He started his international career by being booed by the fans and he will finish it the same way
Football / Soccer / Calcio / Futebol / Fußball
Henderson could have stayed at Liverpool, less game time but become a mentor, done more charity work etc and cement himself as a Liverpool legend.
Instead he threw it all away to play in front of 800 people, lose all good will, and I guess make bank. Hope that’s worth your legacy being tarnished.
I actually think Liverpool wanted him gone and encouraged it. FFP means that £12m is pure profit and it got his large wages off the books.
Club upper management, almost certainly
Klopp would have been happy for him to stay, fans too - if he accepted the much reduced role. Last season made it clear he was done as a first team player for us.
Hendersons whole legacy was tarnished by this, that’s crazy
No, no it wasn't.
Sincerely, a Liverpool fan who enjoyed watching Henderson captain us to the PL & CL.
Just goes to show pro athletes should not get involved with causes like this.
Loads of players have gone to Saudi and Henderson takes as much flack as the rest of them put together.
If he keeps his mouth shut and doesn’t get involved with LBGT causes he would have been just another player getting a massive end of career payday.
His interview just made matters worse. He’s a dumb, deluded egocentric.
Horrible take. Surely the conclusion should be that when athletes get involved in social causes, they shouldn't completely betray them. It's not that hard an ask.
FR. It's good that they want to stand for things and use their platform for good if that feels right for them.
Obviously then people want you to stick to it if not it looks like all they were doing is virtue signalling / PR image curation.
Mon works for money - crazy
It seems like he's not going to jeopardise generational wealth over virtue signalling
He was a Liverpool footballer for 10-12 years, he's already got generational wealth, the money he's on now just guarantees his grandkids are gonna be assholes
he's not going to jeopardise generational wealth over virtue signalling
he could have just had some actual virtue
Never had if he chose the bag over what he believes in.... Question we should ask is if Jake Daniels would go earn the bag at Saudi rather than rotting at a league one bench
Idiot
Question we should ask is if Jake Daniels would go earn the bag at Saudi rather than rotting at a league one bench
I think Jake, an openly gay man, might have a couple issues going to the Saudi league to be honest
Foreigners/expats have different rules in saudi...everyone knows this, he'll be alright if he doesn't make a big fuss about being gay
he'll be alright if he doesn't make a big fuss about being gay
And you see the problem with what you said, right?
he’ll be alright if he’s just not himself.
Cool cool fr
"He'll be alright if he suppresses an entire part of his identity to appease bigots"
There was no jeopardy involved, he already had generational wealth and still would have earned millions in England.
He's been a PL footballer for over a decade, he has generational wealth
How can Jake not understand that Jordan has obviously done this in order to promote LGBT rights. What a hero!
It just goes to show that most ‘holier than thou’ people are just virtue signalling twats.
Why most? This is just one guy, no need to judge everyone for it. I’m sure there are players who turned down more money because they were morally against Sauid, but we’ll never hear about those people
Most? You sure about that?
This.
It's extremely easy to defend someone or something when you've got nothing to lose. Henderson had a lot to gain actually.
He basically went from being rich to being slightly more rich. I don't think he increases his quality of life much.
The best part is how he tries to justify it, like him being in Saudi will make any sort of difference. Not only is he a man who's word have no value whatsoever... He's probably also has an exaggerated sense of self worth( I think a lot of celebrities would have ).
I think it will make small, negative difference. Saudi opinion is we are a bunch hypocritical whores who will abandon any principle if they throw enough money at us. Henderson is now prime example.
The thing thats not right is the value of his wage comes from being in that country and not playing football. He could still earn more than enough money and not have to move to a religious sandy shithole.
The only thing i question is his basic decision making skills.
I think it is a good thing to show solidarity, be passionate about a cause or causes and speak up about it.
I don't think the language you're using is helpful here, seems like a very cynical worldview. Just because Jordan Henderson sold out his beliefs for a bit of cash doesn't mean that everyone who cares about social causes is a "virtue signalling twt" and it's unhelpful to tarnish people with that brush.
Just my two cents on the matter seeing as you gave yours
This again? Wasn't there enough hue and cry when the move happened or should we be talking about it till the next year?
Rich guy insincerely takes up moral/political stance which is PR friendly, commercially safe, and unradical.
Tale as old as time.
This is the problem with pushing sportspeople into being "societal" role models. He's made a decision for his personal gain, it's not really anyone's business regardless of what people think. I think Hendo is a complete hypocrite for going, but whatever. It's his choice. Why should he be held to a higher standard than anyone else going to work in Saudi or other gulf states?
celebs should never ever be taken seriously when it comes to any other matter than the one they actually excel at, be it football or acting etc.
No I dont want a fucking actor, raised by actors, isolated from society telling me how to vote or what to think about economics. Same goes for footballers. These people are not normal in any sense of the word nor do they have any understanding of the world they live in so sheltered.
Agree. Fans (peasants) wants celebrities to stand up for them, no matter what the political view is, and when they mess up they get all mad. No shit, theyre celebrities. Not politicians or activists.
Not only is Jake Daniels gay but he's also poor. Offer 350k net per week and you would have more allies Jake, duh.
/s, obviously
No matter what people on Reddit say, this guy’s views are important. He is a gay footballer, he isn’t just a gay fan who can justify it away because they support Liverpool or England. He has experiences on the pitch, he’s heard the vitriol that fans come out with and there stood Henderson. A man who decided to become a face of LGBTQ inclusion in football, who subsequently abandoned it all for a big ol’ bag of cash.
If he’s saying it was disappointing it must be disappointing for so many players who aren’t out yet. I’m a member of the community and it does really fucking suck to see good representation disappear like it never mattered.
Good on Jake for having the guts to talk about it, even when he’s going to get some horrible comments about his identity in return. Henderson has done damage to the progression of inclusion in football full stop, fuck, I’d argue EA managed to do more to raise awareness with including women’s players in FUT who are often queer too and they’re solely motivated by money.
Man could have had both, now nobody will touch him with a bargepole post retirement.
You couldn't have said it any better. There's probably players out there who wanted to come out and the support of players like Henderson would have been encouraging, but now that he's done this what are those players going to think? That their peers supporting them are actually just doing it for money and don't care at all about you or your struggles? I hope it doesn't make those considering coming out to change their minds.
Right now the harmless choice to simply love someone in Saudi leads to torture and complete loss of human rights.
The UK treated homosexual people the same in the past, but the MASSIVE difference is that people forced their voice to be heard and society changed for the better. Try that in Saudi u get executed.
Fuckers who try to defend Saudi are hypocrites who will without question do a complete 180 and play victim if freedoms or security they believe in are even touched, let alone mutilated by Saudi law. They simply don't care because it doesn't effect them. Heartless bastards.
Henderson's choice is indefensible. The fact he did it for money reveals even more of his character.