Premier League commentators will find it increasingly difficult to claim Florian Wirtz can’t work out in England after a tremendous display against Serbia in the Nations League.
The Germany international dominated on the pitch, crediting his teammates for granting him the necessary space to cause havoc in the final third.
What did Florian Wirtz say after Germany 2-0 Serbia?
The Liverpool attacker told the press (via liverpoolfc.com): “The players around me made it easy for me. We had a lot of movement – that’s when you can shine.”
Isn’t this the crux of the issue at Anfield?
While pundits galore rush to the fore to be the first to slam Wirtz after his latest indifferent performance for Andoni Iraola’s men, it seems all context, nuance and reason have been sidelined in favour of a click-worthy crusade.
The simple fact of the matter is that our No.7 does not have acres and acres of space to do his best work in the Premier League. Yes, most Premier League games won’t afford the attacker the kind of space Serbia did, but as Florian Wirtz noted, he can absolutely be more effective on the ball if his teammates are working to platform him.
| Florian Wirtz’s stats vs Serbia |
| 1 goal |
| 6 chances created |
| 8 touches in opposition box |
| 5 passes into final third |
| 3/7 ground duels won |
* Florian Wirtz’s stats vs Serbia in the Nations League (FotMob)
At present, that simply isn’t the case on Merseyside. Liverpool have an unbalanced midfield, mainly comprised of players who want to venture forward into the final third and be ahead of the ball. Cody Gakpo’s incredible form at the start of the season has also masked a lot of the issues we’re seeing in the forward line. We bought well in Bradley Barcola and Victor Munoz, but things simply aren’t clicking ahead of Wirtz or behind him.
Is this conducive to providing the kind of environment within which he can thrive and be his most impactful, devastating self? Let’s just say we have concerns there.
Liverpool need to listen to Jurgen Klopp
Don’t take Wirtz’s word for it; Jurgen Klopp spoke directly to his former club when addressing the attacking midfielder’s Nations League display on Thursday evening.
“That was exceptional; he played a fantastic game. Our style of play suits Flo Wirtz. I don’t even know what Flo has to do right to make everyone happy. Everyone in Liverpool should be happy today,” the ex-Liverpool manager told reporters (via BBC Sport).
Florian Wirtz can work in England. You won’t see one of the Premier League’s greatest-ever coaches coming out with that statement above if he doesn’t believe it.
But the environment, the style of play, whatever have you, have to precede the performances – not the other way around. In turn, that means we need to be equally patient with Andoni Iraola while he works with a mishapen, imbalanced squad.
It’s going to take time. It might even take a foray or two into the January transfer window before we see serious progress.
