Liverpool Midfielder Receives Heavy Criticism From Ruud Gullit Following Red Star Belgrade Defeat

Ruud Gullit has heavily criticised Liverpool's Dutch international midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum, claiming he offers very little to Jurgen Klopp's side, following Liverpool's shock 2-0 defeat to Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League.

Liverpool were shocked in Serbia by two first half goals from Milan Pavkov and crashed to what could be a costly loss against the underdogs. Liverpool could have got a result out of the game with multiple chances falling to Sturridge, Mane and Salah, but the trio were not clinical enough.

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Gullit was critical of Wijnaldum's performance, and questioned his role in the team stating: "He is a midfielder, but what kind? It is very strange because I think he is a good football player, but he does not provide you with goals, no assists. But he's not a holding midfielder," when speaking on beIN SPORTS. 

"So he's just a midfielder that just helps the midfield, but he's not specialised in something. I think Klopp wanted to make him a holding midfielder when [Jordan] Henderson was injured. But he just gets on the wrong side of play."

During his time at Anfield, Wijnaldum has scored just nine goals in 107 appearances, and has scored only one goal in 15 appearances this season. However, he still seems to be very popular with Klopp, consistently making Liverpool's starting 11 both domestically, and in Europe.

Wijnaldum has also kept new signing Fabinho out of the team, despite the fact Fabinho offers a more specialised role as a holding midfielder, whilst the Dutch international's immediate future at Liverpool seems to be assured as he has three years left on his £90,000-a-week contract.

Liverpool will be hoping their defeat to Red Star Belgrade was a one off performance, with Group C remaining very tight. Liverpool face Napoli, followed by PSG for a fight for the top two spots in the group.