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20 Sep 2021 07:04:57
Morning ed001,

Just out of interest, what was your overall opinion on Gini?

For me, his first three seasons, he went missing in lots of games, especially away, then really came into his own the year we won the CL and the League. Last season felt he dropped off too

Cheers.

{Ed001's Note - for me he went missing constantly, only bothering to show up once in a blue moon. He got dropped for the Barca game and then came on and played well, but he soon returned to being anonymous. Last season he started brilliantly, then when he realised his ridiculous wage demands wouldn't be met, he stopped bothering and went back to being a ghost for 90 minutes. It is no wonder he could stay fit, he played well within himself and only rarely threatened to even show a tenth of what he could do.

Personally I think he is one of those massively overrated players that is being credited for things he never did. He is not even close to legendary status, he was barely average for 90% of his time with us. I am thankful he is gone and the likes of Elliott can take his place with ease and improve us massively.}

Agree0 Disagree0

20 Sep 2021 07:18:36
I have to agree with Edd001 about Wini massive potential which he never quite attained.

20 Sep 2021 07:28:10
He was that poor Klopp kept picking him 🤣🤣 plus the likes of Barcelona and PSG came in for him. They sign all the crap players!

20 Sep 2021 07:35:29
Agree with Ed001’s assessment of Gini but why would Klopp keep picking Gini instead of leaving him out of the side?

20 Sep 2021 07:28:18
Great response, thanks ed001.

{Ed001's Note - very welcome mate.}

20 Sep 2021 07:42:01
Not doing too well for PSG. Poor performances and not in the starting line up.

20 Sep 2021 08:18:18
Well put Ed, agreed.

20 Sep 2021 08:19:16
Pegleg: Barcelona have signed plenty of crap player in recent memory, i don't think Wijnaldum is crap btw just pointing out they have got plenty wrong in the transfer market.

£247m on 2 players and they don't want either of them.

20 Sep 2021 08:35:15
Glad to see a response without the blinkers on, hugely over rated, seems very bitter now and picking up a huge wage at a club that deserves to be lumbered with an average player on a obscene wage, seem a good match.

20 Sep 2021 09:49:26
I think it's quite telling how much better we look without him and with Elliot/ Jones in his place.

Not just the results but the overall performance levels so far this season have been excellent.

20 Sep 2021 09:11:46
And to think more people think Gini is superior to Hendo. He may have been better is he played to his potential and ability but he rarely did so. And all the while head being lauded by the media and loved by the fans. Now think about Hendo, who’s written off by pundits and fans and managers, struggled with injuries, but kept playing to his max and is still being doubted by many. That man has balls and spine of steel.

{Ed001's Note - Gini is a nice likeable guy with huge potential, but actuality Henderson is light years ahead of him.}

20 Sep 2021 09:25:34
Ed001, asking you the question that has been pondered above. In your opinion, why did Klopp keep picking him? Was it familiarity with the other players in midfield? Was it that he did some things OK?

To me the biggest issue with Gini was that there was so much potential but he did not hit those heights often enough. Not dissimilar to Keita, who again just doesn't fulfil his potential often enough.

{Ed001's Note - last season it was because there was no one else fit. Before that it is like with Keita, Klopp is trying to get the potential out of them. He knows what they can do and he keeps hoping to see it appear. The problem with someone like Gini, same with Origi, they are just too laid back and need to be fired up to get a performance out of them. They need to be pushed and dropped regularly to make them go out there with aggression, it didn't happen enough with Gini.

The problem is that statistically Gini often shows up well, even though he achieved so little doing so. So you have the stats guys arguing for him as well, even though the reality is that he got a lot of the stats through poor play, such as touches, he gets a lot of them because he slows down the play with too many of them. Yes he holds players off well and protects the ball, but most of the time he could have played an early ball and not needed to take the risk and got the play moving forward quickly. It makes him look good to fans and in stats, but in actuality it is usually poor play that often cost the chance of a quick counter.}

20 Sep 2021 10:03:09
Everyone is entitled to their views of course but that is an overly-harsh summary of Wijnaldum’s contribution in mine.
It’s just not possible to survive in Liverpool’s midfield 3 if he’d been so poor over such a length of time.
The team’s continued improvement over his time, and his appearances total, say that.
Liverpool badly suffered when Henderson was out injured prior to Wijnaldum’s arrival; after it, much less so and those hard yards were consistently made by the Dutchman.
Don’t forget too, that some of this period was before Fabinho’s arrival when it was necessary for the midfield to do a bit of everything week-to-week depending on availability.
If he were 28 when he’d asked for his big contract, would it have been turned down?
I’m not sure.

{Ed001's Note - you may not be so sure, but he was not going to get the obscene amount he asked for if he was 25, let alone 28, he was simply not worth it and nothing I said was harsh. I was gentle on him if anything. Hard yards my arse, the defenders would have the ball and he would be hiding behind opposition players rather than making an angle.}

20 Sep 2021 10:06:16
Thanks for that Ed001, makes a lot of sense, especially the stats bit. I remember watching game after game when Gini played and trying to figure out what he did. A lot of my mates said "he's so good at it you don't even realise he's pulling the strings" so I thought I was missing something!

{Ed001's Note - not in the slightest mate, people are making things up in their head that he did to try and pretend he offered something as he kept getting picked and was well liked. Most overrated player of the Klopp era.}

20 Sep 2021 10:16:57
To be fair to him he was one of the best I’ve ever seen at protecting the ball. Used to say to my kids they won’t get the ball off Gini when he had his back to play. I also wonder how much of it was him playing the role he was given in the team and how suited to that role was he. Also maybe his best was a 6/ 7 out of 10 performance. I wouldn’t put him in same bracket as Keita. He deserves more respect than that.

20 Sep 2021 10:19:22
Well, as it stands Ed, we’ve got one of his replacements laid up for the season and another with a calf pull problem and it’s not even October yet.
It wouldn’t surprise me to see Liverpool dip into the market for a midfielder in January.

{Ed001's Note - why? Elliott will be back soon, Thiago's problem is only minor and Jones is there and in need of games. There is also Ox and Keita, plus with Bobby coming back there is an option to play him deeper.}

20 Sep 2021 10:44:34
I said it last season lads. Klopp tried to replace Gini as first choice 3 times: Ox, Keita and Thiago.

He only held on because he was fit the whole time, whereas Ox got crocked, Keita picked up injuries and was also poor when fit, Thiago was put out for a couple of months and by the time he was back all our midfielders were playing center back, so we still needed Gini.

{Ed001's Note - exactly SR, he was alluding to that when he said he didn't feel wanted.}

20 Sep 2021 11:30:29
Ed, how soon do you mean by 'soon'?

{Ed001's Note - he is expected back playing this season. It is certainly soon enough to make a January buy a waste.}

20 Sep 2021 11:50:15
This is really just opening a can of worms that i can’t discuss without getting worked up, some of the responses above clearly demonstrating why that is. Some of you clutching at straws and you know if. When you’re resorting to the fallacy of appealing to authority, as if PSG and Barcelona have never signed bad players and aren’t going off the same baseless hype about Gini that everyone else does, you’ve already lost the argument. Btw, Gini has been crap for PSG and is taking all kinds of stick for his insufferable insistence on taking 100 touches on the ball and inability to play a pass further than 5 yards. He isn’t even starting. Also, using his game time last season as an indicator is another blatant fallacy. We didn’t have a big pool of players due to injury and Klopp felt team needed stability due to being chopped and changed so much. Doesn’t negate the fact that Klopp tried to replace him on 3 separate occasions does it.

If you have to resort to appealing to authority without context, rather than justifying your opinion on a player based on what you actually see them do on the pitch, then it’s almost certainly you that is in the wrong.

20 Sep 2021 13:35:11
AW, you’re right I’m wrong. Have a nice day fella I bow to your superior knowledge.

20 Sep 2021 14:24:06
All I know is that maybe klopp did try to replace him with Ox but he still played 90% of the time, Keita but he still played 90% of the time, Thiago but he STILL played 90% of the time. Maybe some might argue that last season was a fallacy because we ran out of midfielders and I would tend to agree if he hadn't played in all those previous seasons 90% of the times.
Its nearly like some posters know more and try to second guess the manager. All I know is if he was that crap that under achieving, especially when we have had so much success then he certainly wouldn't have played 90% of the games, not just last season but all the previous ones too.

20 Sep 2021 14:58:59
Hahahaha nice one Pegleg, you’ve literally just proven my point for me. This is exactly what i mean when i say i don’t like talking about Wijnaldum. Never once have i been presented with a legitimate counterargument. All it ends up being is slander, snide jabs or patronising sarcastic remarks that hold no water, all tell tale signs of someone on the back foot in an argument they can’t. Why it is this player in particular that people defend with such hostility and bitterness? Why can’t anyone put forward their own assessment of Wijnaldums ability on the football pitch? Why is this the hill that some people have chosen to die on? You’d honestly think he was the second coming of Christ. I think some people actually like him more than they like Henderson. Maybe it’s the appeal of having another stick with which to thrash FSG with. Honestly who can say. The mind boggles.

20 Sep 2021 15:08:24
The truth as always lies somewhere in between. Never one of my favourites and I was often left frustrated by him. But last season if we didn’t have Gini no way we make the top 4. And for what he did v Barcelona I will never forget that.

20 Sep 2021 18:07:55
Don’t be so melodramatic AW 😂
It’s also quite obvious what qualities Gini brought to the team - pace, stamina, durability, flexibility, an attacking threat and a good team ethic.
You can bury your head in the sand and ignore this but otherwise it would be Liverpool being extremely successful with only two effective midfielders?
That is just not possible.
As we’ve also seen, his replacements have a habit of coming unstuck.
Thiago has pulled his calf on the hour mark, I’m starting to worry about his ability to last a full-on PL match. We saw it last season and it’s happening again.

20 Sep 2021 19:02:59
Like I said AW, have a nice day 👍🏻.







 

 

 
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