Liverpool's Giorginio Wijnaldum rubbishes the idea he only performs at home and doesn't show up in away matches
 |
| Wijnaldum scored his fourth goal of the season against Arsenal - all goals were scored at Anfield |
Georginio Wijnaldum has fought back at the critics who brand him a "homer".
The Dutch international has produced some stunning performances at Anfield this season — most notably in wins over Tottenham and then Arsenal in Liverpool's last two home matches.
Yet squashed in between such stunning examples of his quality was a woeful display at Leicester, which underlines his inconsistency on the road this season... and supports a narrative established in his one season at previous club Newcastle.
There, fans dismissed the midfielder as a player who rarely turned up in away games. And the stats do show he scored all of his 11 Magpies goals at St James' Park.
But the 26-year-old hit back: "That is people's opinion. I think I also play good in away games — especially this season.
"It is funny, because last season we didn't perform at a level as a whole team in away games for Newcastle but I was the only one who got the complaints.
"It is a team thing and no-one can do it by themselves.
"People expect more from you than other players, but we have to be realistic.
"If a whole team doesn't perform you cannot pick one player especially and say, 'He doesn't do this or do that. It is a fault of the whole team if you don't deliver."
Wijnaldum is a big reason behind Liverpool's recent resurgence that has seen them defeat two of their top four rivals.
Yet the Reds are faced this weekend with the perennial question which has haunted their campaign - can they produced the same level of performance against the lower league sides?
Bizarrely, Liverpool have yet to lose this season against a Premier League top 10 club, but their toils against the bottom sides has cost them a title challenge, and Wijnaldum thinks he knows why:
"I think we must bring the same we bring against the bigger teams.
"If you look at the difference games between the bigger and smaller teams the difference in concentration and being passive is big, that is my opinion.
"Of course you can never guarantee you will win but you have more chance if you play against the small teams like you play the big ones.
"We must have the same concentration we have now against the bigger teams otherwise it will be difficult.
"We would make it easier if we also did it against the smaller teams."