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Tag: Wijnaldum

  • ‘Liverpool a better option for Wijnaldum than Barcelona & Real Madrid’ – Crouch

    ‘Liverpool a better option for Wijnaldum than Barcelona & Real Madrid’ – Crouch

    Peter Crouch concedes that Barcelona and Real Madrid can be seen as “the Holy Grail” for some players, but the former Liverpool striker believes remaining at Anfield would be “a better option” for Georginio Wijnaldum.

    Speculation regarding a possible switch to Spain continues to rage around Netherlands international midfielder Wijnaldum.

    Ronald Koeman has made no secret of the fact that he would like to be reunited with his fellow countryman at Camp Nou.

    Barca started to sound out a raid for Wijnaldum over the summer, as he prepared to enter the final year of his contract at Liverpool, and those terms continue to run down, with no extension agreed as yet.

    That is keeping the rumour mill ticking over, with the talented 30-year-old remaining coy on his future plans.

    Crouch believes Wijnaldum should be committing to fresh terms with the reigning Premier League champions, with the grass on Merseyside considered to be greener than that in Catalunya or Madrid.

    The ex-Reds frontman told Amazon Prime Sport: “You look at Barcelona and Real Madrid and they’re the Holy Grail for some teams but sometimes it doesn’t work out. Liverpool are a better option than them.”

    Wijnaldum further underlined his value to Liverpool on Sunday when finding the target in a 4-0 victory over Wolves.

    Jurgen Klopp is aware of how important the Dutchman is to his plans, with the Liverpool manager saying of contract talks: “I hope [that he signs], to be honest.

    “You can see that, he plays all the time. We have a pretty good relationship. I hope so.”

    While the likes of Crouch and Klopp are urging Wijnaldum to put pen to paper, the man himself is giving little away when it comes to his intentions.

    He said when quizzed again on deal discussions with Liverpool: “I already said it in my previous interviews, I don’t speak about my contract situation.

    “I speak about the games. The club should speak about my contract.”

    Wijnaldum has been with Liverpool since 2016, taking in 204 appearances for the Reds as they have savoured Champions League, Club World Cup and Premier League title triumphs.

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  • Wijnaldum critical of Netherlands despite Poland win

    Wijnaldum critical of Netherlands despite Poland win

    Georginio Wijnaldum acknowledged there were points where the Netherlands did not look great in the victory against Poland.

    The Netherlands came from behind to win 2-1 in Chorzow, but that was not enough to secure a return to the Nations League finals as Italy’s 2-0 victory against Bosnia-Herzegovina ensured they finished top of Group A1.

    Kamil Jozwiak put Poland in front inside five minutes with an impressive solo goal, but Wijnaldum won a penalty that Memphis Depay converted in the 77th minute and then scored a deflected header to give Oranje a second win in six games under Ronald de Boer.

    Poland were a potent threat on the break and match-winner Wijnaldum admitted they made the Netherlands look bad at points, saying the Dutch must improve if they are to do well at Euro 2020.

    “I think this was one of our best matches. At the start we weren’t sharp and they were able to score early, but otherwise it was good,” Wijnaldum told NOS.

    “Only in transition can we do better. Sometimes we just don’t look good. It’s hard to train on it. We don’t have much time to practise that sort of thing together between games.

    “We have to make these steps as soon as possible if we want to do well at the European Championship. We did what we had to do.”

    Poland’s Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski started the match despite being a doubt due to a muscular injury. He assisted Jozwiak’s goal and released Przemyslaw Placheta for a shot that hit the post before going off at half-time.

    De Boer was disappointed his players did not heed his warning to focus from the off at Silesian Stadium but he was not too disappointed with the performance.

    “I saw more positives than negatives,” De Boer said. “I warned the team beforehand that because of all that hassle with Robert Lewandowski over the past few days, I expected Poland would want to show something.

    “You have to be sharp from the first second, but it seemed as though we were not. Defensively, it should definitely be better, we are going to work on that. You cannot start like that.

    “After 1-0 we picked it up very well and created one chance after another. Then we showed what we can do. We have to work on everything, but I leave with a good feeling.

    “It is also a well-deserved victory. They fought for it until the last second and I am proud of that. We have the willpower and have to keep it.”