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A thread on why Gini Wijnaldum’s time at Liverpool is up, and why he should, and will move on this summer:
Wijnaldum signed for Liverpool in July 2016 for £25m from Newcastle, after scoring 11 Premier League goals despite suffering relegation to the Championship.
After predominantly playing out on the left for Newcastle, Wijnaldum adopted a much deeper and conservative central midfield role for Liverpool, with Klopp using him as a ball retainer, utilising his incredible energy levels.
In 2016/17, Liverpool played a 433 system with Wijnaldum fighting for a place in the two advanced midfield roles, with competition from Adam Lallana, Jordan Henderson and Emre Can. He ended the season with 6 goals and 11 assists in 42 appearances.
Despite a solid start for Liverpool, Wijnaldum’s consistency was often questioned, with many fans suggesting he went missing at times, provoking the whole “Ghostnaldum” conpspiracy.
In 2017/18, Gini had a much less productive season in front of goal, with only 2 goals and 4 assists in 50 appearances in this season, despite becoming a much more regular mainstay in the Liverpool team.
Wijnaldum established a very efficient midfield alongside Jordan Henderson and James Milner, with the 3 aiming to recycle possession and stay solid defensively, with minimal focus on attack, which was left for the front 3. The trio notably had success in the Champions League.
Wijnaldum’s most memorable moment of the 2017/18 season would be his goal in the second-leg of the Champions League semi-final against Roma, to send Liverpool to the final against Real Madrid, despite a 4-2 loss on the night. Liverpool lose the final 3-1.
In 2018/19, Wijnaldum appeared 47 times, scoring 5 goals and creating 1 assist. However, Liverpool won the Champions League after beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the final. As we can see, the creative side to his game faded this season, and Coutinho had left by this point.
In this season, Gini notably contributed 2 second half goals off the bench in the semi-final of the UCL against Barcelona, allowing Liverpool to qualify for the final, which they went on to win.
In 2019/20, Wijnaldum played 47 games, with 6 goals and 0 assists, picking up a Premier League winner’s medal. As we can see, his creative game faded even further.
At the halfway stage of 2020/21, Wijnaldum has played 27 games with 2 goals and 0 assists, showing his attacking side of the game to fail even more.
As we can see, the attacking side of his game has weakened year by year, creating quite a void when it comes to goal contributions beside the front 3.
Many fans have questioned the passing ability of Wijnaldum in recent years, with many of which not being progressive, consisting of either sideways or backwards, slowing down attacks.
Wijnaldum also seems to be taking less and less shots/risks in creating a goal as time goes on, suggesting even less creativity and over reliance on the full-backs and using crosses.
Wijnaldum’s performances are often criticised after playing against a low block, due to his lack of ability to create. With more and more teams adopting this system after the success of others, his role becomes less required.
He is seen to hold on to the ball for too long, with poor decision making. This slows down the general speed of Liverpool attacks, meaning creative opportunities such as overlaps and runs in behind can be missed.
Overall, replacing Gini with a more attacking presence such as Jones/Keita/Chamberlain, or perhaps even recruiting someone new would suit Liverpool’s game much more, supporting the front 3, making the midfield much less robust.
Barcelona would be the perfect move for Wijnaldum for the latter stages of his career, with a slower tempo/intensity suiting his game. The opportunity to work under Koeman, who he played under for the Netherlands, may allow his style of play to flourish.
Overall, Gini has been an exceptional servant for Liverpool, but the club have simply outgrown him, and his lack of attacking license can be seen to be holding us back.
END OF THREAD
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