Liverpool star Florian Wirtz and, inset, teammate Ryan Gravenberch
Liverpool star Florian Wirtz and, inset, teammate Ryan Gravenberch
Florian Wirtz has been described as a “wonderful footballer” who is simply trying too hard at Liverpool, though a respected observer has pinned his struggles on the shoulders of three Reds teammates, and with sources revealing how a possible transfer escape route could open up for the German if FSG decide to sell the star.
Great excitement was met when Liverpool spent a then-club record £116m (€135m, $156m) to land the German playmaker from Bayer Leverkusen last summer as then-boss Arne Slot looked to take his title-winning side to the next level.
But with Slot dispensed with after a disastrous season and with Wirtz still struggling to replicate his very best form, questions have started to be raised if Liverpool may have wasted their money on Wirtz.
Indeed, so far in a Liverpool shirt, the player has only managed 18 G/A (seven scored, 11 assists) from his 54 games for the Merseysiders since his blockbuster move – a poor return for the club’s mammoth investment.
Despite that, Wirtz continues to give his all, and we underlined back in May that the club still very much believe in the player, with the 23-year-old still expected to hit the heights expected of him and with sources describing him as one of their ‘untouchables’.
Now, journalist David Lynch, an expert on all things Liverpool FC, has explained Wirtz’s problems and, while still backing him to come good, believes he needs a lot more help from his teammates.
“I think he’s a wonderful footballer,” Lynch said on the Anfield Index podcast. “There’s been moments this season where you’re watching, and you’re like, oh, that is unbelievable what he’s doing. But there have also been moments of real frustration.”
While Liverpool and Wirtz drew a frustrating blank against Fulham on Saturday, the fact that the German covered 12.4km in the game – the most by any player on the field – tells you all you need to know about where it is all going wrong…
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Is Wirtz working too hard for Liverpool?
Lynch continued that perhaps Wirtz is working too hard to “plug holes and try and do his job”, before he explained in more detail: “He does a lot of kind of side-to-side to try and make himself a free man, which probably helps clock up a few kilometres for him.
“He is such a hard worker.
“But I wonder whether the amount of distance he’s covered at times is kind of taken away from his freshness when he gets on the ball.”
Lynch, though, thinks that Wirtz must offer greater precision when on the ball.
“We just see some real slackness from him at times, albeit that’s been a little bit of a habit of his since he’s come in,” he said.
“I would just like him to just show that little bit more class at times and real care for the ball in the final third.”
While Lynch insists Liverpool remain patient, he admits the pressure is being turned on the player in the media to start producing the stats his wonderful talents deserve.
“You can’t always make excuses for him,” Lynch added. “He does have to kind of get better.”
However, as the journalist explained: “I don’t think everybody was great on Saturday, and he let the side down at all. So, you know, it’s a collective responsibility as well.”
Essentially, Lynch feels Liverpool’s double midfield pivot, which started the game against Fulham – Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch – did not do enough to help Wirtz.
“Szoboszlai should be finding Wirtz in the ten, and Gravenberch should be doing the same, the same with Mac Allister when he’s playing,” he said.
“They should be finding him in the ten, ten, fifteen times a game. That needs to be happening more frequently, really.”
Lynch added: “They’re too safe, and they’re too scared to kind of play through the lines in case they turn it over.”
With Wirtz’s inability to influence games in the way he would like starting to draw attention, sources revealed to TEAMtalk over the weekend that, while the Reds still believe in the player, one of the biggest sides in European football are ready to offer him an escape route should the Merseyside giants decide to cash in.
Despite that, Lynch is not making any snap judgements on the player, adding: “As much as I didn’t think Wirtz played well even when he got the ball, I still think it’s going to be a problem for him that he can’t consistently get it.
“I don’t want to make any final judgments about anything in this team really, because it is just so early.
“Wirtz is the same really.”
One growing school of thought is that Liverpool need to add a more defensively-minded midfielder to their armoury when the transfer window opens.
Off the back of that, Lynch has revealed that the Reds plan to sign a £60m star ‘in January if they can’ with the player viewed as an instant fix to Iraola’s ‘not functioning’ midfield.
Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with TEAMtalk, Michael Owen has named the big-money Reds star who he thinks will enjoy a massive redemption arc this season.