Florian Wirtz sent a timely reminder to his Liverpool critics after two assists in quick succession for Germany
Florian Wirtz.
Liverpool star Florian Wirtz notched two assists in five minutes to fire Germany to the World Cup.
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Liverpool star Florian Wirtz showed his class as he provided two assists for Germany in their World Cup qualification showdown with Slovakia. Julian Nagelsmann's side needed a point against the FIFA-ranked 46th side in order to book their place in next summer's tournament.
The pressure has been building on Wirtz, Nagelsmann, and co as they laboured to a win over Luxembourg, where they needed two goals from Nick Woltemade to guarantee a top-two finish. Scrutiny has followed the former Bayer Leverkusen main man after making the move across from the Bundesliga to the Premier League.
So far, Wirtz has failed to pull up any trees for the Reds after his £116million move, leading to criticism that intensified after Liverpool were comfortably dispatched by Manchester City, on the eve of the international break.
But he made great strides towards silencing the doubters with an impressive display for Germany in their World Cup qualification curtain-closer.
Wirtz twice provided for Leroy Sane for his two first-half goals as they breezed into a 4-0 lead at the break. It was two assists in quick succession for the 22-year-old as he first lifted a superb ball over the top for the former Man City winger.
He then showed immense vision to drift a ball towards the back-post for Sane to run onto and fire into the roof of the net on the stroke of half-time. He was subbed after 77 minutes with his side in full control.
It comes after Neville labelled the playmaker as a "problem" following his display at the Etihad Stadium. The former Manchester United defender said on his podcast: "Wirtz is a problem, let's be clear. Let's call it as it is. It's an issue. To be fair, I said a few weeks ago about [Milos] Kerkez that he looks like a little boy out there.
"Wirtz looked like a little boy and that can't be the case. He's a German international of great standing and he looks well short in respect of what you’d expect in a top physical match."
But the Germany head coach rushed to the defence of the national starlet as he highlighted the challenges facing Wirtz both on and off the pitch.
"To be honest, the overall situation doesn't make it easy for Flo either," Nagelsmann said.
"The whole club isn't as stable this year as it was last year. It's much harder to slip into the team now.
"If you look at the game against [Manchester] City, they were actually the worse team over the 90 minutes.
"So it's also difficult for Flo to make a big impact. Ultimately, the overall situation is such that he just needs a little more time, which is normal; you see that with other players who move to the Premier League too."
He added: "We all know what he's capable of, and it's perfectly normal for a player of his age to go through a bit of a dip in form.
"We can't expect him to perform at the same level for three years straight.
"Instead, we all need to support him a little bit so that he can clear his head here, and then maybe Liverpool could also help him out by scoring some of the chances he creates.
"That would be one idea, because he does not create few chances, it's just that... they somehow don't like to shoot the ball in, that's also part of the truth."