Jamie Carragher has issued a warning to Florian Wirtz after the German’s inauspicious start to life in the Premier League by claiming that great players ‘hit the ground running’ when they arrive in England.
Carragher’s comments came after Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United at Anfield in what was their fourth consecutive defeat.
Wirtz was signed in the summer for £116m but is yet to register a goal or an assist in the Premier League and started the United clash on the bench.
“How long do you give foreign players when they first come to the league? You don’t write the first year off but you say the second year they’ll improve and get better,” Carragher explained on Sky Sports following the result.
“But, if I’m being honest, if I think of the great foreign signings - Sami Hyppia, Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Luis Suarez, Didi Hamann - they all hit the ground running.
“I can’t think of many, who had an average, poor start - I’m not talking seven games by the way but if you’re getting to Christmas and January and being like ‘oh’. History doesn’t tell me that foreign signings coming into England take a year.”
The discussion between Carragher and fellow pundits Jamie Redknapp and Roy Keane was over Wirtz’s impact - or lack thereof - since joining Liverpool and whether he can improve his form.
Speaking of Premier League success who made slow starts Carragher added: “People always say Thierry Henry and that’s nonsense, he scored 25 goals in his first year at Arsenal.”
Redknapp then interrupted to explain that Henry didn’t score in his first eight matches with the Gunners.
“Exactly,” Carragher continued, “what I’m saying is it wasn’t a year. Seven or eight games is too early [to judge] but once we get to January, February, March when is the time we can start saying ‘maybe this was a mistake?’
“Especially at Liverpool, players who are great foreign signings for the club hit the ground running.”
