19 Jul 2016 20:39:27
Just wanted to make a loose connection.

Wijnaldum, at 24 years old leaves Holland for the Premier league. In his first season, he scores 11 league goals and creates 5 more. His total was boosted by 4 goals against Norwich.

Suarez, at 24 years old leaves Holland for the Premier league. In his first season he scores 11 league goals and creates 6 more. His total was boosted by 3 goals against Norwich.

Obviously this is all just coincidence and I'm not suggesting that Wijnaldum will score 20+ next season just because Suarez did. My point is he is clearly a very talented player and trying to take away from his goal scoring when he scored 11 from midfield is ridiculous.

His attitude is not great. We know that and it is a worry. But it is still bugging me that people are actually trying to use him scoring 4 goals in one game (from midfield! ) against him. That is an absurd criticism. That is something to praise, not something to use as a stick to beat him with! We had this same argument with Mane. "He's inconsistent" OR "most of his goals came in two games against Liverpool and Man City".

Do we really have to go through this again? Because we all know if he signs and scores a goal or two in the pre season tour, everyone will conveniently say "oh his talent was never in doubt". Well that won't wash anymore. Because his talent is what is in doubt. Just as it was with Mane. Just as it was with Grujic.

Mane had 45 minutes against non league Tranmere and everyone dropped their pitchforks. Grujic had 45 against Fleetwood and he was suddenly better than Pogba. Nobody ever turns around and admits they were wrong though. They just act like the abuse never happened!

If you are not willing to appreciate a players good points, then you have no right to point out their bad points. Otherwise you are just an internet troll abusing someone you don't know. If you want to analyse a players ability, at least be open minded. Nobody in professional football would be there unless they had at least something going for them! The amount of non constructive criticism and unbalanced attacks on this site is getting ridiculous though.

I fully agree with people that he has a bad attitude, that he is not a priority signing, that he is not worth £25m, and that we would be better served giving someone like Ejaria or Brannagan more game time instead.

Where I disagree is people claiming he has no talent, or is an average player, or trying to twist his goal scoring record into a negative somehow! If Klopp is keen on him, then I am at least willing to give him a chance. Klopp has a good record with transfers. Only glaring errors I can recall are Caulker and Immobile. So at least give Klopp a chance in the transfer market.

1.) 19 Jul 2016
19 Jul 2016 20:48:00
Seriously, the first time in a very very long term I've sat through and read an entire post longer than a paragraph or two. No surprise its written by you MK. Top post.

2.) 19 Jul 2016
19 Jul 2016 20:53:33
we can only hope to get him on reasonable price and try to implement as much clauses into fee. if he preforms we will pay it with pleasure. i think he is good player just don't see where he will be used. We need to give him a shot and hope for the best.

3.) 19 Jul 2016
19 Jul 2016 20:54:12
Excellent post MK. It seems if people don't want a player they'll use anything to try get their point across, mostly nonsense.
What I haven't seen mentioned about Wijnaldum though is his heading albility, which is very good for someone who's only 5"9. His ability in the air reminds me a bit of Tim Cahill (though not as clinical) . It would be a bonus for us though as none of our attackers are prolific in the air, although Origi has shown potential there and Sturridge is better in the air than he is given credit for.

4.) 19 Jul 2016
19 Jul 2016 21:21:17
I have just read online that Lucas might be part of a deal to bring him to Anfield. . really. even if Lucas is a bit part player for the team he should always be there, even as an example of how to responds to the fickled fans of LFC. The abuse that he endured in the first few seasons only to show the class that he has on and off the field is unbelievable. I truely hope that Lucas Leiva stays at Anfield as he is a true professional and surely loves the club, Daniel Agger is anothe player who should never, ever have left! Keep the lads that bleed Liverpool, you cannot replace that for the love of money.

5.) 19 Jul 2016
19 Jul 2016 21:35:19
It could be really as simple as Wijnaldum just not being happy at Newcastle . and his heart not being in it.
If he came to Liverpool and is happy here. we might we a totally different player.

I'm sure Klopp knows what he's doing.

6.) 19 Jul 2016
19 Jul 2016 21:41:42
Well said Mk mate.

Again, you've put together a well written and clear post in which I totally agree.

7.) 19 Jul 2016
19 Jul 2016 21:43:54
Thank you Faithinworks.

Agreed mandzo. If we can knock them down to £20m it is about right in todays market. If not, as you say we just need to give him our support and hope for the best.

Totally agree on the aerial threat by the way, 'You'. His aerial ability reminds me of Ayew's. I think Cahill was just brilliant at timing his jump and losing his marker with clever movement. Ayew and Wijnaldum both win headers more by out muscling their markers, or by accelerating away from them with a quick burst.

You are bang on though. He isn't quite at Cahill's level, but he is very dangerous with his head and it is almost completely over looked.

8.) 19 Jul 2016
19 Jul 2016 21:56:44
Really good post MK.

9.) 19 Jul 2016
19 Jul 2016 22:02:45
Wijnaldum is not a talented player by any stretch and is the textbook definition of mediocre. Ask yourself why no other club is looking at him? He's too lightweight and weak to be a centre midfielder, he's not skilful or intelligent enough to be a number 10 and he's not quick or skilful enough to be a winger, when the sh*t hit the fan at Newcastle he just shrugged his shoulders and gave in. Newcastle are apparently asking for £27m up front for a player who contributed nothing when it mattered and has shown nothing in his career to date to show that he's worth investing money in. We can't afford to spend money on a left back, but want to waste money on an already expensive flop at another club. His 11 goals do tell the facts, he scored 4 goals against a club expected to get relegated and 2 on the last day of the season at which point the club were already relegated. If we sign him it will rank as badly as Aquilani, Balotelli, Keane, Benteke etc. Maybe even worse because of the amount demanded up front. If the club has any sense they'll walk away from it and buy a proper centre midfielder like Gary Medel.

10.) 19 Jul 2016
19 Jul 2016 22:12:46
great post mk mate.

11.) 19 Jul 2016
19 Jul 2016 23:15:53
never seen him play ( or I can't recall seeing him play) long gone are the days when I worry about the cost of a player the club don't worry about me when i'm running out to buy shirts for the kids.

MK: you say you agree he got a bad attitude, overpriced, not a priority and that it would be better to give the kids game time rather than him? how can you say all that and say you will support him too? what if he reads that? what would he think? I think you covering all the bases to say " I told you so" weather he succeeds or fails you nailed both both outcomes there fella.

12.) 20 Jul 2016
20 Jul 2016 01:29:42
Scouse John 'how can you support him? ' How about because in all likely hood he's going to be wearing the red shirt of LFC, isn't that reason enough anymore? I wouldn't be the biggest fan of us buying Chilwell for anything close to Leicesters evaluation but my god I'd be shouting his name come match day👍 Isn't that what fans are supposed to do after all? Strange fans!

13.) 20 Jul 2016
20 Jul 2016 01:46:04
From Ed002 on the Everton page "Roma who lost out to Newcastle previously are looking again at Wijnaldum but Newcastle will likely price him out of a move to Italy. Spurs and Everton are also baulking at the asking price. "
Clearly there has been other clubs looking at him FranklyMrShankly. Please stop chatting nonsense.
I still fail to understand how you can criticise a man for scoring 4 goals in a game from midfield. You do realise that winning against relegation rivals is critical to staying up? The 9th game of the season is never a "dead rubber". A game against relegation rivals is never a "dead rubber". Newcastle got relegated by 2 points, maybe if they'd won another "dead rubber" they might've stayed up.

14.) 20 Jul 2016
19 Jul 2016 23:44:38
I have no idea why there is so much hate either for GW. Newcastle on paper had a decent side although the game is not played on paper. We know Mike Ashley is an owner more concerned with profit than results and Steve McLaren is not a high caliber EPL manager. It took him a long time to rebuild his reputation after Middlesbrough and England. Rather than blasting GW, he was always a player brought in to a bigger shop window to be sold for a profit, he started great and faded, I would like to focus on the positives and think there are larger things at play regarding Newcastle's setup and the environment he was in.

If he comes hopefully he will move into a better setup and look to kick on. My concern is not GW, it is the bloat in that part of the squad and who will be sacrificed.

15.) 20 Jul 2016
20 Jul 2016 07:01:23
Scouse John I didn't agree with signing Carroll or Moreno. I still supported them initially. I gave them every chance to prove me wrong.

It's football. Vent your opinions by all means. There is no point in this sight if we all beat around the bush.

I've been honest without being abusive though. I've also not made things up such as him being "mediocre". I suppose that is why Roma and Spurs (both in the CL) were looking at him. Or why Klopp thinks he can get the best out of him.

It is very easy to disagree with the signing of a player but still give them a chance. I must've said a hundred times now that I wouldn't sign him. But he is a very talented individual so I will wait to see how he plays here. I swear, People would've moaned on here if we had signed Payet last summer because he had attitude issues.

{Ed001's Note - the main issue is his attitude. Wijnaldum was wanted by Spurs and Everton. Roberto Martinez never really looks at bottle or fight, which is why his team was struggling. Spurs are another team that do not take enough notice of that, which is why the fell at the final hurdle last season and ended up 3rd in a two horse race. When the greatest manager of all time, Sir Bob Paisley, made signings, he had their backgrounds thoroughly researched before they ever came near Melwood. We have not really done that with Wijnaldum. This is an impulse buy and those are the types that cause the issues. That is why I didn't know anything about it, because the people that I asked are looking at who we have tracked, he was not one of them. He was never a target, then we got offered him and Klopp has said he wants him. I love Klopp, but his impulse buys are not going to be as likely to have success as ones he has had intensively checked out initially.}

16.) 20 Jul 2016
20 Jul 2016 07:15:06
Sir Bob Paisley did not have the technology at his finger tips, or as many scouts at his disposal feeding him the information either to research players backgrounds compared to what is available to managers and coaches these days.

{Ed001's Note - but he still did more of it than most.}

17.) 20 Jul 2016
20 Jul 2016 07:19:45
The fact that we've gone out and bought Mané, Grujic and are looking at another midfielder for big money makes me draw an inevitable conclusion that we will be financing those deals with a sale, probably to PSG 😞.

Anyway, trust in Kloppo he will bring us success 😎.

18.) 20 Jul 2016
20 Jul 2016 07:49:59
'You', Roma walked away from it because of the outrageous price and besides he would be ok in an uncompetitive and weak Serie A, probably about his level, and I wouldn't class Everton or Spurs as big clubs, besides Spurs aren't interested any more. The game where Wijnaldum scored 4 goals against Norwich was fairly inconsequential as those points didn't prevent Newcastle from being relegated, and the two against Spurs on the last day when they were already relegated were equally as inconsequential, fact remains that he was awful for 30 games last year and isn't a player we should be bothering
with. The money that is being talked about is roughly what the mancs lashed out on Mkhitaryan and Chelsea did with Kante, just take than in for a minute. And we're thinking of spending it on one of the worst performing midfielders last year. I just can't get my head around it.

19.) 20 Jul 2016
20 Jul 2016 08:39:11
"The game where Wijnaldum scored 4 goals against Norwich was fairly inconsequential as those points didn't prevent Newcastle from being relegated, " Surely that means every game Newcastle played was "inconsequential" then. None of the games stopped them getting relegated.
You really don't have a clue do you. 3 points is absolutely vital when fighting relegation, especially building up points at the start of the season. The fact you think that game doesn't matter just shows your complete lack of knowledge.

20.) 20 Jul 2016
20 Jul 2016 12:05:21
Every time I've seen GW play I've thought he's looked a good player so does everyone else I've spoken to. We need goals from midfield and I think he can give us that. He's bang average for me but that's the great thing we all have our own opinions.

21.) 20 Jul 2016
20 Jul 2016 12:22:46
John and frankly are right. Wijnaldum is not who we should sign and I have given valid reasons why and many agree. MK made a case of why we should sign him and also, why we shouldn't sign him so MK, which is it because seems you want to have your cake and eat it too?

22.) 20 Jul 2016
20 Jul 2016 12:28:14
I have never questioned his talent. Even tho I think he's decent talent wise, his attitude and lack of desire as well as being very poor in games he doesn't feel like playing in will always be an issue for me. The goals issue is about consistency. If he can score eleven in seven, what happened in the other 30 games? See what I mean? Benteke is more talented than he is, yet he gets roasted for having these exact issues.

But Wijnaldum is given a pass just because what? He's not even better than any of the mids we have here at the club so in whose place will he play? He is a luxury we do not need and this is a disaster waiting to happen and unless I am proven wrong, we will regret this if it happens.