The one thing I have observed watching Wijnaldum is that he has something so many footballers of today are lacking. 1 thing that made players like Dalglish, Pele, Molby, Alonso, Zidane and Gerrard as well as many many others, and that is football intelligence. Now before you read on I am NOT comparing Gini to these players or their achievements but just the one thing that they all have had in common. The understanding of what to do with the ball at the right time in the right place.
For example Jordan Ibe and Raheem Sterling are fantastic dribblers but because of their lack of game intelligence they used to run into blind alleys and into dead ends because they lacked that basic game intelligence. Even Coutinho STILL has moments when he tries to do that little bit too much. But when you have the right understanding, the right mentality you know EXACTLY when to pass, hold onto, dribble or shoot with that ball. Now I am not a manager or a coach - I am just a football fan, but in my opinion the one attribute that makes the best ever players, and the one attribute that makes me happy to watch said players, is that 1 common feature they all had - football intelligence.
This is something Wijnaldum has. He knows when to pass the ball, that pass for Sturridge's 2nd goal. He didn't wait he didn't dither - bang straight into Danny's path. The West Brom game- he had a good chance to score and he took it - unfortunately the curl on the ball wasn't executed that he tried and he didn't get his goal but the idea and vision was there for the right thing at the right time. Crossing the ball for Lallana to score vs Arsenal and then picking the tiny lil pass to Lallana again vs Leicester for Adam to score again, shows he has vision and football intelligence.
I hope he can become as influential as the players I have mentioned as they were all 1 step ahead or 3 even of the opposition, and this is what set them apart from the rest.
It has not been long since he joined but I can see him becoming an important cog in the Klopp footballing machine, more so than Henderson, Milner, or Can, all of whom have on their day shown they have some degree of vision and intelligence to play the game easily, but all on an inconsistent basis. Gini, I hope, will do it regularly and efficiently so that he becomes a legend in football but also for Liverpool.
This post may seem like I am appraising him too much that I am comparing him to legends in the game, he may never ever reach those heights - like Klopp didn't, he may never have the footballing ability to become like those legends, but I really do see a person who makes the game look easy because of that 1 attribute of understanding how the game should be played.
He isn't inspiring like Gerrard, or have that amazing pass like Alonso and he definitely doesn't have Zidane's dribbling ability, but there is something about him that is goes largely unseen and yet he gets in the right positions and delivers the right ball.
He has room to develop, he has weaknesses I am sure and strengths too, but when it comes to how you play the game upstairs - that's a natural ability that you either have or you don't and thankfully I think he really does have it.
I just hope he can keep getting better and better and better for us. The pundits and commentators were all praising Sturridge last night as he did have a v good game. But Gini stood out for me over Danny. Long may it continue!
