been linked with Liverpool in the past, as he admitted their knowledge of their opponents could prove beneficial as the Three Lions look to progress to the quarter-finals.
Jordan Henderson said: “A lot of us will know a lot of them (the Germany players. They’re top-class players all over the pitch. We’ll know them and we’ll watch their games in the Euros as well. Jude and Jadon will know them very well. They’re two big players for us of course. They’ve been training really well and I’m sure they’ll be telling the lads one or two things.”
