Topic: Welcome Georginio Wijnaldum

[newterp]

Good post Neil.

Also - our team is stronger than its been as a full squad in years.

[Oside Red]

Gini Wijnaldum vs England

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/oBXDSubvJO8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/oBXDSubvJO8</a>

Love the amount of one touch stuff, fully knowing where he's going with it before it arrives to him.  Even when he did take off with it, very few unnecessary touches, and quickly moving it on to someone in a better position, and continuing his run.

[88_RED]

If his play is half as good as his name then we have a good-un

[the_red_pill]

I am sure that nickname will stick.

Yip, 'Gino' is one of the nicks people use for him. The other is 'Gini'.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Pearce :

Asked Klopp where he sees Wijnaldum playing. He said he could be one of the 3 or the 2 in 4-2-3-1 or either side in 4-3-3. Versatile. #LFC

[the_red_pill]

Pearce :

Asked Klopp where he sees Wijnaldum playing. He said he could be one of the 3 or the 2 in 4-2-3-1 or either side in 4-3-3. Versatile. #LFC

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/georginio-wijnaldum-play-liverpool-what-11652691#rlabs=3%20rt$category%20p$4

“He can also play either side in a 4-3-3. He can play in five or six different positions. That’s one of the things I really like about him."

EDIT: Just realised now that we've signed a few players that can play in different positions. Both our CBs can play DM and one can play fullback if need be. Mane can play all across the front positions and Gino can play a variety of positions in midfield and out wide.
Brendan also signed those players and then promptly proceeded to play them out of position quite a lot. Klopp's had those players, but only played them out of position when he had to(Caulker though- was a big wtf )
Could be a strategy or could just be that players today are so versatile that whoever you sign will be able to play in a few other positions as well.

[Il Conte]

We've done significant things this summer with regards to breaking down teams;

1) We've bought a keeper that wants to be a 'sweeper'.
This will push the entire back line further up the pitch and this will compress the play and help us to keep teams penned into their final third for longer. If you ramp up the pressure continually the opposition will crack.

Agree on points 2 & 3.

Compressing the opposition though isn't necessarily a good thing for us, and teams do not always crack. We've seen countless times over the last years that many teams in this league and others are getting pretty comfortable at deep zonal defending against a (mainly narrow) lone striker formation. In my opinion what we should aim for is to create as much space as possible for our superior attacking threats. We know for example Coutinhos passing is lethal when there is space and runners ahead of him. The challenge for us will be to lure teams into opening up.

[Fiasco]

3) We've added serious pace.
Compact, organised defenders hate running towards their own goal and if our players are standing them up 1 v 1 and then making a b-line for the penalty area or by-line they will become stretched and start to panic and panic leads to mistakes.

I really like this. We've lacked pace in our side for many years, remember the days of Downing being our fastest player!? It's not just about speed in a straight line though; a player who is quite quick but direct and clever in movement is much more devastating than a complete speed merchant with no brain. Mane is lightning fast but is very clever with his movement, Wijnaldum is fast, tenacious and is always looking to move forward with or without the ball. In Origi we have another explosively quick player who loves to get in behind defences and in Coutinho and Firmino who have players who are capable of feeding the quicker players with the right passes when they break the lines and run in behind.

[rafathegaffa83]

Really good interview with Klopp in the Echo about Wijnaldum. Important points:

- Player wanted to come with us
- He's a player Klopp has followed with interest since his days at Feyenoord
- Klopp says "He’s a complete footballer. He’s good with the ball, he’s really fit, he can run a lot, he’s quick in making decisions and he’s a threat for the goal. He’s quite experienced, he was captain of PSV and he became a champion there - he knows about winning championships."

I read another interview, think it might have been in the Echo, were Klopp said the signings of Wijnaldum and Mane were to address the club's ability to close out tight games last season, which makes perfect sense.

[Bend It Like Aurelio]

I think one of the most impressive things with Wijnaldum is that he can score with his feet and his head. For a MF, that's very unusual, and a huge bonus. In fact, most of the goals he scored last year came from headers. He can come in from deep into the box and put away the cross, something that will be useful against parked buses. Benteke could score with his head, but he is mostly static, and easily marked. Not his fault entirely, as strikers do end up in advanced positions well before the ball arrives.

I really like our buys this summer. He is the one perhaps I'm most impressed with, even though it seems like he wasn't Klopp's first choice to fill that role.

[the_red_pill]

I think one of the most impressive things with Wijnaldum is that he can score with his feet and his head. For a MF, that's very unusual, and a huge bonus. In fact, most of the goals he scored last year came from headers. He can come in from deep into the box and put away the cross, something that will be useful against parked buses. Benteke could score with his head, but he is mostly static, and easily marked. Not his fault entirely, as strikers do end up in advanced positions well before the ball arrives.

I really like our buys this summer. He is the one perhaps I'm most impressed with, even though it seems like he wasn't Klopp's first choice to fill that role.

Yip another good point to drive home the fact we've made very sensible buys this season. A much more sensible Summer than the last 3 before that.
We've been sorely lacking in our heading department so now we're quite well prepared there going into the season- with Wijnaldum, Ragnar, Matip, Grujic etc.
That adds to Lovren who we have already. Max Meyer's 5.8 which isn't much but I dunno about his heading ability.

In any case- not only can we score with our feet, but we now have the tools to eke out wins from crosses and setpieces and turn those losses into draws and draws into wins. 2-2 and 2-1's going to become a bit more popular this season.

[il_principino]

Looking at the Klopp quotes and Pearce article it seems we clearly see him as CM in 4-2-3-1 alongside Can and Left Midfield in 4-3-3

so does that mean Can stays deep and Gini is free to wreak havoc on the break?

[[new username under construction]]

so does that mean Can stays deep and Gini is free to wreak havoc on the break?

Either can! So coupled with the next 3 interchanging and possibly (depending who plays) the forward as well, no opposition is going to be able to keep track of anyone

[the_red_pill]

Either can! So coupled with the next 3 interchanging and possibly (depending who plays) the forward as well, no opposition is going to be able to keep track of anyone

Cool thing about them is that they can BOTH make penetrating, unstoppable runs through midfield with the ball. Gino moreso than Can. Can's a bit more disciplined in that area, but he'll make the run when he sees it's safe to do so. They just need to communicate this well enough if they're to play next to each other.

[So… Howard Philips]

Either can! So coupled with the next 3 interchanging and possibly (depending who plays) the forward as well, no opposition is going to be able to keep track of anyone

I hope we can but at least the names/numbers on the back of their shirts will give us a hint of who is where.

[LallanaInPyjamas]

Got an increasingly good feeling about Wijnaldum. Brilliant to have another dynamic player looking to feed a front man and get beyond him. Can't have enough of those.

[Samie]

[diegoLFC7]

It seems like this signing almost certainly means Grujic will start on the bench. With his determination and size, its gonna be hard for fatigued teams to take advantage of us.

[Oberyn_Martell]

Just going to imagine we signed him from PSV and his move to Newcastle never happened, I am sure if we were signing the PSV Gino everybody would be raving about him and saying what a signing.

You put Wijnaldum with the right manager and in the right setup, like Cocu was for him at PSV and Klopp will be here for him and you get potentialy a great player.

Can we not call him gino, it just sounds really weird and untoward.

[gatcliffe]

Can we not call him gino, it just sounds really weird and untoward.

Got any alternatives many on here already calling him Gino

[Oberyn_Martell]

Got any alternatives many on here already calling him Gino

What about like winny
Gino just sounds like gyno ugh.

[darragh85]

George?

[Oberyn_Martell]

George?

Georgey?

[Carra-ton]

He is called Gini by his friends.

[gatcliffe]

He is called Gini by his friends.

Well if that is the case it will be Gini then.

[Oberyn_Martell]

He is called Gini by his friends.

That sounds a little better!

[Rush 82]

I was kinda looking forward to calling him Wij....

Ah well

[BER]

+1 for Wij.

[Jake]

Digger!

I wasn't excited about this transfer at all, but after a few youtube videos, he looks like a class player...

[Oberyn_Martell]

I was kinda looking forward to calling him Wij....

Ah well

You can save that for the bedroom.  😂😂

[Upinsmoke]

He said his friend once called him Gini and it stuck but he's not sure why. Then you look at his first name and you think how could he not know?

[Solomon Grundy]

I'm really interested to know how Klopp is going to use Gini and whether or not he is able to play in a midfield two succesfully in the premier league.

[SerbianScouser]

I'm really interested to know how Klopp is going to use Gini and whether or not he is able to play in a midfield two succesfully in the premier league.

It`s a legit question though for me if Cazorla and Cesc can do it than most certainly Gini can as well.

[Solomon Grundy]

It`s a legit question though for me if Cazorla and Cesc can do it than most certainly Gini can as well.

Who knows. They are completely different players. He's done it playing for PSV and Holland, but the premier league is far more physical than the Dutch league. Hopefully Gini can do it.

[cloggypop]

I was kinda looking forward to calling him Wij....

Why?

[Claire.]

I'm really interested to know how Klopp is going to use Gini and whether or not he is able to play in a midfield two succesfully in the premier league.

I wonder if Klopp knows for 14 of the sides in the league you can just blow them away with power and pace and is setting us up to do just that?

[gamble]

Yip, 'Gino' is one of the nicks people use for him. The other is 'Gini'.

 I think I like gino, reminds me of this:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RQO2wEJefjM

[JustDan]

What about like winny

That gets a neigh from me.

I was kinda looking forward to calling him Wij....

Ah well

Why?

edit - beaten to it. 

[smiffo]

I think I like gino, reminds me of this:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RQO2wEJefjM

Beat me to it. Makings of a great song for him.
Once he's proved himself and those more longstanding/those more deserving get their songs first of course!

[Haggis36]

He's such a smiley character, hard not to instantly like him!

The more I see videos of him/read about him, the more I think this is a great little signing. Very intelligent player by all accounts, scores goals and puts in a superb amount of running. Think after a couple of months with Klopp we'll see quite the player.