Wijnaldum: We reacted well to 'stiff' first-half performance
Georginio Wijnaldum paid tribute to Liverpool's reaction to a 'stiff' first half after they beat Swansea City 5-0 on Boxing Day.
Despite leading through a Philippe Coutinho strike at half-time at Anfield, the Reds had been far from their free-flowing best during a largely even opening 45 minutes.
Things began to look up for the hosts after the restart, however, with Roberto Firmino netting twice and Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also getting on the scoresheet.
And Wijnaldum was pleased with the way he and his teammates kicked on having been disappointed with their efforts in the early part of the game.
The Dutchman told Liverpoolfc.com: "I think the second half was a good reaction on the first half - the first half was a little bit stiff.
"We were lucky that we scored a goal because we created a few chances that we didn't [convert], I think it wasn't our best performance this season.
"But the second half we reacted [well], we were more concentrated and tried to play more counter-pressing because they are a football-playing side.
"It went well, we created more chances and scored more goals."
Watch: Extended highlights of the Boxing Day win
Wijnaldum also hailed the scorer of the Reds' third, Alexander-Arnold, whose goal was his first at Anfield.
He continued: "It's always special if a player comes from the Academy to the first team.
"In his case, he was also a Liverpool supporter, so everyone wants him to do [well], and us as a team because he is a good guy.
"[He's] always trying to learn and get better, so we were all happy that he scored a goal."
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A packed festive fixture schedule continues for Jürgen Klopp's team on Saturday, with Leicester City set to visit Anfield in the Premier League.
But Wijnaldum insists most footballers prefer playing regularly to training, and he is relishing the challenge of coping with a short recovery time.
He added: "That's the nice thing about football, you always want to play games.
"Of course, it's difficult to play games in a row, you have a short time to recover.
"But I think as a football player you enjoy the games most instead of training a lot of times before you can play games."