Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum has had praise heaped on him since the turn of the year. It’s understandable why, given that he now has four goals in his last six home games: including against Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal.
But are these goals obscuring how well he’s playing in general, or are they inflating his praise beyond what is justified?
Big game player?
Wijnaldum is without doubt a big game player. He has five goals and four assists this season, with the majority of each coming against the big sides.
Since Christmas, he was highly impressive against Man City, scoring the winner; excellent against Chelsea when he scored the equaliser; terrific against Tottenham Hotspur, assisting Sadio Mané for the game’s opening goal; and also very good against Arsenal as he scored a late third to seal the win.
However, as impressive as Wijnaldum has been in those games, his excellent home form has certainly been bolstered by a series of games at Anfield against the top clubs, and moreover, it obscures the fact that Wijnaldum has not been playing consistently well for Liverpool all season.
This is especially true away from home where he is still yet to score a Premier League goal and hasn’t notched an assist away from Anfield since August.
Wijnaldum recently shrugged off his poor away from in the league, saying that he’s “played well in away games, especially this season” and that his poor away form was “the fault of the whole team” suggesting it was unfair that he alone had been singled out for criticism.
But there’s simply no evidence to back up Wijnaldum’s claims that he’s played well away from home this season. His form before Christmas was patchy, with his goal and performance against City the first meaningful contribution that he’d made in a Reds’ shirt (his only previous goal the 6th in Liverpool’s massive 6-1 win over Watford).
Wijnaldum was also absent from the starting line-up for the best run that the Reds had before Christmas: a string of brilliant performances against West Bromwich Albion, Crystal Palace and Watford.
Moreover, since Christmas although Wijnaldum has been terrific at Anfield, he’s been non-existent away from home.
Failing to rise above the average?
In Wijnaldum’s defence, he has not played significantly worse than the majority of his teammates, particularly away from home.
Roberto Firmino hasn’t scored away from home since October, Adam Lallana hasn’t registered a single goal or assist in 2017, and Philippe Coutinho hasn’t played really well once since returning from injury.
But if Wijnaldum is merely part of the problem then (before the Burnley game at least), he hasn’t proved himself part of the solution.
Liverpool have too many players who only turn up for the big games and this is an accusation that can certainly be levelled against Wijnaldum whose notable performances this season have all been against other top six opposition.
Equally worryingly, Wijnaldum rarely rises above mediocrity. He was easily the best player in Newcastle United’s team last year but rarely stepped up when the team were playing badly.
Again this season, Wijnaldum has been excellent when Liverpool have been purring, but has very rarely stepped up and taken control of a game where his team-mates have been underperforming, in the way that only really Mané has done this season.
However, Wijnaldum’s display against Burnley, in which he scored a vital goal and played a big role in controlling the game in the second-half, suggests that he might have turned a corner.
His vastly improved performances since Christmas, coupled with his rich goalscoring form, indicate that he is turning himself into a very important player for Jürgen Klopp.
The big challenge for Wijnaldum, as it is for all of Liverpool’s players at the moment, is to take that form away from Anfield, and to play well consistently.
Overall, Wijnaldum’s goals have been incredibly important in recent weeks, as have his performances in the big games. But they’re also covering the inconsistencies in his game that have been highlighted in certain others, like the perennially-maligned Emre Can, who has also scored some big goals this season for Liverpool.
Nevertheless, Wijnaldum’s excellent home form and the goal he scored against Burnley indicate that he’s hopefully turned a corner, and can start consistently providing for this Liverpool team.