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Former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann has told Florian Wirtz he needs to “come to the party” after suggesting the Reds’ best performances have come without him this season.
Wirtz has struggled during the early stages of his Anfield career after making a record-breaking move from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer. The German international has just three assists to his name this season, with those contributions coming during the Community Shield and in a 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League.
He is yet to find his feet in the Premier League, with Liverpool boss Arne Slot taking the drastic decision recently to drop him in recent outings.
Wirtz has started just one of the Reds’ last four league games, while Liverpool’s last two wins in the league - against Everton and Aston Villa - came after he was named on the bench.
The 22-year-old did start Tuesday’s win over Real Madrid in the Champions League, when he was moved to the left-hand side as Slot stuck with Dominik Szoboszlai in the No.10 role.
But while Wirtz did earn more plaudits for his performance against the 15-time European champions, Hamann has insisted he needs to start proving his worth.
“We’ve had nine or 10 games now, so we have played a quarter of the season,” Hamann told footballblog.co.uk. “We've got an international break ahead of us, and then we've got six, seven more games. We've got Christmas after that.
“Obviously the team is struggling at the moment. You've got to say that probably the two best performances in the Premier League were against Everton and then Saturday against Villa. These were the two games where he didn't start.
“At some stage he's got to come to the party and show why he's been brought to the club, and why the club paid such an enormous fee for him.
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“He's an outstanding player. I watched him, and think he's a player who, I don't think there's many others around at the moment with the ability he's got, but it's no good if he doesn't show it.”
Despite dropping him in recent games, Slot has insisted he is happy with Wirtz’s contribution so far, and has played down concerns over his lack of goal contributions.
“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.
“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 time to adjust to that intensity if you play every three days, with only two days rest in between.”
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