Owen Hargreaves has claimed that Jordan Henderson was ‘so irate’ with Gabriel Jesus for the manner in which he won his penalty during Arsenal’s 3-2 win over Liverpool on Sunday, as he told MatchDay Extra on Premier League Productions (09/10/22 at 9:30 pm).
The former England international added that he has ‘never seen’ Henderson like that and he feels the Liverpool midfielder, along with his teammates, felt the awarding of the spot-kick to Arsenal was ‘soft’.
With Liverpool failing to clear the ball from their penalty area and the error-prone Reds playing pinball football, it saw Thiago Alcantara make contact with the underside of Jesus’ boot inside the box.
The penalty was awarded to the discontent of the away side, with Arsenal legend Ian Wright even agreeing that his former side got lucky in that aspect.
Rising England star Bukayo Saka stepped up to beat Alisson Becker in between the sticks and push Arsenal to the top of the table, with Liverpool remaining tenth.
Hargreaves shared his thoughts on how the Liverpool players reacted to that game-changing moment, including Henderson not being too happy with Jesus’ actions.
“Thiago is a proper football player, he knows, he is saying ‘come on, that is so soft’,” said Hargreaves.
“Jordan Henderson, he was so irate and he never gets like that. Even he realised their season was slipping away. A moment like that could change their season from one direction to the other.
“I think they all had a feeling it was soft. I think we all had a feeling it was soft. I know if you are Arsenal and you need that moment to continue their great season.”
‘SOFT’ PENALTY COVERING OVER CRACKS
If Arsenal had conceded such a penalty over the weekend, then they would have labelled it ‘soft’ as well, but that moment just papers over the cracks on Merseyside.
Liverpool are declining all over the place, and if they don’t get their act together, then a top-four finish might slip away from them.
It’s still early days, but from hoping to challenge for the Premier League title, Klopp might have to change the mindset of his players to think about just making sure they are in the Champions League next season.
It’s obvious that a clear-out is needed at Anfield, but it’s going to be far more difficult to repair any damage and lure the top players if it’s Europa League football for the Reds next term.
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