Sunday felt like the turning over of a new leaf for Florian Wirtz after putting in arguably his best performance in a Liverpool shirt.
The German has come in for plenty of scrutiny having failed to register a Premier League goal or assist since his big-money move last summer.
And although his wait for a goal contribution at Liverpool goes on, Wirtz looked much more like a £100m footballer against West Ham at the London Stadium.
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Alexander Isak shakes hands with Arne Slot after being substituted during Liverpool's Premier League match against West Ham United at the London Stadium.
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The 22-year-old’s performance felt even better coming on the back of some bizarre comments from Bayern Munich honorary president Uli Hoeness.
Wirtz chose not to join Bayern in the summer, opting for Liverpool instead. And in the wake of the attacking midfielder struggling to hit his straps, Hoeness has sounded off about the Reds in an attack which sounds distinctly like sour grapes.
Florian Wirtz makes Uli Hoeness eat his words
Hoeness has never been shy about airing dirty laundry in public. The long-time Bayern general manager also became very used to getting his own way in Munich.
The loss of Wirtz to Liverpool this year clearly hit him hard, and the 73-year-old hit out at both the Reds and their No. 7 over the weekend.
West Ham United v Liverpool - Premier League
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“They spent €500 million and are having a disastrous season” Hoeness said via BILD. “In my opinion, that’s because they only have superstars. They only have chiefs and no workers.
“I always say: Liverpool will soon have to play with five balls because the stars won’t give up any of them. Poor Florian Wirtz, he doesn’t even get a ball because Salah and Szoboszlai and all the others want to play with their own.”
Poor Herr Wirtz certainly had the ball on Sunday, instantly answering back to Hoeness and his erroneous claims.
Everything Liverpool did went through the former Bayer Leverkusen schemer, and although he did not make it count in a tangible way, Wirtz was very much the focal point of the Reds’ XI.
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Wirtz ready to become Liverpool’s centrepiece
It was always going to take time for Wirtz to settle in at Liverpool. Although Hoeness is wrong in his comments, his point that the Reds have other top players vying for star billing is correct in a way.
Mohamed Salah has been Liverpool’s star for close to a decade, and perhaps the Egyptian is struggling to come to terms with the loss of that.
However, Salah is an incredible professional and a brilliant teammate. Any suggestion that he would actively hamper any teammate is completely false.
What Sunday hammered home, though, is that there is a way forward for Liverpool without their Egyptian King. Whatever that is, it simply has to include Wirtz as the new centrepiece.
The only way for him to ensure that happens is by stamping his authority on matches in the manner he did at the London Stadium. Continue to do that, and he is going to end up embarrassing Hoeness far more than he already has.
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