Jurgen Klopp has hailed Jordan Henderson's aptitude and work ethic after the Liverpool player was crowned the Premier League's best passer so far this season.
Data obtained by the Daily Mirror from EA Sports revealed that the Reds midfielder leads the way with the most successful passes in the opening 10 matches of the 2016/17 campaign.
Henderson has completed over 800 successful balls to team-mates, leaving the likes of £89m world record signing Paul Pogba and Arsenal's Mesut Ozil in his wake, and has even more league assists than the pair combined this term.
Speaking ahead of Liverpool's clash with Watford at Anfield on Sunday, Klopp was quick to praise the 26-year-old over his passing ability and leadership qualities when asked for his opinion on the statistic.
The German said: How old is Hendo? 26... that's really young, and yet everyone seems to have already judged him.
All these guys I have here “ and especially the English guys “ are thinking the whole day about football and how they can improve. I like this. I like this in Jordan “ he wants to work and improve.
Don't be surprised that Jordan is top of the passing. Look at the details too “ at 25 he is a very, very responsible person, a very serious person and a really good skipper.
Yes, he is a very good passer and doesn't get the credit...but he would say you are nothing without the team around you.
His pass was brilliant against Palace last week but only because Roberto Firmino showed him a very good idea what he could do with it. The stats are positive “ they show what Jordan can do.�
Jordan Henderson has covered more distance than any other player in the Premier League so far this season (118.8km). #LFC pic.twitter.com/4U3HIz9OWl
Meanwhile, Henderson himself opted to laud praise on his Liverpool team-mates instead of taking any credit for himself.
The England international is of the opinion that every squad member has helped fire the Reds into the top three positions in the league this season, and said he believes that the club would not be where it is if one or two stars started to let their performance levels drop.
He said:We're top of a lot of the stats in the league and that's the type of game we play “ but you've got to have the players to do it.
It definitely has to work as a team. If one or two don't do it then it doesn't really work. It's quite easy to play around us if that happens, but if everyone does it as a team and you're all tuned in to the same thing then it becomes a lot easier.�
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