The news that Steven Gerrard will be leaving in a couple of months shook Liverpool Football Club on a matter of fronts. It was hit hard by the news that the 34-year-old would be ending a famous 25-year affiliation with the club, and rightly so.
Gerrard has made his mark in a Liverpool shirt on so many occasions, and his departure was only ever expected to be in the form of retirement, but despite it's surprising timing - it offers the Reds an opportunity to look towards the future. A future that even without their talismanic skipper, can still be bright.
The lack of leadership in the Liverpool side has certainly been talked up, particularly the dressing room figures, which one-by-one seem to have faded away with Jamie Carragher, Pepe Reina, Daniel Agger, Luis Suarez and now Gerrard all leaving under Rodgers. But there remains one figure who is primed to step into the fore when Gerrard leaves in July, and that man is Jordan Henderson.
The 24-year-old's Anfield career has not always been plain sailing. He struggled to handle the pressures of playing for such a big club early on, with his £16 million price tag looking to have got the better of him. In fact, his Liverpool career was so nearly curtailed when Brendan Rodgers called in the young midfielder into his office back in the summer of 2012. The Ulsterman would go on to explain that Henderson, subject to his personal opinion on the matter, would have the opportunity to go to Fulham in a swap deal for the services of Clint Dempsey. As has since been well known, Henderson refused that opportunity. He wanted to stay and earn his stripes on Merseyside, and as a testament to his character, he has.
Three years on from that moment, Rodgers is now hailing Henderson as the club's next captain. Speaking of his "natural leadership", his "power" and "quality", it is obvious that like many - the Northern Irishman has grown a real respect for the Sunderland-born central midfielder.
After finding times tough under Kenny Dalglish, the man who brought him to Anfield, Henderson began to find his feet as Rodgers deployed him in a central position, notably his best. As the 2012-13 season grew, so did Henderson's stature. By the time of the 2013-14 campaign, he was as pivotal to Rodgers' plans as any other player - and he featured in every single Premier League game until missing the last three, in which Liverpool coincidentally lost their grip of the title, through suspension.
Being described as "the most improved player in the Premier League" by his manager showed how far Henderson had come in the last 18 months, none more so than when he was announced as the club's new vice-captain once Danish centre-back Agger left for his homeland. Nowadays, he has made over 100 league appearances and 150 appearances in all competitions for the Reds and increases in importance every week.
So much so, he is being talked up as the "natural successor" to Gerrard's captaincy. Certainly, unless circumstances change dramatically, he is in line to take over the Huyton-born and bred midfielder's helm at L4, and it would be difficult to begrudge him the permanent captaincy. Henderson walks onto the field with not only a sense of maturity beyond his peers, but responsibility. Whilst other big-name figures have left, Henderson has become the one tasked with stepping up to the plate, particularly since Gerrard has found form harm to come by this season.
For the most part, Henderson has handled the pressure well. As consistent as ever, 2014-15 has been a solid one for the ex-England U21 Player of the Year. Sure, he's not the ball-busting box-to-box midfielder that Steven Gerrard was at the age of 24, and he probably never will be, but, Henderson has an air of discipline and leadership about him that is hard to teach. Recently, it was he who loudly bemoaned the actions of his skipper - choosing to shoot rather than pass to him, and he rightly received an earful. In his absence, it is he who has also taken the reigns - not just as captain, but in his performances.
Whilst Gerrard has found himself increasingly benched, Henderson has thrived without him. Against Swansea City, the former Sunderland youth prospect was at his very best - providing two assists and running the centre of midfield in a fine 4-1 win over Garry Monk's men. His goalscoring contributions may still need some work, but as with every task Henderson faces, it is one he will work hard to conquer. The biggest task that faces him now, is to learn off of Gerrard every passing day until he leaves, because the long-time Liverpool servant will leave one hell of a void when he leaves for LA Galaxy.
Perhaps, it is a void that will never be filled. His impact on the club is difficult to put into words and Henderson will only hoping he can have the same long-term impact at Liverpool when he eventually announces his departure. He faces a huge test, in essence, trying to replace him, but the Wearsider will relish the challenge. Henderson's professionalism, dedication, hard work and commitment to the cause cannot be understated. He doesn't drink, he pushes himself to the limit in training and he is a popular, well-rounded guy on and off of the pitch.
He has already completed one of the hardest tasks at Liverpool, changing the minds of the supporters. Those who once criticised his every contribution are those relentlessly clapping his every waking move now, and that has all been down to the individual's hard work and dedication to better himself and ultimately, prove people wrong. Now, he needs to prove being wrong again. His next task, perhaps his hardest yet, is proving that he is capable of being responsible of representing one of England's most prestigious footballing institutions as it's main ambassador.
He is already in good suit to replace Gerrard on the pitch; developing a fine variety of passing, charging up and down the field with a young Gerrard's sense of passion, becoming more authorative in his actions. He may never be the awe-inspiring number eight that can change the game in an instant, nor will he be the crowd-pulling man that single-handedly attracts the supporters, but there aren't many men better placed than Henderson to carry the burden that being the captain of Liverpool entails.
In terms of having a perfect skipper's traits - Henderson is close as they come for Rodgers' current Liverpool side. There's no guarantee that he'll manage to cope with it's day-in and day-out pressures, but he'll put his all into representing those working-class Scousers watching on in the stands with pride and that, at the end of the day, is all that can be asked of him. Whether Henderson can match Gerrard's success in an armband remains to be seen, but we'll soon see whether he has it in him to prove himself again.