Jordan Henderson on 'Mentality Monsters' Tag After Liverpool's Aston Villa Win

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has said he wants the team to lose the "mentality monsters" tag they have been labelled with by not putting themselves in positions where they have to come from behind. 

The Reds needed to battle back three times last week, with Premier League wins over Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa sandwiching their penalty shootout success over Arsenal in the Carabao Cup.

Following their win over Villa, references were made to the "mentality monsters" remark from Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp after the team's UEFA Champions League semi-final win over Barcelona last season. 

Henderson told Liverpool's matchday programme (h/t Mark Jones of the Daily Mirror) the team need to put themselves in better situations so dramatic comebacks aren't necessary:

"Part of being 'mentality monsters' is that you challenge yourselves and always look at where you can be better. 

"As a team, do we like the fact that our mindset is 'keep going and never submit'? Yes, of course. But I would also like to think we'd look at those numbers and set ourselves the task of not putting ourselves in the position in the first place.

"Comebacks make for great television, but it's on us as a squad to address the issue of falling behind in games. We want to be a side that dominates teams and takes total control of a game. We've proved time and time again we can do that, but clearly at the moment we haven't been doing enough to make sure we are in a dominant position on the scoreboard for longer periods."

After Sadio Mane's stoppage-time winner at Aston Villa, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher made reference to the tag:

The Liverpool Twitter account shared a number of late goals scored by the team already this season:

Recently, the Reds have started a number of games slowly, and the opposition have been able to capitalise on some slack defending. However, Liverpool have showcased a fantastic knack for turning games around under Klopp.

It's testament to the quality of the squad the Reds have at the moment, although it's clear they also boast remarkable fitness and an unshakeable belief in themselves to turn games around.

Liverpool writer Joel Rabinowitz praised Mane for dragging the team to victory on Saturday at Villa Park:

Per OptaJoe, Liverpool have been the most prolific late goalscorers in the history of the Premier League:

Henderson's programme notes came ahead of the team's showdown with Genk in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. After winning the previous meeting between the sides 4-1 in Belgium, it's unlikely the Merseyside club will have to come from behind at Anfield again.

The skipper will be wary of the team starting slowly against Manchester City on Sunday, though. Going a goal down against the Premier League champions would represent a much sterner challenge for Klopp's side.