‘Liverpool don’t have an attack problem, it’s a team issue’ – Henderson calls for collective focus from champions

Liverpool do not have an “attack problem” says Jordan Henderson, with the Reds skipper looking for everyone at Anfield to pull together in what has become a “team issue” for the defending Premier League champions.

Jurgen Klopp’s star-studded side, after a period of domestic dominance, have become fallible in the 2020-21 campaign.

Goals and wins have dried up of late, leaving Henderson and co with work to do as they seek to manage their way through an untimely injury crisis and put themselves in contention to land more major honours.

Captain Henderson told the club’s official matchday programme for a home date with Burnley: “One of our greatest strengths as a team in the last few years is that we don’t dwell on previous games whether they have been good, bad or indifferent. What we have done, though, is take any lessons we have learned and put them into practice. 

“This is something that is particularly important during the current period when we are looking to get back to our best.

“We know we are not firing on all cylinders at the moment. Goals are not coming as freely as we would like them to, and games are becoming more difficult as a result. This is a team issue, not an ‘attack’ problem, because one thing that the gaffer has always drummed into us ever since he has been here is that we are all responsible for everything.

“Every single one of us is responsible for the team scoring goals and every single one of us is responsible for the team not scoring goals. It is that simple.

“This approach has always served us well and we will not deviate from it. I’m well aware that outside of the club there will be those who, justifiably at the moment, will be critical of our form and will also look at areas of the team and individuals who they feel could do better. This isn’t a path that we will go down.

“We are in mid-January and we have lost only two league games. We have lost some top players to injury and we are still within one win of the top of the league. We have conceded only two goals in our last five games. We have had young players come into the team and show their value and more senior players slot into unfamiliar roles without any fuss.

“These are all things to build on, but to do that we have to learn the lessons that I mentioned at the very start of these notes.

“Being more ruthless in front of goal, making better decisions in the final third, giving our attackers better support, playing with confidence and belief at all times and remembering the qualities that have served us so well would all make a positive difference right now. To reiterate what I’ve already said: that is down to every single one of us.”

Liverpool have slipped to fourth in the Premier League table, but can move back to within a point of leaders Manchester United with a morale-boosting victory over the Clarets.