'The best leader I've played with' - Gini Wijnaldum creates his perfect midfielder
Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Steven Gerrard all feature in Georginio Wijnaldum's perfect composite midfielder.
In an interview with Sky Sports, Liverpool's No.5 was asked to pick one player for each of seven key midfield attributes: leadership, engine, passing, strength, football brain, skill and goalscoring.
And the Dutchman selected Henderson's leadership, Milner's engine and Gerrard's passing, in conjunction with the strength of Clarence Seedorf, football brain of Xavi Hernandez, skill of Andrea Pirlo and goalscoring of Frank Lampard.
Read Wijnaldum's reasons for plumping for two of his teammates and a legendary Reds captain of the past below…
On Henderson's leadership…
I've played with a few players who have great leadership. I have to say, Kevin Strootman and Jordan Henderson were, I think, above the other ones. Mark van Bommel was also a good leader and a good captain, but out of the three of them, I have to choose Henderson. It can be annoying [when he is motivating players on the pitch], but if you think about why he's doing it, it's only to help you as a person and the team. So if you think about it in that way, you always appreciate it, so we are really happy with the way Henderson is.
On Milner's engine...
His engine is unbelievable. I see it in the games and in training, the way he plays and how fit he is. I hope I can reach that level too. He's non-stop. I have to say, when you play against him it's really tough because Milner is the type of player who will never stop giving everything, so you always have to be 100 per cent concentrated and have to give every time 100 per cent otherwise you will lose from him. He's a really tough competitor.
On Gerrard's passing...
What a player he was. I think he had everything, which is why he was one of the best midfielders who ever played in the game. He played for Liverpool so that's why I choose him.