Liverpool's former captain Jordan Henderson did not last long at Al-Ettifaq. Having shouldered intense public backlash by choosing to move to Saudi Arabia in spite of his previous vocal support of the LGBT community, he lasted just six months before exiting the club and moving to Ajax.

His eagerness for a rapid way out, despite the immense reputational sacrifices he was prepared to make in order to push through the move in the first place, appeared to speak volumes about the state of Saudi football, and about Al-Ettifaq in particular. But while the English media have kept a fairly close eye on Henderson's continued struggles at Ajax, few have kept much of a watch on the team he left behind.

That's despite the presence of other Liverpool alumni. Steven Gerrard, the last-but-one captain at Anfield, is the manager, following an excellent stint at Rangers and a failed one at Aston Villa. When he was excelling north of the border, many thought he would be the one to replace Jürgen Klopp one day — how quickly that has all changed, with Arne Slot now set to take over.

Meanwhile, Georginio Wijnaldum is in midfield for Al-Ettifaq. Having partnered Henderson for much of the first half of the season, he has taken on more of the burden himself in the run-in, with Gerrard making him the captain after his former Liverpool colleague left in January.

So how have they been getting on? First, a bit of context: Al-Ettifaq was on an eight-game winless run in the league when Henderson departed. Under other circumstances, Gerrard may have been under pressure — but he was handed a new contract instead, a bid to show that neither the team nor the league was hemorrhaging its biggest names.

And to be fair, Gerrard has turned things around to some extent. In the first league game after Henderson left, Al-Ettifaq finally managed to win, with Wijnaldum sporting the armband and scoring in a 2-0 victory over Al-Khaleej.

Wijnaldum is yet to score again since, but the team's overall fortunes have still improved. Gerrard has developed a tendency for playing out draws, but Al-Ettifaq has lost just once in its last 11, and that was to runaway leader Al-Hilal (spearheaded by a prolific Aleksandar Mitrović, who has only been outscored by Cristiano Ronaldo).

This turnaround in form has led Gerrard's side to sixth in the Saudi Pro League. That's about right, with Al-Ettifaq not one of the four teams directly backed by the Public Investment Fund, but having invested more than most other sides in the division.

Liverpool.com says: The indictments of Henderson just keep on coming. It was one thing for him to be struggling in Saudi Arabia, another for those woes to continue with Ajax, but something else again for the team he left behind to actually improve in his absence.

It was only last season he was a regular starter for Liverpool, so it's hard to understand how things have unraveled so quickly. But a series of poor choices have harmed his personal and professional reputation — except in the eyes of Gareth Southgate, apparently.

Klopp defended Henderson in a recent press conference, making sure before answering a question from a Dutch journalist that he was not talking to the same person who harshly grilled the midfielder after a particularly poor Ajax performance. And it's true that he remains a legend for what he achieved with Liverpool. But the Saudi move has undeniably complicated his legacy.

It's not great to see Gerrard or Wijnaldum over there either, although they are not burdened by the same hypocrisy that made Henderson's switch so controversial. And on the whole, it's nice to see them both finding a bit of success, finishing the season pretty strongly.