While we only saw glimpses of Florian Wirtz‘s attacking talents for Liverpool against Bournemouth, his running stats proved why he should be so essential for Arne Slot.
With the help of our partners at FotMob, we looked at the statistics behind Liverpool’s midfielders’ running.
When Wirtz arrived as a marquee signing, supporters thought they were getting a stylish attacking midfielder who could drop a shoulder and thread a football through the eye of a needle.
They weren’t wrong, but Liverpool’s new German is so much more than a luxury attacker; key to why Slot and sporting director Richard Hughes were willing to pay over £115 million on Wirtz is his tireless running off the ball.
The 22-year-old’s work ethic was on display against Bournemouth, with nobody else running further on average than Wirtz.
According to FotMob, Wirtz covered 11 kilometres during his 82 minutes on the pitch, running 60 metres more than Dominik Szoboszlai every 10 minutes.
The Hungarian covered 11.5km across the whole game, and he was only matched in that respect by the opposition’s Marcus Tavernier.
Wirtz again pipped Szoboszlai, though, in terms of sprints, as the No. 7 made more 2.8 sprints per 10 mins, more than anyone else in red.
Elsewhere in midfield, while Alexis Mac Allister was brought off after 72 minutes, he also put in a good shift, especially given his relative lack of match fitness.
The Argentine ran just 160 metres fewer than Wirtz every 10 minutes on average, and he was involved in 10 duels, winning half of those.
There were a couple of reasons for Liverpool’s midfield being put so heavily through their paces; Ryan Gravenberch‘s absence as a more natural defensive midfielder, as he established himself last season, was one.
Also, the regularity of Liverpool’s full-backs’ forays into advanced positions meant the midfield had copious amounts of ground to cover.
This caused problems in the second half, as Bournemouth broke and took advantage of space down the middle though Liverpool’s midfielders tried as they might to get back.
The Reds conceded two league goals to Opta-defined fast breaks last season. They have already matched that tally with their two conceded against Bournemouth, wrote Andrew Beasley.
While it is fantastic that Wirtz is willing to do so much work off the ball to press and defend, Liverpool need to ensure he has the energy and freedom to also be at his best around the opposition box.
If he is too often chasing back and covering for other players, it could negate his ability to create.
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