'I refereed a lot of Liverpool games and Jordan Henderson was the biggest troublemaker'

Former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has been labeled a ‘troublemaker’ by referee Felix Brych, who has also opened up on his relationship with Jurgen Klopp.

Brych will be a familiar face to Liverpool fans. The German official has taken charge of eight Liverpool matches over the years, including Champions League victories over Manchester City and Roma in 2018.

He is still an active referee, although he now works as a UEFA ambassador for Munich. Speaking to talkSPORT ahead of the start of Euro 2024, Brych lifted the lid on some of his games involving Liverpool, and gave a tongue-in-cheek verdict on former Reds captain Henderson.

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“I got along with all the players very well, but in every game there was always my troublemaker,” Brych said. “Looking back on many games at Anfield with Liverpool, when I saw Jordan Henderson, I knew I had to keep an eye on him.

“''Come on it’s not a foul, you can do it in Germany, but in England we want to let the game flow'. It was always this kind of trash talk, but I liked it and I got used to it. It was fun and games.

“He was talking all throughout the game. Also, James Milner. Sometimes he was quiet, sometimes he was talking a lot and like you do, you talk in a different way. In Germany, talking is much more aggressive. In England you talk in a different way, I knew that before the game."

Brych also gave some insight into how his relationship with Jurgen Klopp changed. The pair first came across each other when Klopp was managing in the Bundesliga, with their meetings becoming less frequent when he made the move to Anfield.

“I met Jurgen Klopp in Germany 20 years ago, but in England it was a different relationship with him,” Brych admitted. “If you know someone better than the others, they think you might favor them. I cannot give any kind of bonus to anybody."

Liverpool.com says: Henderson was always one who was quick to argue with the referee, although in fairness he was Liverpool captain, so would have always been the player designated to speak to the officials. We’re sure Brych must have dealt with much worse players during his career.