Jordan Henderson says that Gini Wijnaldum was a vocal presence in Liverpool’s pre-Champions League final changing room in 2019.
The Liverpool captain was speaking on BT Sport’s Between The Lines (21mins 20secs) and when asked by Ferdinand what the team spoke about before the game, Henderson said that the players tried to keep things ‘as normal as possible’.
“Before the game we always say things whilst we’re getting ready and preparing,” said Henderson.
“Whether it’s me, or Milly, or Robbo, Virgil, whoever it may be. We’ll say certain things that we need to be doing within the game and get us ready for going out. So we kept it as normal as possible.”
But the captain did give a special mention for the now-departed Wijnaldum, who’s words appear to have stuck with him.
“I can remember Gini, just before we went out, saying a few things which wasn’t normal for him, you know, and I think that gave everyone a bit of a boost,” said Hendo with a smile.
It’s a great insight into who the leaders are within Jurgen Klopp’s team. Wijnaldum was a part of the ‘leadership group’ of senior players and has been a loss since signing for PSG last summer.
Leaving a hole on and off the pitch
Although Henderson admits that Gini wasn’t always a vocal leader for Liverpool, the regard he was held in by his teammates is obvious.
The 31-year-old became a fixture in Klopp’s team throughout his five-year stay at the club.
Wijnaldum played 237 times across those five seasons, twice playing 50 or more games in a single campaign.
Liverpool have been excellent this season without him. But they miss having a player as regularly available as he was in the middle of the pitch.
All of Fabinho, Thiago, Henderson, Curtis Jones and Naby Keita have missed numerous games this year. James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have largely managed to stay fit, but their influence has waned.
Wijnaldum has struggled to get going at PSG. He isn’t playing with anything like the regularity he did at Liverpool, starting 14 of their 27 league games in Ligue 1.
It remains to be seen if he can engineer a move back to the Premier League this summer. There are some that would like to see Wijnaldum return to Anfield.
That seems unlikely for now. But given that Henderson recalls his former teammate with such fondness, it shows what a mark he left on the club.
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