The Northern Irishman has been slated over the Reds’ regression this season but the England midfielder has no doubt about his coach’s greatness

Jordan Henderson says Brendan Rodgers remains one of the world’s best managers despite Liverpool’s disappointing season so far.

Inspired by Luis Suarez, the Merseyside giants came within two points of a first Premier League title since 1990 last season, with Rodgers rewarded with the League Managers’ Association Manager of the Year award.

The Reds boss has struggled to re-model his team’s attack this term in the wake of Suarez’s summer move to Barcelona and Daniel Sturridge’s persistent injury problems, leaving Liverpool in eighth place after 19 matches.

But Henderson, who enjoyed an excellent campaign during the Reds’ surprise title charge, has no doubt about his manager’s enduring quality.

“For me, he’s one of the top managers in the world,” the England international told reporters. “He has been fantastic ever since he came to the club.

“On the training field, he’s always looking to improve us in every single way possible for us to have the best chance of winning games.

“You can see that during games. If it’s not going right in the first 10 to 15 minutes, he will change something. He’s outstanding at seeing what’s happening in games and changing it whenever he needs to.

“We just have to make sure we keep on putting in the hard work and listening to what he has to say. If we do that, then we’ll keep going in the right direction.”

Seemingly freed by Rodgers’ experimental 3-4-3 formation, Liverpool appear to have re-discovered their scoring touch, netting 10 times in their last four matches, with Monday’s 4-1 rout of Swansea arguably the Reds’ best performance of the season so far.

“We changed to [3-4-3] towards the end of the Basel game,” Henderson added. “[Rodgers] looked at it and went through it with us in the meeting room and on the training field.

“Everyone buys into it because we know he’s so good tactically. He has proved he’s a top-class manager. We all know he wants to get the best out of the team and help everybody.

“It’s up to us as players to ensure we put that into practice on the pitch and we definitely did that against Swansea. If we keep playing like that we’ll get that consistency and more good results.”