Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher hasn’t held back on his negativity towards Florian Wirtz, saying his time as a Reds player won’t end up working out.
The German arrived at Anfield for a then-record fee of £116m last summer, but his first season was underwhelming, as the whole team struggled under Arne Slot.
Buy Wirtz also threw in a limp performance away to Newcastle last weekend, and speaking on Sky Sports, Carragher has claimed his move to Liverpool won’t work out:
“This thing that it takes people a year to settle in the Premier League, I think is a bit of a myth. I don’t think there’s too many examples where it does. I’ve always seen this coming. When people are saying [Wirtz] has got to go to No 10, that means Szoboszlai’s got to be in the team and he’s not a central midfield player.
“I thought this would come up in six weeks, I think it’s coming up right now. I don’t see where he fits in at all, really. What’s Iraola going to do with Wirtz? You can’t keep going with it, it’s not working. It didn’t work last season. Liverpool last season conceded 78 goals, 53 in the Premier League, the most they’ve ever conceded in the Premier League. And all of a sudden it’s all about buying wingers?
“I’m not sure where he fits. I almost thought you could put him in a pocket from the left, where he plays for Germany, but Iraola loves wingers, he wants players who’ve got energy up and down the flank.
“I don’t think we’re seeing a massive underperformance. I think what we’ve seen for a year is probably what he is, which is a neat and tidy footballer. Not a player who should be worth £110m, someone who probably should be £50m-60m, something like that. Neat and tidy, lovely touch. I’m not sure what people are expecting.”
Is Jamie Carragher’s criticism of Florian Wirtz harsh?
There is no doubt that Wirtz has been a disappointment at Liverpool so far, but it does feel early in the new season for Carragher to make such a bold statement.
It will take time for Andoni Iraola’s tactics to fully work, which will go hand-in-hand with getting the best out of the 23-year-old, who has been called “world-class” by Steven Gerrard.
Adding the pace of Bradley Barcola and Yankuba Minteh would help Wirtz hugely, creating more space for him to wreak havoc and create for them, but he does deserve criticism for not grabbing games by the scruff of the neck, regardless of who else is on the pitch.
Fitting both him and Dominik Szoboszlai into the same team isn’t going to be easy for Iraola, but to see a player of Wirtz’s brilliance not work out would be a huge shame.
He needs to start performing far better, and fast – he could do with bulking up more, too – but it is still too soon for Carragher to be making such big statements. Judge him more later in the year.