Georginio Wijnaldum Says He Has a 'Hate and Love' Relationship with Jurgen Klopp

Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum has said he has a "hate and love" relationship with manager Jurgen Klopp at Anfield.

The Netherlands international has been angered by decisions the German has made, particularly when he was left out of the starting XI for Liverpool's UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg against Barcelona, per Simon Mullock at the Sunday Mirror.

"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. Looking back, we can say things worked out all right. We will never know how it might have gone if the manager had started me."

Wijnaldum came off the bench to score twice in the 4-0 win over the Catalan giants in May that sent the Reds into the final against Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

Klopp elected to start Wijnaldum against Spurs and spoke about his influence on their campaign after the club lifted the European Cup for a sixth time:

The 28-year-old has become a key player for Liverpool since joining the club from Newcastle United in 2016. He brings industry and energy to the club's midfield and helps link the defence with the attack.

He has also advised Klopp on transfer dealings. The Liverpool boss has said he asked the midfielder for advice before signing Virgil van Dijk from Southampton, per Goal.

"Before I even joined Liverpool I had a meeting with Jurgen and during our talks he asked me about Virgil van Dijk. I had always rated Virgil very highly and my exact words to Jurgen were, 'He is going to make the defence a lot better'."

Wijnaldum is also an important part of the Netherlands team under manager Ronald Koeman and is on a strong run of form at international level, as highlighted by football writer Karl Matchett:

Liverpool have plenty of midfielders in their squad with Wijnaldum competing for a place in the starting XI along with Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Naby Keita, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

There is no doubt that Wijnaldum has been one of Liverpool's top performers in 2019, but he may still find himself out of the team on occasion as Klopp rotates his side to cope with a busy fixture list.