Garth Crooks heaped praise on Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum for his performance during the 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Saturday.
The BBC pundit shared that the central midfielder, who earns £90,000-a-week at Anfield (Source: Spotrac), had suffered from being in team with some fantastic talents as it had seen him be hardly noticed at the club.
Crooks shared that he thought Wijnaldum delivered one of the best performances of his career against the Blues and claimed he held the Reds’ midfield together during the game.
“This player has suffered from being in a team that has so many outstanding players – he’s hardly been noticed. However, against Chelsea, Wijnaldum had one of the best 90 minutes of football I have seen him have in years,” wrote the pundit in his Team of the Week for BBC Sport.
“Liverpool’s front three were firing blanks, and James Milner and Jordan Henderson spent much of their time chasing Eden Hazard around Stamford Bridge, but Wijnaldum held it all together for the Reds in midfield. He had a great game.”
OPINION
Finally! While several pundits have previously praised Wijnaldum for his performances in recent times, Crooks finally highlights the fact he has wrongly been overlooked and deserves praise. It’s no surprise that the midfielder hasn’t grabbed the headlines like his attacking teammates as he does the dirty work that no one else wants to. The No.6 role that Wijnaldum seems to have mastered in recent weeks at Anfield won’t see his face plastered on the back pages of every national newspaper but that doesn’t mean he isn’t doing a vital job. The 27-year-old dominated the midfield and ran the show against the Blues and is a key reason why his side picked up at valuable point at Stamford Bridge. During that game Jordan Henderson, who is supposed to be club’s No.6 in terms of duties, and James Milner, who has been in red-hot form, didn’t fire on all cylinders and struggled to get a grip in the game which is why it was even more important that Wijnaldum stepped up.
