Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has explained why he believes Florian Wirtz has struggled since making a £116million summer move from Bayer Leverkusen to Liverpool
Florian Wirtz has struggled since joining Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen for £116million
Florian Wirtz is yet to take off at Liverpool(Image: Shaun Brooks - CameraSport via Getty Images)
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Florian Wirtz has been facing a challenging time since his move to Liverpool because his previous experiences in Germany didn't equip him for the Premier League. This is according to Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, who has shared an insightful theory on the £116million summer signing's struggles.
Despite joining Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen with a stellar reputation and contributing three assists in 16 games for his new club, Wirtz has yet to make a significant impact for Liverpool. His impressive performances over two seasons in the Bundesliga for Leverkusen have not translated into consistent success at Liverpool.
Among those criticising Wirtz is Gary Neville, who harshly described him as being "like a little boy" during Liverpool's 3-0 loss to Manchester City prior to the international break. Liverpool boss Arne Slot has struggled to find the optimal position for the playmaker in his 4-3-3 formation, and a minor injury saw Wirtz miss the 3-0 defeat by Nottingham Forest last Saturday.
While discussing Arsenal's 4-1 victory over Tottenham on Sky Sports, Henry shared his thoughts on the differences between the Premier League and the Bundesliga, and how this might explain Wirtz's difficulties.
"It's not easy to arrive in a team and perform straight away, as we can see with Florian Wirtz at Liverpool. But I always have a question mark over people who perform in Germany. That's only me," he stated, reports the Mirror.
"I'm not saying they won't perform in another league, I'm just saying because of the way the league is there, really stretched, if you can run well you're going to have a lot of opportunities, goals and assists. People can run with you in this league, so it's very difficult."
Thierry Henry
Thierry Henry explained his theory over the weekend
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Henry also reckons that current tactical approaches in top-level football don't favour players such as Wirtz, who thrive when afforded room to move and orchestrate attacks.
"If we talk about creating... do you think that managers now are letting their players dribble? Or do they want to control everything to make sure they don't get countered?" he said.
"Playing a low block all the time means it is not always easy to create. Look at Arsenal: we don't always create a lot of opportunities. We score a lot of set pieces...
"You're going to create a lot less than we used to be able to do in our time, because teams are playing low and they don't try to bite or come out, so the spaces are tight.
"And if you don't allow people to dribble and make mistakes – like I always said, the reward is in the risk – then where are you going? You're not going to have the stats of creating, and if you don't take your chances when you do then you're in trouble."