Pressure can make or break a man. Oh so often, when a footballer moves from one club to another 'bigger' club, or is the subject of a multi-million transfer - it can weigh them down to the extent that they never recover.
Given their stature, Liverpool Football Club has seen many, many players come in and fail to live up to the weight of expectation placed upon them for various reasons.
But every so often, there also those who, despite initially seeming to have fallen victim to the increase in adversity, manage to turn things around to become a success story. The classic zero to hero.
Lucas Leiva is a particularly pertinent example. The Brazilian arrived at Liverpool as a promising young attacking midfielder, but after struggling severely early on - he soon became the subject of boos due to the level of his dreadful performances.
It would have been easy to quit, but rather than wilt under the pressure, Lucas put his nose to the grind and worked hard to develop his game. So much so, he shifted to a defensive midfielder, and became one of the best in the league at that.
Lucas developed into a fan favourite and was rightly named Standered Chartered Player of the Season in 2010-11 after a spectacular campaign. Unfortunately, serious injuries curtailed his progress and he was soon back to square one.
Quite quickly, he once again fell away into the fringes of the first-team. This time last summer, Lucas' Liverpool career looked dead in the water.
Again, he could have left. Again, he decided to stay and fight it out. He once again proved his credentials to supporters, producing a string of fine performances which helped add some much-needed solidity to a leaky back-four in early 2015.
He's still not quite the regular in midfield he might have hoped to be, but there is no denying his turnaround at Anfield.
That brings us to Jordan Henderson, who has found himself on a similar rise to prominence, which has recently seen him established as the latest Liverpool captain.
Being handed the armband caps a rather astonishing rise for the 25-year-old, who has had to dismiss his fair share of sceptics.
Henderson overcomes the odds to succeed at Anfield
Back in 2012, having arrived on Merseyside from Sunderland for a fee in the region of £20 million, there was a major step-up in pressure and expectation.
The same summer, Henderson earned his first England call-up, as he joined up with the international squad for the UEFA European Championship in Poland and Ukraine, a decision which was subject to plenty of criticism.
Joey Barton, not exactly one to refrain from speaking his mind on social media, insisted that "any Englishman not currently in the squad has to feel aggrieved" if Henderson deserved inclusion to the tournament.
At first, the pressure seemed too much for Henderson. Then just 21, the central midfielder hopelessly struggled to prove his worth in his first season, in particular coming in for harsh criticism over his running style from Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Understandably, he was offered a way out of his Anfield nightmare only one year after arriving, when Brendan Rodgers gave him the chance to move to Fulham only weeks after being appointed.
Henderson quite easily could have accepted the offer there and then, settling with the fact that maybe he just wasn't good enough, or that the move was too much too soon.
But Henderson was not one to see it that way. Rather, he decided to reject the opportunity and opt to prove his worth to the Northern Irishman, and just about everyone else.
The rest, as they say, is history.
The former captain of the England under-21s, Henderson battled hard to convince his doubters that he was good enough to make the grade at Anfield.
Three years on and many are now extremely thankful that Henderson chose not to jump ship to Craven Cottage when given the chance.
His importance to Rodgers' team now cannot be understated. In addition to his characteristically industrious work rate, he has since added creativity, strength, maturity and leadership to become an important all-rounded player.
In developing from a boy to a man, Henderson has come on leaps and bounds and Liverpool have reaped the rewards.
Posting his best ever league goals and assists tally last season, and with only four other footballers having created more chances in open play than his 117 over the last two years, he has progressed so much from the days in which he was stereotyped as a Duracell Bunny figure.
Henderson has the stomach for the fight
Now, Henderson faces yet another mammoth-sized task - but one he will undoubtedly relish. He is trusted with leading a side that gravely requires someone to fight from the front.
With the current Liverpool side at a crossroads, just about everyone knowing that Rodgers' security as manager lies in limbo - it is Henderson who will be assigned the duty of being the driving force in a side looking to put past the abject misery of last year beyond them.
His first task, the unenviable responsibility of leading Liverpool to the return of their embarrassing 6-1 defeat to Stoke City on the opening day of the league season next month.
It's a tough start, and inside the first few weeks - Henderson will also lead the Reds into tough away fixtures at Arsenal, Manchester United, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, Everton and Manchester City.
But you just know, that whilst the odds will be against him, Hendeson will not be one to hide away from it all. Instead, he will thrive under the pressure - just as he has on most occasions when he has been trusted with the role of leading the side.
Of course, some will never be pleased by the fact that Jordan Henderson is not Steven Gerrard, but nor will anyone be.
Of the Reds' current crop, Henderson is undoubtedly the stand-out candidate for the captaincy. Not just for his remarkable ascension in a red shirt, but for all of his individual qualities too, giving him the armband makes sense.
The right man for the job
On the eye, he might not look like the calibre of player which has captained the club before. The likes of Sami Hyypia, Graeme Souness, Ron Yeats, Alan Hansen and even Ian Rush.
The list of previous Liverpool captains is brimful with world-class figures who have etched their names into the club's illustrious history and it would be more than fair to say that Henderson, for all his improvement, is not near their level of class.
Yet, that shouldn't dissuade Liverpool fans from trusting him to lead the side. Times change, and Henderson represents something new. Something fresh. That change should be welcomed, because whilst Gerrard was an immense leader for Liverpool - and his contributions may perhaps never be matched - too often were the players, not just the fans, looking towards him to pull the rabbit out of the hat.
Unfortunately, more recently Gerrard was not quite the match-winner he once was. He still possessed obvious qualities - such as his threat from set-pieces, as shown against the likes of Basel and Wimbledon, but his ability to grab the game by the scruff of the neck was long gone. He desperately wanted to drag the Reds over the line, but he just couldn't.
Now, however, the Reds will be forced to adopt different tactics. Henderson, for all his refinement in adding goals and assists to his game, is probably never going to be the week in, week out matchwinner - but why should he be? And why should Liverpool want him to be?
No-one ever would be able to represent what Gerrard represented, both for the club, and the city of Liverpool. Instead, it's time for a new era, led by a fresh face who will do things his own way.
Henderson, as it stands, is the ideal man to take the armband. No, Henderson will never be another Steven Gerrard, but almost no-one predicted him to come this far as it is, so who knows how much further he can still go? We'll just have to wait and see.