Florian Wirtz has spoken to Liverpool manager Arne Slot about his slow start to life in the Premier League, with the Dutchman suggesting that further adaptation is needed in regards to physicality.
Liverpool spent £116 million ($155 million) to make Wirtz the most expensive player in Premier League history earlier this summer—a record they broke just weeks later with Alexander Isak’s £125 million switch from Newcastle United—but are still waiting to see the form he produced at Bayer Leverkusen which justified such a lofty price tag.
Wirtz grabbed an assist in the Community Shield defeat to Crystal Palace but is still waiting for his first goal contribution in the Premier League. The 22-year-old has insisted he is not worried about his slow start.
In an extended interview with Sky Germany, Wirtz opened up on a conversation with Slot, who offered his own explanation as to why things are yet to click for the Germany international.
“It could be that I’m trying to pass the ball faster,” he said. “I recently talked to the coach about it, and he suggested why I might not be able to get into the situations I normally get into. That is, that I’m making the game fast with a dribble or a pass.
“He said it could be because we press a lot and I run a lot. For example, the running stats: I’m always at the top there because I try to push hard and do what the coach asks. I need a lot of strength and energy for that. When I have the ball, I might be lacking a little bit. That it will simply come step by step, as I play more games, get fitter, be able to do things more easily, and then, when I have the ball, be fit enough and recovered enough to push hard.”
Bayern Chief: Wirtz Better Off Back in Bundesliga
Bayern Munich were stunned when Wirtz snubbed their advances in favour of a move to Liverpool, having publicly pursued him as part of their drive to build Germany’s most successful club around the country’s top talents.
There were no doubts about Wirtz’s abilities in the Bundesliga, and board member Karl-Heinz Rummenigge argued the attacking midfielder would have been happier had he opted to join Bayern instead.
“I have to honestly say, I still feel sorry for Florian Wirtz because I think the player would be better off at Bayern Munich than at Liverpool,” Rummenigge told Welt, arguing that “financial madness” ultimately cost them his signature.
Wirtz, for his part, insisted he chose Liverpool because of the project on offer under Slot.
“I had in mind that Liverpool is a family-oriented club,” he explained. “But of course, what convinced me most was the football aspect.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Arne Slot Has Good Idea Why Florian Wirtz Has Started Slowly at Liverpool.
