Jurgen Klopp spoke about giving Florian Wirtz the ball as often as possible during the international break, with Andoni Iraola still working his Liverpool formula out
Florian Wirtz captained Germany during the international break
Florian Wirtz captained Germany during the international break(Image: Marvin Ibo Guengoer - GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)
Florian Wirtz scored for Germany during the international break, and captained his country for the first time. Working with Jurgen Klopp, the hope was that he would regain some confidence.
For Liverpool, the 23-year-old has been criticized, and at times severely. At international level, though, his new head coach has been working to get the best out of him. Quite simply, if Klopp is to be successful with Germany, then Wirtz is going to have to be a central part of it.
"You've got to remember that Klopp is probably up there with the best of the best, so he knows how to get the best out of players," former Reds man Emile Heskey said this week.
"He knows how players' minds work. He knows what they want and how they feel, and he's shown that time and time again — not just with Wirtz, but with every player that he's come across.
"That's why there are so many players that mention that they'd love to play under him, because they believe that he could understand them and get the best out of them."
Klopp spoke during the international break about giving Wirtz the freedom to roam around the pitch and find pockets of space. Like Andoni Iraola, he used him exclusively as a number 10.
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Florian Wirtz and Jurgen Klopp after Greece vs Germany
Florian Wirtz and Jurgen Klopp after Greece vs Germany(Image: Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
But where the two systems differ is that at Liverpool, there are other big names to factor in.
Not everything can go through Wirtz when there are also the likes of Alexander Isak and Bradley Barcola too.
"I think it's difficult to say and do," Heskey, speaking to 10bet, added. "If Iraola gave Wirtz that level of freedom, he would be changing his entire team structure for one player.
"Liverpool must figure out how to get the best out of him within the structure that the manager likes. A manager is always going to have a structure that he prefers and that he likes.
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"Then he's got to figure out who fits where best and how he and the players around Wirtz can get the best out of him, so changing everything to suit one player is very tough. The balance of the team and the overall chemistry has to be prioritized."
Liverpool returns to club action with the visit of Manchester City this weekend. It has a total of nine games before the next international break as things ramp up.
If Iraola is going to oversee more Liverpool progress, Wirtz will have to step up. After scoring for Klopp with Germany, though, and with a packed fixture schedule coming up, if ever he can come back and hit the ground running, it should be now.