Jordan Henderson told Liverpool fans to “expect the intensity to be high and the football enjoyable to watch” when they return to the Premier League this month.
It has now been over three months since the Reds were last in action, and by Sunday’s Merseyside derby, it will have been 103 days since their last game.
After an unprecedented break, Jurgen Klopp‘s side looked to be eager to impress as they put Blackburn to the sword with a 6-0 friendly win last week, as they bid to restore momentum in the title charge.
Six more points are required to get it over the line, and this could be reduced to just three if Man City lose to Arsenal on Wednesday night.
Such a lengthy spell without football has led to concerns over how games will be played—particularly sides like Liverpool, who employ an intensive pressing game—but Henderson believes that will not be an issue, even behind closed doors.
“When you were little and you used to play for your school there was no crowd watching then really,” Henderson told Chris McLoughlin for the Liverpool FC Magazine.
“So you’ve just got to enjoy your football and appreciate that we are able to go back doing what we love doing
“We’ve got to embrace that and make the best out of the situation that we can. The intensity can still be at a high level.
“If you have the right mindset the intensity can be as high as you want it to be.
“In that sense, when we do return, I expect the intensity to be high and the football enjoyable to watch.”
One issue with maintaining the intensity, Henderson feels, will be curbing his bad language, with the captain wary that without the noise of the crowd, microphones will be able to pick up every word.
“For the players it will be different playing in a big game in a stadium where there’s no crowd because you can hear everybody talking,” he continued.
“Again, we’ve got to adapt to that situation and try to keep the swearing down to a minimum.
“I’m more worried about my language when I’m playing! I don’t want to be having to apologise to everybody after every single game so I need to be careful, especially in the heat of the game.
“I’m sure the manager will have to be careful with his language as well!
“But he’ll also know we can’t blame the crowd for not being able to hear what he’s saying at certain times of the game.”
It is a minor concern that few fans will be genuinely worried about, particularly if Liverpool are back in form and winning games on their way to a first Premier League title.
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