Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has expressed his sympathy for one Liverpool player on the back of the Manchester City loss.
Arne Slot’s men may feel hard done by after Virgil van Dijk’s equaliser was disallowed because Andy Robertson was offside and adjudged to have interfered with play.
But while that almost certainly impacted the remainder of the game, Liverpool looked vulnerable for large periods.
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Speaking after the game, Micah Richards bemoaned the impact of Slot’s summer signings, including Florian Wirtz.
He said: “If you get bought for 100 plus million, you should be ready to go. You should be maybe not in the centre of the park for Liverpool, but out wide, and that’s where his good performance [was vs Real Madrid], but today we didn’t see Wirtz again.”
John Obi Mikel of Nigeria attends training at Wembley Stadium
Photo by Erwin Spek/Soccrates/Getty Images
John Obi Mikel defends Florian Wirtz
While much has been made about Wirtz’s start to life in England, John Obi Mikel has now spoken out in favour of the player.
Speaking on The Obi One Podcast, the Nigerian explained that the German’s Liverpool teammates aren’t showing him enough support on the pitch.
He said: “I feel sorry for the lad [Wirtz] though. I feel sorry for the lad. Coming from Germany, coming into the Premier League, the pace is much, much quicker.
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“Physicality, everything in the Premier League is much, much difficult. And to come in again with that price tag as well, it’s just the games, every game he plays just looks like he’s got a massive weight on his shoulders. Every time I see him, he looks lost.”
“He looks like he needs help. And when he looks around him, I don’t see anybody in that Liverpool side that goes to him and says, you know what, I’m around him. On the pitch, maybe they do it behind closed doors, but on the pitch, I don’t see anybody go to him and say, listen, go on. You’re doing well. A bit of encouragement.
“I don’t see that. I don’t see that on the pitch. Every time I watch him, I look at him.
“I feel sorry for the lad. He looks a little bit lost. The price tag is huge.”
Florian Wirtz could lose his place when Alexander Isak returns
Wirtz played well against Real Madrid, starting on the left wing instead of his usual number 10 role.
He did the same on Sunday but struggled for the most part, and impending changes may well lead to the former Bayer Leverkusen man being dropped in the near future.
Alexander Isak is back training and made the bench against Man City, though he did not feature.
Slot has commented on playing Isak and Hugo Ekitike together recently, suggesting the latter could be deployed from the left of a front three.
That would mean one less place in the eleven for Wirtz, with Cody Gakpo also competing for a spot on that flank.
He could be moved back into the middle, but that would mean dropping one of Liverpool’s best midfield trio.