Former Liverpool midfielder Don Hutchison has sprung to the defence of Florian Wirtz following the German’s difficult start to life at Anfield.
The 22-year-old was promised the No.10 role by Arne Slot before he made the £116m move to the Reds last summer, but the Merseysiders have not looked anywhere close to their best this season.
Former Arsenal manager suggested that the decision to play Wirtz centrally had essentially “destroyed” what had worked so well for Slot during his first campaign at the club. However, speaking to sportscasting.com, Hutchison said that such “clickbait” remarks are beneath the Frenchman, and there are other factors at play:
Most Read on Walk On
“I think I disagree with Arsene Wenger. They’ve tried to improve their midfield, and what they’re trying to do is future-proof Liverpool. So they’re halfway through their rebuild, and it’s going to take a little bit of time”
“It’s very easy just to say, well, it’s Florian Wirtz’s fault. [Germany head coach Julian] Nagelsmann came out this week, did a fantastic piece in his interview about Florian Wirtz. Elsewhere, I retweeted a compilation on X and it was all the chances that Florian Wirtz would have had if his teammates had made better decisions. He would be sitting there with six or seven goals if his teammates had put them on a plate.”
“Mo Salah missed one sitter in the Atletico Madrid game. He missed another sitter in the Chelsea game. Salah didn’t pass to him in the Man United game at home when he should have played a five-yard pass. There were more, and Nagelsmann nailed it yesterday when he said his teammates have got to stand up. I think the clickbait line from Arsene Wenger seems very unlike him. And for a guy that’s so tactically astute and a legend of the game, I’m surprised he hasn’t looked a little bit deeper into why it’s not working for Liverpool more than a cheap Florian Wirtz line.”
The Reds are in transition
There is no doubt that Wirtz has a great deal of talent, but as Hutchison points out, he is playing in a team that is in the middle of a rebuild.
It was inevitable that the massive influx of new signings would destabilise things, and future success hinges on these players gelling together sooner rather than later.
Will Wirtz come good for Liverpool?
At this stage, it is hard to tell whether the German has what it takes to adapt to the Premier League. He is physically weak, so he isn’t suited to the No.10 role where he can be muscled off the ball, while his lack of pace means he is ill-suited to the left wing as well.
Slot seems to have settled on a floating role off the left flank for now, but he needs to start scoring goals and providing assists to justify being given such freedom.
Read more about the Liverpool First Team Squad for 2025/26 here