Georginio Wijnaldum delighted to be handed his opportunity among Liverpool’s band of brothers
A season-ending injury to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was devastating for Liverpool but for Wijnaldum, it ended up providing a hard-earned opportunity
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Your support makes all the difference.In the centre of the pitch at the Stadio Olimpico, when AS Roma meet Liverpool, there will be a collision of lean Dutch muscle. Kevin Strootman and Georginio Wijnaldum are international team-mates and via WhatsApp, they have communicated since last week’s first leg at Anfield where Wijnaldum’s introduction as a first half substitute proved significant.
Roma were way on top at the time, with Liverpool struggling to regulate the movement of Radja Nainggolan particularly, who was used surprisingly by Eusebio Di Francesco at the apex of his midfield. Within a couple of minutes, Wijnaldum had made a couple of sprints, breaking through Roma’s defence. Suddenly the Italian team were having to think about running the other way.
In the quarter final at Manchester City, Wijnaldum was chosen to perform Jordan Henderson’s role as the screen in front of Virgil van Dijk and Dejan Lovren. Having done well, Wijnaldum admits he was motivated by the whiplash disappointment, having been told he’d only be a substitute in the next round. A season-ending injury to Alex Oxlade Chamberlain was devastating for Liverpool but for Wijnaldum, it ended up providing an opportunity.
“You have to show why you have to play,” Wijnaldum tells The Independent. “To come on was not really difficult but to come in because he was injured was another thing.”
There is a sense of genuine camaraderie between these Liverpool players and it shows on the pitch, with attackers chasing back, midfielders pushing up and defenders pulling those in front of them back into position, especially since van Dijk’s arrival.
“It is great,” Wijnaldum thinks. “A lot of times I had the feeling I as a player, and I think every player thinks this, am responsible for how my team-mates feel. I just want to do my best and give 100 per-cent and if I give 100 per-cent they will feel better they will feel better and think 'I will give 100 per-cent'. This is what we have right now.
“We are really attached to each other and we shared the same emotions and I think that is why we have a close team because we want to work hard for everyone, whether it is a player on the bench or a player who plays, everyone is trying to help each other – even if a player is disappointed because he is not playing or injured he will still want to help the team to perform good.”
Daniele De Rossi said after defeat at Anfield that Liverpool play a lot of long balls and so did City’s Fernandinho ahead of the second leg of the last round. Wijnaldum believes Liverpool’s style is a courageous one. Long balls, really, are long passes because few are stray or speculative. When Liverpool’s front three receive possession, the game becomes shorter and even quicker. Wijnaldum thinks beating City 4-3 in the Premier League helped inspire a credence that wasn’t necessarily there before.
“Everyone is passive against City because they have so much quality,” he explains. “It doesn't matter how you defend they will create chances any way and we just play our game, tried to press them and make it as difficult as possible and it worked and it gave us a lot of confidence.
“Like I said, every time we had bad games we stepped up and did great, not always with good football but we gave everything we could and everything from that moment we knew we can reach something with this team.”
If there is a flaw in Liverpool’s approach – and it will not change here in Rome with Klopp insisting Liverpool will play to win despite their three-goal advantage – it is the level of fitness required to ensure they are effective. If Liverpool progress past Roma, you do feel the 13 days between the last game of the Premier League season and the Champions League final in Kiev will be beneficial, at least in terms of re-grouping considering the injuries they have.
“It is hard, especially how long this season is, because it takes a lot of energy and is really intense,” Wijnaldum says. “We want to be really dominant in the way of playing and that costs a lot of energy.
“…You have to do it every single game but not only the game in training because we train with the same intensity. It is not always possible but we try.”
And that could be a mantra for Klopp’s Liverpool: it might not always be possible, but they do believe and they do try. It goes a long way to explaining why they are here.
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