The FA have banned Liverpool’s teenager winger Harvey Elliott for 14 days for a video he appeared in which showed him mocking Harry Kane which was shared on social media.
The prodigy made a mistake – there is no denying that, and his age when the video was posted has surely come under considering in the FA’s decision.
Another thing that definitely did come up was how captain Jordan Henderson dealt with the youngster. The skipper sat down with Elliott and told him that his actions now represent the club and the sport as a whole.
From the FA's written reasons: "Jordan Henderson spoke to the player about his conduct and how such actions affect more than just the people directly involved, as they reflect on the club and the game as a whole."
— David Lynch (@dmlynch) October 11, 2019
It’s little tid bits like this that show just how good of a leader Henderson is – he’s sat down with the teenager and explained why he’s in the wrong.
By doing this, Hendo may have prevented something like this happening in the future. Anyone with a rebellious nature knows that rules dictated from seniority sometimes doesn’t have the desired effect.
These words coming from the skipper will fall on listening ears in Elliott – he’d likely already learned his lesson, but Henderson’s intervention has ensured it won’t happen again.
Harvey will bounce back from this – and he’ll still be available to play for us in the EFL Cup fixture with Arsenal – which isn’t for 19 days.