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Former Liverpool captain and England international Jordan Henderson gave his first interview since making his controversial move to the Saudi Pro League and the response from the soccer world has been brutal.
Whether it be his explanation of why he left Liverpool — essentially, the manager, the iconic Jurgen Klopp, told him he’d be playing less –, his former alliance with the LGBTQ+ community that he’s left in tatters, or his claims that he didn’t make the move for the money, the 33-year-old’s comments are being torched on social media by soccer fans from all corners.
Jordan Henderson's PR manager checking how the interview went pic.twitter.com/Dh7j0gU536
— Beav (@__Beav) September 5, 2023
https://twitter.com/MarxtinM/status/1698990814754427344
Henderson when he realised Liverpool had already moved on from him. pic.twitter.com/M7EDbOKu9p
— Sam McGuire (@SamMcGuire90) September 5, 2023
That Henderson interview is grim. Who the fuck is advising him?!
— Tom Garratt (@Tgarratt10) September 5, 2023
As Henderson told The Athletic, despite spending the offseason trying to get himself in the best shape possible for the upcoming season, Klopp explained to him that his role within the team would be minimized.
“I’m at the latter stage of my career and I want to be happy playing football. I want to play. I don’t want to be sitting on the bench and coming on for 10 minutes in games,” Henderson said.
This, however, didn’t sit well with Liverpool fans, as it was Klopp himself who put his weight behind giving Henderson a new contract with the club a few years ago despite the ownership’s desire not to.
Nice of Jordan Henderson to blame everyone but himself for his Liverpool departure.
Hasn't come off great in that interview at all.
— Anfield Sector (@AnfieldSector) September 5, 2023
Klopp personally intervened to get a 31-year-old Henderson a new four-year contract that took him to age 35.
Two years later, Henderson says he left because of Klopp not guaranteeing him more playing time and that he didn't feel wanted.
Wild.
— Matt Ladson (@mattladson) September 5, 2023
The vitriol towards Henderson’s words doesn’t end there, though, as some are pointing out that Henderson has been essentially duped into drinking the kool-aid being given to him by Saudi Arabia, making him the perfect puppet for their sports washing program that is the Saudi Pro League.
Jordan Henderson hitting us with something akin to
“My mate went on a tour of North Korea and it actually seemed dead nice” pic.twitter.com/KjBRiUW1uz
— Andy Castell (@AJ3) September 5, 2023
I think we might have been too quick to judge Jordan Henderson.
It was easy to consider him a duplicitous hypocrite after his move to Saudi Arabia, but reading his recent interview with The Athletic, it's evident that he's actually just a credulous imbecile. pic.twitter.com/HARn2rVhEQ
— Alfie | HITC Sevens (@HITCSevens) September 5, 2023
Something that Henderson kept harping on is that the Saudis knew his beliefs and they haven’t told him to change them. And while that may be true, his beliefs aren’t what matters: it’s the laws and culture in Saudi Arabia that bar others from having their own beliefs/opinions/freedoms that do.
Despite his move to the relative retirement league that is the Saudi Pro League, England manager Gareth Southgate called up Henderson for September’s international break, which began on Monday.
Henderson certainly isn’t alone in making the move to the Saudi Pro League, as fellow soccer stars such as Ronaldo, Neymar, Karim Benzema, Sadio Mane, Ngolo Kante, Riyad Mahrez, Roberto Firmino, Fabinho, Marcelo Brozovic, Ruben Nevers, and more have also made the controversial jump. None of them, however, vocally aligned themselves with the LGBTQ+ community the way Henderson did.