The outstanding form of Georginio Wijnaldum has showed why Liverpool were willing to offload Emre Can last summer, according to Tony Cascarino.
The big-name pundit hailed the Holland international in the Times as he named him as one of seven Anfield players in his combined Liverpool and Manchester City XI.
“I wondered why they let Emre Can go to Juventus last summer and now I know, because they have Wijnaldum, who has shown he is a better central midfielder,” Cascarino wrote.
OPINION
Some Liverpool fans don’t ‘get’ Wijnaldum. They judge him on his goal creating and goalscoring rather than why he is in the team. That is entirely missing the point of the 28-year-old, who is playing the best football of his career and has made himself indispensable in the side threatening to make the title race a cakewalk. Wijnaldum is a key man in Liverpool’s central midfield because he closes down the spaces in which the opposition can penetrate his side’s defence, wins the ball, and distributes it cleanly and quickly to the electric forwards. Can was a fine player for Liverpool and has a wider passing range than Wijnaldum, but his tendency to hold on to the ball too long infuriated Jurgen Klopp and meant many attacks broke down. The brilliant Dutchman has started more matches than any other Liverpool midfielder this season, and that’s because he follows the manager’s instructions to the letter. Expect him to start v Man City and have a major role to play.