Florian Wirtz has been backed to overcome his early Liverpool struggles by Sir Kenny Dalglish and Rudi Völler, insisting that all the summer recruit needs is time after former Reds defender Jamie Carragher suggested he ought to be dropped.
Wirtz is yet to score or assist for Liverpool across eight appearances in the Premier League and Champions League, inviting scrutiny following what was at the time a British record transfer worth up to £116 million ($156.3 million) from Bayer Leverkusen.
The Germany international began the season as Liverpool’s No. 10, before losing his place for the Merseyside derby against Everton. He returned to the side on the left wing for the next match against Crystal Palace, but was restored to a central role for Tuesday’s defeat to Galatasaray.
Carragher argued that Wirtz is an “obvious” issue when it comes to getting the balance of the team right, now that Liverpool have lost two in a row.
“He has got plenty of time to go as a Liverpool player, but right now I think he needs to come out of the team,” the retired star warned, “…[for] Liverpool go back to what they were last season and then go from there and build some confidence, build some defensive solidity. Right now. it is a mess.”
‘That Wee Fella Could Open a Can of Soup’
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“The first thing he needs to do is what he’s doing at the moment,” Dalglish, arguably Liverpool’s greatest ever player, said during an appearance on the Stick to Football podcast.
“He's great at taking the ball into the feet, he’ll open himself up and the pass has beat you but he’s still got control of it. Or he’ll take it the other way back past you to go that way and you’re going this way. He can see what’s in front of him, and once he gets it...”
From the moment Wirtz arrived and Liverpool were linked with Alexander Isak—the Swedish striker eventually completed his move just under three months later—fans were drooling over the prospect of the pair synching as a No. 10 and No. 9 on the pitch.
“I saw Isak the other day, the second half when he came on [against Everton] I think, and he’s talking to one of the boys about his movement, what he would do. And [Wirtz] is listening to him and once they get on the same wavelength...
“By the way, that wee fella [Wirtz], he could open a can of soup [with his foot].”
Asked about his own on-field partnership with legendary striker Ian Rush, which underpinned much of Liverpool’s success during the 1980s—particularly in the first half of the decade, Dalglish suggested it was the product of understanding and repetition from daily practice.
“It could happen right away [for Wirtz and Isak]. For Rushy, it was training for us,” the Scot replied. “We did it in training, so that’s where you learn it first, isn’t it?”
‘I Have No Concerns’
Hugo Ekitiké, another summer arrival from the Bundesliga, has found the transition much smoother than Wirtz—even his avoidable red card against Southampton came as a consequence of over-jubilant celebrations from scoring a late winning goal. That direct comparison hasn’t helped and the tide on social media has started to turn against Wirtz from expectant fans.
Völler, an accomplished international in his own right and current sports director of Germany’s national team, is someone who knows the 22-year-old very well and has no doubt he will prove the detractors wrong in the end.
“Florian shouldn’t let himself get carried away [with what people say]. I have no concerns about that... he’ll show the English what he’s made of,” Völler told BILD.
“Florian is playing in a new league and a new club. These are normal adjustment problems. Almost every professional has them. I have no doubt that with his running and playing ability, he will make the breakthrough.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘He Needs’—Florian Wirtz Reassured by Two Legends After Calls to Drop Liverpool Star.
