Liverpool are on the verge of successful their second-ever Premier League title within the coming weeks, as they sit 13 factors clear on the high of the desk with simply six video games left to go.
The Reds have solely received the Premier League as soon as within the historical past of the competitors, successful beneath Jurgen Klopp within the 2019/20 marketing campaign, and are usually not set to safe their second.
Arne Slot is on target to assert the title in his first season as a supervisor in England, having arrived from Feyenoord final summer season, and he’ll go down as the most recent in a protracted line of spectacular recruits from the Eredivisie.
Liverpool have tapped into the Dutch marketplace for gamers prior to now, whether or not that has been immediately from the Eredivisie or not, and have now performed so to discover a good supervisor, having been profitable prior to now on the enjoying facet of recruitment.
One Dutch recruit, who didn’t come immediately from the top-flight within the Netherlands, was integral to the primary Premier League title success, as central midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum performed a key function.
Why Wijnaldum was integral to Liverpool’s title win
The Netherlands worldwide performed 37 of the membership’s 38 Premier League matches that season, beginning 35 of them, as a part of an everyday midfield trio of himself, Jordan Henderson, and Fabinho.
Of the gamers to start out at the very least one recreation, no Liverpool star accomplished the next proportion of their passes than Wijnaldum (90.8%), which reveals how dependable he was with the ball at his ft.
He additionally averaged 4.20 progressive passes and a pair of.27 progressive carries per 90 to construct up play from a midfield place, which reveals that the Dutch ace didn’t all the time play it secure with the ball at his ft.
Wijnaldum’s improvement at Anfield was attention-grabbing as a result of he was signed from Newcastle United in the summertime of 2016 off the again of a return of 11 objectives and 5 assists within the Premier League for the Magpies throughout the 2015/16 marketing campaign.
The Dutch star arrived at Liverpool as an attacking midfielder who had confirmed his high quality on the high finish of the pitch within the top-flight for his earlier membership, however Klopp developed him into an all-round midfielder who could possibly be a strong choice as a quantity eight.
He ended his Liverpool profession with simply 22 objectives, 4 of which got here within the Premier League within the title-winning marketing campaign, in 237 matches, which illustrates his change in type from Tyneside to Merseyside.
That change in type, nevertheless, made him integral to Klopp’s title-winning crew as a result of Wijnaldum was a constant performer, therefore his 35 begins, who provided reliability and development in possession, placing within the arduous yards while offering high quality on the ball.
As an alternative of being a constant goalscorer or always creating possibilities, the previous Newcastle star did his job in the course of the park with out an excessive amount of fuss, chipping in with the odd objective right here and there, to make himself a dependable determine for the German head coach.
Chalkboard
Soccer FanCast’s Chalkboard sequence presents a tactical dialogue from across the international recreation.
Liverpool have, now, unearthed their new model of Wijnaldum within the present squad, and it isn’t Alexis Mac Allister – regardless of his spectacular type of late, with a objective and an help in his final two matches.
Liverpool have unearthed their new Georginio Wijnaldum
Mac Allister did arrive at Liverpool off the again of scoring ten objectives within the Premier League for Brighton & Hove Albion within the 2022/23 marketing campaign, however six of these strikes got here from the penalty spot.
This meant that the Argentina worldwide solely offered 4 objectives and two assists within the top-flight outdoors of penalties earlier than his transfer to Liverpool to turn out to be a well-rounded midfielder at Anfield.
Whereas, Dominik Szoboszlai scored ten objectives and offered 13 assists as an attacking midfielder for RB Leipzig in all competitions throughout the 2022/23 marketing campaign earlier than his swap to England, and solely two of these objectives have been penalties.
The Hungary worldwide, as Wijnaldum did when he joined from Newcastle, arrived at Anfield as an extremely promising attacking midfielder who had the potential to offer objectives and assists, and has adopted the Dutchman’s path to changing into an all-rounder in the course of the park.
Szoboszlai has scored eight objectives and offered seven assists in 63 appearances for Liverpool within the Premier League so far, which illustrates the shift in type in his recreation since his time within the Bundesliga.
The Hungarian dynamo has been moulded into an ideal box-to-box midfielder for the Reds since switching Germany for England, utilising his unbelievable work price and engine in midfield extra so than his capability to attain and create objectives.
He has began 24 of his 30 appearances within the Premier League thus far this time period and, apparently, provided greater than Wijnaldum did throughout the title-winning marketing campaign beneath Klopp in a number of components of the sport as a midfielder.
As you may see within the chart above, Szoboszlai has been way more artistic together with his use of the ball than the Dutchman was, while additionally doing extra out of possession by making blocks, tackles, and interceptions.
That chart reveals that the 24-year-old Liverpool star, who was described as “unstoppable” by Fabrizio Romano earlier this yr, is a brilliantly well-rounded midfield determine as a result of he can mix high quality on the ball with arduous work and defensive high quality off it, making him a key participant for Slot in the course of the park.
|
24/25 Premier League |
Dominik Szoboszlai |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
30 |
|
Objectives |
5 |
|
Large possibilities created |
9 |
|
Assists |
3 |
|
Tackles + interceptions per recreation |
1.3 |
|
Duels received per recreation |
2.9 |
|
Stats by way of Sofascore |
|
As you may see within the desk above, Szoboszlai has nonetheless discovered a approach to incorporate his attacking qualities into his recreation, with eight objective contributions, however they aren’t as prevalent as they have been throughout his time with Leipzig within the Bundesliga.
Subsequently, Liverpool have repeated the masterclass they performed with Wijnaldum, turning him from an attack-minded midfielder into an all-round quantity eight, with the Hungary worldwide, who’s now set to have performed an integral function within the membership’s second-ever Premier League title success.
Associated
Liverpool strongly positioning themselves for £68m goalscoring midfielder
He would supply a goalscoring enhance from midfield.
Hopefully, this trophy would be the first of many titles in his Premier League profession with the Reds, as they may hope that this season is way from a one-off success.
