Florian Wirtz has big shoes to fill as Wayne Rooney lays down his expectations

Liverpool attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz scored his first goal in the Premier League against Wolves, with Wayne Rooney offering his verdict on the German playmaker

Liverpool playmaker Florian Wirtz.(Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Florian Wirtz netted his first goal for Liverpool against Wolves over the weekend, and the German playmaker looks to have found his feet in the Premier League.

It was always likely to take some time for the 22-year-old to get used to his new surroundings, and for the players around him to get up to speed with what he wants to do with the ball. In the last few games, though, Wirtz has been a star man for Liverpool and seems to have gone up a gear.

"I think he's had some really good performances this season, he's just not had the goals to go with them," Wayne Rooney said on Match of the Day. "He was really impressive today and took up some great positions.

"He's starting to get a real good understanding with [Milos] Kerkez. He was causing problems all game. He's showing glimpses of being a top, top player which he can be for Liverpool. I thought he was excellent today.

"I remember Bastian Schweinsteiger when he first joined Manchester United, he was surprised at the pace of the Premier League. He liked to get his foot on the ball and slow the game down, and sometimes you need time to adapt to [the league]."

Next up for Liverpool is the visit of Leeds United, before successive trips to London, first to take on Fulham and then Arsenal. After breaking his goalscoring duck last time out, Wirtz will be looking to kick on.

Liverpool players celebrate with Florian Wirtz after his first goal for the club(Image: Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

"It was very nice," Wirtz told Premier League Productions on Saturday. "The feeling on the pitch with the fans around [the stadium]… I was very happy and I liked it!

"I was confident that I would score one day. Of course, I wanted to start scoring and assisting earlier, but it was like this. I had to accept it, but I just knew that it would come, and I just tried to keep going like that.

"I think we played a brilliant first half and every time we lost the ball we got it directly back.

"Everyone was working really hard, but then in the second half in the last 20 to 25 minutes we made it harder for ourselves and difficult. To be honest, I cannot explain why. We have to talk about this in training because we have to change that."

Wirtz has been a driving force for Liverpool moving up the Premier League standings in the last few weeks, with the Reds now back in the Champions League places.

"That's the way we want to do it, we want to be there, and we want to be top of the table," he added.

"It's not been an easy start for us, but I think in the last games we have been doing better and better and getting the points. We are just trying to win every game now and today we had the next three points, so it's good."

Liverpool.com says: Wirtz is simply too good not to work out at Anfield. His talent has always been clear and the goals and assists will eventually come to back that up. He has sky-high potential and the last few weeks are only the very start.