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There have been glimmers and flickers from Florian Wirtz, but the Liverpool attacking midfielder is yet to fully click into gear since making the $157 million (£116 million) transfer to Anfield this summer.
He has now played 11 games in the Premier League without scoring or assisting, and Gary Neville accused him of being "mauled" against Manchester City at the weekend. That kind of criticism, though he has admitted himself that he needs to get stronger and improve physically, is wildly over the top.
Anyone who has watched him will know that he has incredible technique and undoubted quality. This is, after all, a player who notched 69 goal contributions at club level alone in the two seasons leading up to his big move.
While Wirtz has not assisted a goal for a teammate so far at Liverpool, in part, that is down to his teammates not finishing the chances that he has created — only 15 players in the Premier League have set up more.
It is also no coincidence that Wirtz has played better in matches against Atletico Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt and Real Madrid — teams that want to play football and not just go direct with long throws.
In his spell with Liverpool to date, Wirtz has faced, in order: Bournemouth, Newcastle, Arsenal, Burnley, Atletico Madrid, Everton, Crystal Palace, Galatasaray, Chelsea, Manchester United, Eintracht Frankfurt, Brentford, Aston Villa, Real Madrid and Manchester City.
In not one of those games would you look at the fixture on paper and think that it would be a nice introduction to a new team, a new league, and a new way of playing for a 22-year-old.
Bournemouth, Newcastle and Arsenal were incredibly intense fixtures. The Champions League brings with it its own different circumstances and extra midweek workload, while the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Brentford are, for different reasons, tricky.
"I watched the game against Manchester City and they were the worst team over 90 minutes," Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann said this week. "It's not easy for Flo to make his mark in such a situation."
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In comparison, after the international break, things look a lot more suited for Wirtz to shine: Nottingham Forest, PSV, West Ham, Sunderland, Leeds, Inter Milan, Brighton, Spurs, Wolves, Leeds again, and Fulham.
Wirtz — and Liverpool more generally — would have hoped for more from the German so far, but the matches that he has featured in have not exactly pointed towards a gentle transition.
Coming up, though, there are games when we should be really able to see what he is made of. By the time the Reds take on Arsenal in January, they will have played a lot more 'beatable' teams on paper.
In the next few weeks, the real Wirtz might be about to stand up. If he does, Liverpool should find itself climbing the Premier League table again quickly.
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