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'Of course there are very good but Liverpool is not all about the front three' - Gini Wijnaldum

Georginio Wijnaldum has highlighted the impressive performances of the Liverpool FC defence this season.

The Reds eased to a 5-0 win over Premier League strugglers Watford at Anfield on Saturday evening thanks to Mohamed Salah’s four-goal haul.

The Egypt international took his tally to 28 goals in his first Premier League campaign at the Merseyside outfit at the weekend.

Liverpool FC kept six clean sheets in their last nine games in all competitions and only Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham have beaten Loris Karius.

The Reds signed Virgil van Dijk in a £75m deal from Premier League rivals Southampton in the January transfer window to bolster Jurgen Klopp’s defence.

The Netherlands international has added some solidity to Jurgen Klopp’s back four following an uncertain first half of the 2017-18 season.

Wijnaldum was keen to highlight Liverpool FC’s improvement at the back in recent months under the former Borussia Dortmund head coach.

“They are really good,” said Gini. “Sometimes, you know, they get the credit because they are scoring the goals and make it really difficult for teams, but there are more players who help them to accelerate so they can perform, and a lot of people forget that others do the dirty work so they can attack.

“So as a team, a collective, everybody does it good rather than only speaking about those three.

“Of course they are wonderful. But I think Liverpool is more than Sadio Mané, Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah.”

And Gini is right. A whole lot of important stuff happens in the midfield and defense that keeps this Liverpool side purring. Wijnaldum himself puts in a good amount of work winning back possession and releasing the forward players. Andy Robertson has been fabulously good at left back all season. And, of course, the list goes on.

But Wijnaldum specifically wanted to highlight his partners in the back whose defensive accomplishments he’s particularly proud of this season.

“You need people at the sharp end,” Gini said, “but this season the back line has had a lot of criticism, but also a lot of times they have done well for us.

“There have been times when we didn’t play well but they saved us in games.

“There is no one who speaks about that because the front three, or the players up front, score the goals and we win. But I think that the defenders also did a good job, so it is something we must not forget.”

Some will claim it’s sour grapes from the Liverpool midfielder to turn his back on the glory that is the attacking three. But his words play to me more as Gini wanting to see The Team uplifted together, for supporters to recognize the efforts of all the players who have improved this Liverpool side.

We needed a response after losing to Manchester United and The Team provided it in spades against Watford. Wijnaldum was a strong and very effective presence that contributed to that response. And while Salah was certainly the Very Important Person of the day, there were quite a few other strong and effective presences in a Liverpool shirt that contributed to the performance as well.

Liverpool FC will take on Premier League leaders Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-finals next month.

The Reds were 5-0 winners against FC Porto over two legs in the round of 16 to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 2009.

Liverpool FC ended up in fourth place in the Premier League table last term.