Georginio Wijnaldum: The silent assassin at Liverpool

Liverpool showed their battling qualities at Stamford Bridge as we came back from a goal down to level the scores via an unbelievable Daniel Sturridge strike.

The 29-year-old smacked home the equalizer from 30 yards out and we kept our unbeaten run going in the league.

The team were brilliant throughout and it was a testament to our newfound belief of doing well. Truth be told, we could have won this game but a point at the Bridge is a great result and most of our players have been exceptional.

Alisson was excellent in the game and so were the likes of James Milner and Andy Robertson. But one player has evaded the spotlight for a long time and that is Georginio Wijnaldum.

A silent star who is producing the games of his life

Since his move to Liverpool from Newcastle a few years ago, I wasn’t quite certain of what he was going to do at the club.

The Dutch midfielder was often played either in an advanced role or he did his bit by keeping the game ticking. However, we barely saw his best at Anfield.

Things have changed drastically for the midfielder this season as Jurgen Klopp prefers to play him over new boys Naby Keita and Fabinho.

The German manager was even quoted by the Mirror as saying:

“Gini can switch from one mindset to the other and that is pretty good for us.

“If you ask me he was brilliant in pre-season as the eight. He was good as the six but brilliant as the eight. That’s why we never had any doubts about him. He can play both.”

In fact, the Dutch midfielder has slowly grown in importance over the past season or so. Wijnaldum has started all seven Premier League games for us this season.

His role of moving about and keeping things going as the ball recycler seem to be working as he has recorded a passing percentage of 92.5 in the Premier League and 92.2 from his sole game in the Champions League.

Wijnaldum has a better passing success rate than James Milner and even Jordan Henderson, who usually keeps the team ticking along.

The Dutchman isn’t someone who will perform a brilliant turn and trick the opposition but he is ever-present and an extremely hard worker.

The 27-year-old also comes up with some crucial goals such as the one against Tottenham Hotspur a few weeks ago.

Klopp has tweaked his team a little bit this season but that is necessary in order to dominate teams. Furthermore, this has been a work in progress ever since Philippe Coutinho left the team and joined Barcelona.

Milner has been another midfield star for us and even in the game against Chelsea, Wijnaldum and the Englishman were doing all they could to get the team back level.

The former Manchester City man even moved as a left-back to help Andy Robertson push forward but the Dutchman wasn’t as big a figure as some of our other players.

He was running, trying to keep things ticking and was an outlet for his teammates in case they needed a ‘get out of jail’ card.

The likes of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and even Sadio Mane keep receiving the plaudits and awards but the player who has kept Liverpool ticking this season is Wijnaldum. And now, we know how important he is for the team.