Image Credits: Imago Images
Germany may have secured their place in the World Cup last 32 with a dramatic 2-1 comeback win over Ivory Coast in Toronto, but not everyone inside the German media was celebrating without reservation.
While Deniz Undav grabbed the headlines with his stunning brace off the bench, Florian Wirtz’s performance drew a more measured response from analysts and publications closely following the tournament.
Julian Nagelsmann’s side had been in trouble at the break, trailing to Franck Kessie’s 30th minute strike after a first half in which they had two goals controversially ruled out, one for Aleksandar Pavlovic and one for Kai Havertz.
Nagelsmann responded with a triple substitution on the hour mark, bringing on Jamie Leweling, Nadiem Amiri, and Undav, with the latter duo combining for the equaliser on 68 minutes before Undav struck a stunning 94th minute winner to send Germany into the knockout rounds.
Undav’s heroics took the spotlight, and rightly so.
The Stuttgart forward now has nine goals in just 11 appearances for Germany, and his impact from the bench has become one of the defining stories of this tournament.
But while Undav was earning plaudits, questions were being asked about what happened in front of him during the first half, and particularly about the player operating on Germany’s left flank.
Bavarian Football Works offered a pointed assessment of Wirtz’s role in the match, arguing that the Liverpool midfielder is simply not suited to playing as a left winger at this level.
Their verdict was blunt, “Florian Wirtz doesn’t work as a left winger.”
“He drifts inside too easily and too often, making his movement predictable and easy to stop.”
“He doesn’t have the pace to dribble his man so he is hopelessly dependent on overlaps and interplays to find space.”
“Ideally, he should move to the centre of the pitch where he is more comfortable.”
Bulinews echoed that sentiment with a rating of 5 out of 10 for the 22 year old, a score that reflects a performance that, while not disastrous, fell well short of the standards Wirtz has set in his club career.
Germany face Ecuador in their final group game on June 25 already through, giving Nagelsmann the opportunity to experiment with a system that gets the best out of Wirtz before the stakes get higher.
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