Jordan Henderson has admitted he is ready for 'more responsibility' at Liverpool, and has targeted a trophy for the fans next season.
Henderson is the favourite to take over the captain's armband from Steven Gerrard at Anfield, having fulfilled his role as vice-captain last season.
Gerrard's departure for MLS means the Reds must replace their skipper of 12 years, and it's a task which former Sunderland midfielder Henderson insists he is ready to tackle head on.
"I've always wanted to take more responsibility, especially at the stage of my career I'm at," he told Goal.
"I feel I'm getting a bit older now, a bit more mature and of course I want to take more responsibility for the team but at the same time, I think it's up to all of us as a team to take more responsibility on the pitch and make sure we put in good performances.
"When I've been vice-captain I've just tried to do my best for the team as I always have and to learn as much as I can from Stevie, like I have from when I first came to the club. But we've got a lot of captains and a lot of leaders in the dressing room so I'm sure whoever he [Rodgers] picks, the lads will be right behind him.
"I've think I've learned a lot from Steven. I have from when I first came to the club, he's been a huge role model and leader to all of us. All of us have learned a lot from him; just being with him every day, training with him every day, you learn a lot from him."
The 25-year-old acknowledges that Gerrard's departure leaves a huge void at Liverpool not only in midfield, but in the dressing room. However, he has backed the club to pull together in his absence and bounce back from their disappointing sixth place finish last season.
"I think it'll be a big loss, not only as a player but as a person off the field. He's our leader so again he's going to be a huge loss but we need to make sure that the same thing doesn't happen as last season.
"We need to start well. We've got a good group of young players here who I feel have got a lot of potential and will do a lot of good things. So hopefully we have a good pre-season and start the season well.
"All of us will be disappointed with the season. Especially getting to two semi-finals and being close to qualifying for the Champions League.
"I think we can be disappointed that we haven't achieved the things we wanted to at the start of the season, but we need to make sure we learn from this season and improve all the time and next season we'll do better.
"At the start of the season we didn't start very well. The first few months sort of killed us, really, in terms of our flow and getting our momentum.
"Around the Christmas period and for a few months after that we hit a bit of form and we were unbeaten for a few months. Towards the end of the season I don't think we've been as good as we can be.
"It has been stop-start, so we have to make sure we improve on the things we have to improve on and also keep doing the things we've been doing well."
Henderson also outlined the club's ambitions heading into the 2015/16 season, with delivering their first trophy since the Capital One Cup in 2012 top of that particular list.
"We're good enough to be challenging in the Champions League but I think also winning a trophy will be one of our ambitions next season," he said. "I think we're good enough to go and win a trophy and and that's what the fans really deserve and this club deserves.
"I think we've got a great group of players with a lot of potential, young players who are hungry and want to improve and do better. I think we've got a great chance next season to show people how good we are as a team."
0 comments: