Exclusive: One Liverpool star's midfield performance earns comparisons to Pirlo and Gerrard from ex-Red

The 31-year-old delivered a commanding display for Jurgen Klopp's men at Goodison Park

When cultured midfielders are discussed in the context of Liverpool’s current batch under Jurgen Klopp, the first couple of names that will likely pop up in most neutrals’ minds will be that of Thiago Alcantara and Fabinho.

The former has certainly been credited with a near overly cerebral appreciation of the game, with some commenting that the club’s players at times struggle to keep up with the Spanish international’s pace of thought.

Whilst the former Bayern Munich star has been enjoying the limelight of late following the return of domestic football, however, it was another’s turn to soak up the adulation and plaudits for a dominant midfield display.

Commenting on Jordan Henderson’s performance during Liverpool’s 4-1 humbling of city rivals Everton in the Merseyside derby, Stan Collymore couldn’t help but wax lyrical in his post-match discussion with EOTK Insider: “On another day, Liverpool could have been 4-0 up within 10-15 minutes.

“Quite incredible start; Everton penned in their own half, beautiful interplay, fullbacks getting forward, Jordan Henderson looking like a modern-day [Andrea] Pirlo and [Steven] Gerrard combined.”

Producing a goal and an assist to hand the Reds an early cushion in the opening 20 minutes, the skipper was an absolutely integral presence in the middle of the park, combining wonderfully down the right-flank with Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

With the midfield often accused of failing to contribute in terms of raw numbers as far as the scoresheet is concerned, five goal contributions across our last three games completely fly in the face of critique aimed at our engine room.

Make no mistake, the goals and assists are welcoming additions, though our midfield department should not be defined by how many long-range thunderbolts or superb through balls they produce on a weekly basis (though we certainly won’t turn them away!).

Grit and determination have often been appropriate terms to describe our midfield combinations prior to Thiago’s arrival.

Yet it seemed that Henderson had all the class and ‘oomph’ factor in the world to stand out amongst the technical brilliance of his cultured peers.

It was a performance to remind both fans and neutrals that our captain isn’t just there to bark orders and engage in staring contests - there is indeed technical brilliance in those Mackem feet and we’d be foolish to liken him to the average side act supporting the main stage event.

A contract keeping him in Merseyside until 2025 certainly more than demonstrates that.

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