Liverpool signed Florian Wirtz for £100 million in the summer transfer window but he had a difficult start.
The memes on social media have very much vanished.
Rivals fans’ attempts to disparage Florian Wirtz are no more. The 007 jibe, with the attacking midfielder’s face photoshopped on a James Bond photo as he did not score or assist in his first seven Premier League games, hasn’t been seen for some time. That is because Wirtz is now purring at Liverpool.
Granted, the Germany international’s start to his Reds career was slower than many expected, including this observer. Given that Liverpool splashed out £100 million, there were aspirations that Wirtz would make an immediate impact. An eye-catching pre-season and an assist in the Community Shield set high standards.
But those matches scarcely matched the intensity of Premier League fixtures. It is fair to say that Wirtz struggled with the physicality of playing in England. It did not help that the chances he did create were not buried by team-mates, which added to the narrative. However, Liverpool head coach Arne Slot was adamant that Wirtz would adapt as he acclimatised - and that has been the case.
The Germany international has been in fine form over the past few months. In all competitions, he has scored six goals and recorded eight assists in 35 appearances. Those numbers will only increase between now and the rest of the campaign.
There is no doubt that Wirtz’s work off the field has helped. The 23-year-old has added around three-to-four kilograms of muscle mass to ensure he does not get knocked off the ball so easily. He has also got used to the intensity of the Premier League.
Slot recently said on Wirtz: “First and foremost, credit to the player because he has to do the work in the pitch and the gym. If he is physically struggling at the start, you need to keep on playing him as that is the only way he can improve.
“I don’t think he improved that much on the ball because from the start he was special but maybe now he has a better connection with his team-mates. Off the ball, I see the biggest improvement with him. That combination makes you ready for the Premier League.’”
What perhaps has gone understated was Wirtz’s move out of his comfort zone. He was Leverkusen’s talisman yet moved to a new country on his own. That is something that should not go underestimated.
And that is something that Ashley Cole believes should not go underestimated. Speaking on the podcast Could It Be Magic, the former Chelsea and England left-back said: Ex-Arsenal and Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole added: “You get all these top players coming to the Prem and people are like: ‘Why is he not going well, he was £100 million?’ It is not easy, it is not easy and the expectation you have got to deliver.”
“Having played abroad during his career, Joe Cole admitted how challenging that is. The ex-Liverpool and Chelsea winger said: “We have both played abroad and that gives you a better understanding of how it is for foreigners. You’ve just been plonked out of your culture and culture zone.”
Joe Cole also pinpointed the fact that Thiery Henry, arguably the Premier League’s greatest-ever player, failed to hit the ground running after joining Arsenal from Juventus in 1998. It took Henry nine games to break his goal duck. Cole said: “I remember when he first came in. I thought ‘Who has signed this geezer?”
Wirtz will only continue to get better in a Liverpool shirt - and that will mean proving his early knockers how wrong they were.
Continue Reading