Gini Wijnaldum admits to having an up and down relationship with his Liverpool manager

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Gini Wijnaldum has been a regular for Liverpool in the middle of the park this season.

Liverpool midfielder Gini Wijnaldum has admitted to being ‘angry’ with his manager Jurgen Klopp after he left him out of their amazing comeback against Barcelona in the Champions League last season.

The Dutch international stated that he has a ‘love-hate’ relationship with his manager, who signed him from Newcastle for £25 million [BBC Sport] during the summer of 2016.

In that game against Barcelona, Liverpool would score four goals to produce a stunning comeback, with Wijnaldum being one of the goalscorers on the night as he netted a brace within the space of two minutes.

Nonetheless, Wijnaldum is a regular under his German manager, as he stated that when he first joined the club, they spoke about then-Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk.

“Before I even joined Liverpool I had a meeting with Jurgen and during our talks, he asked me about Virgil van Dijk,” said Wijnaldum, as quoted by Goal. “I had always rated Virgil very highly and my exact words to Jurgen were, ‘He is going to make the defence a lot better’.

“With the manager, it is more or less hate and love. I am sure he has the best interests at heart with every player in the squad. But sometimes you are so involved in a match and the manager is still chasing you.

“Then you just boil over sometimes – and, in my case, I do get angry with him. I still don’t know if what happened against Barcelona was his real plan. But that night I was so angry and so disappointed that he did not start me.”

Wijnaldum is currently on international duty with Holland and upon his return, he will be hoping to guide Liverpool to their fifth Premier League win on the bounce this season.

Klopp’s side have picked up maximum points this term and are sitting on top of the table, with rivals Manchester City not far behind them.

When players return from the international break, Liverpool will host Steve Bruce’s Newcastle United at Anfield.