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Arne Slot has brushed aside concerns over Florian Wirtz’s start to life as a Liverpool player and has predicted that he will find his feet at Anfield this season.
Wirtz has struggled to make an impact since joining the Reds in a record-breaking transfer from Bayer Leverkusen during the summer. The 22-year-old has just three assists to his name so far, coming during the Community Shield and the 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League.
With doubts creeping in over his place in the side, the German international has had to make do with a place on the bench in three of the last four league games, including Saturday’s victory over Aston Villa, which saw Slot revert to the same midfield that led Liverpool to the title last season.
Wirtz will be in the running to make a return to the starting line-up on Tuesday as the Reds host Real Madrid, with some of his better performances so far coming in European competition.
Despite his absence from recent line-ups raising some eyebrows, Slot insists that his decision to bench Wirtz has had nothing to do with the player’s slow start to life on Merseyside.
“You can say he started one out of the last four, you can also say he already started eight, nine, 10 or 11 games this season,” Slot said in his pre-match press conference.
“I’ve said this quite a lot, not being used as an excuse, but just telling it how it is. Many times we’ve had to play three games in seven days, only two days rest in between.
“For a player that comes from a different league, which is a very good league by the way, but I think nine out of ten people would agree that the Premier League is a bit more intense, especially in all the games.
“Then, if you look at that, then he already played a lot, and he’s had his impact in many games, but has been unlucky with the end product, either by himself or his teammates.”
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Slot made his comments shortly after Ryan Gravenberch had been speaking to the media. Like Wirtz, the Dutch midfielder endured a slow start to his Liverpool career after joining from Bayern Munich, before establishing himself as one of the Reds’ most important players last season.
Not only does Slot expect Wirtz to do the same, but he has predicted he will be able to find his feet even quicker than Gravenberch.
Slot added: “For me, he exactly brought what we expected - a player that can create a lot for the team, will have his goals as well, but I don’t think it comes a surprise to anyone if you are 22, 23, and you come from a different league, that you might need some timeto adjust to that intensity if you play every three days, with only two days rest in between.
“Before I was sitting here, Ryan Gravenberch was sitting here, and it took him a while to adjust to the intensity, maybe even longer than it’s going to take Florian.”
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