John Barnes says that Florian Wirtz needs to be Liverpool’s main star this season after the struggles of his first season following the £116m move from Bayer Leverkusen to Anfield last summer.
7 goals and 10 assists in his first season at Liverpool is actually a very good return even if it’s considerably less than the 16 goals and 15 assists he managed in his final season for Leverkusen.
There was also going to be a dip in attacking output from the Bundesliga to the Premier League, but what was worrying was the way he would seemingly go missing in games under Arne Slot. The Dutchman just didn’t understand how to get the best out of the German playmaker.
However, Andoni Iraola stands a much better chance of maximising his potential, particularly if the Spaniard is gifted Bradley Barcola by FSG, with talks ongoing with PSG to bring the French winger to the club this summer.
John Barnes tells Liverpool to make Wirtz the key figure in Iraola’s new-look team
The former Liverpool winger, who knows a thing or two about what gets an attacking player ticking, says Wirtz needs to be given more responsibility this season.
Barnes told GOAL: “Once you had [Hugo] Ekitike and you had [Cody] Gakpo and you had other players who are doing the same thing as him, he has to be the main player. So I don’t have any advice for him because I think every time he plays, he plays well.
“The team has to adapt to him. He has to adapt to the team. And I think that we had too many players who were doing the same thing. So Liverpool have to play in a way to get the best out of Florian Wirtz. And I think that you’ll see the best out of Florian Wirtz and Isak.
“If you play everything through Wirtz, he will do what Bruno Fernandes does. And that’s what Liverpool have to figure out. Whether they’re willing to do that…”
Wirtz, Barcola, Isak, Ngumoha as a front four is a frightening prospect
Liverpool have a very exciting season ahead of them even before you consider the possibility of a £100m+ arrival for Barcola.
Even just the prospect of a manager like Iraola getting this Liverpool squad back to playing high-octane football is exciting.
There is so much attacking talent at his disposal already, with Hugo Ekitike likely to be a player that Iraola loves when he returns from his Achilles tendon injury later this year.