If there’s one person who knows what it takes to succeed at Liverpool Football Club, it’s Sir Kenny Dalglish.
As a player, manager and club ambassador, Sir Kenny has been exemplary in the way he has conducted himself.
Indeed, it’s hard to think of a player that embodies the club more than the Scot.
Aside from his sporting excellence, perhaps Dalglish’s popularity endures because it’s rare to hear him talking up his own achievements in the game.
Forever humble, he’s a wonderful role model for any young players coming through at the club.
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They are characteristics that Jordan Henderson shares, and although he was brought to the club as a teenager, rather than through Liverpool’s academy, Sir Kenny is in no doubt as to the midfielder’s importance.
“He was a 19-year-old boy when he came. So, he’s walking into a team that’s got all the fame and glory that the club have had – and he’s walking into that,” he said in Messi – The King of Camp Nou.
“It’s a big ask at 19 years of age to ask someone to come down and hit top form right away. But he never let anybody down, not in any game he played would he have let somebody down.
“He might not play well, but then there’s a lot of people that don’t play well every game. But I’ll tell you one thing, he never lacked effort or commitment, and I think what you see now reflects that.”
Making him captain after Steven Gerrard might well have been seen as a strange decision at the time, but it’s certainly been vindicated.
“His leadership qualities, everything he’s got now… being captain of Liverpool, playing for them, he’s made a huge contribution,” Dalglish added.
“Not just when Jurgen came but before that as well.”
All quotes obtained first-hand by the author. Messi – The King of Camp Nou is available from December 16.