1 week ago
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Liverpool’s visit to Brentford on Saturday was marred not only by the team’s fourth Premier League defeat but also by a harsh chant aimed at new signing Florian Wirtz.
Goals from Dango Ouattara, Kevin Schade, and Igor Thiago secured all three points for Brentford, while Milos Kerkez and Mohamed Salah scored for Liverpool despite largely underwhelming performances.
Wirtz should have scored after 20 minutes but saw his shot flash wide from inside the box. The German midfielder was active across the pitch, often dropping into deeper areas to collect the ball, but struggled to make an impact against Brentford’s physical approach.
As Wirtz was replaced by Joe Gomez, he was serenaded with "what a waste of money" by Brentford fans.
The Germany international has faced scrutiny for not yet replicating the form that earned him Bundesliga Player of the Year at just 21 during Bayer Leverkusen’s 2023/24 title-winning season, when he was hailed as one of Europe’s brightest talents.
While Wirtz has struggled to fully settle into Arne Slot’s system, he still leads Liverpool in the Premier League for chances created (29), open-play chances created (26), and expected assists (3.0).
He began showing signs of a return to his best with two assists in Liverpool’s 5-1 Champions League win over Eintracht Frankfurt, marking his first competitive return to Germany since his summer move.
Following the Frankfurt game, Andy Robertson was full of praise for Wirtz. “I thought he was outstanding, excellent. I thought he grew and grew into the game, especially the second half,” said Robertson. Players around him helped him a lot – Curtis Jones was outstanding – and I thought the three midfielders helped us gain the momentum and keep the ball.
“Flo has been really good since he came here. People focus on numbers of goals and assists but at times it’s unfair as he’s created a hell of a lot of chances. Some of the chances he created [against Frankfurt] ended up in an assist. Hopefully he can take a lot from this performance.”
On his own performance on Wednesday night, the 22-year-old said: "In the first half I made it hard for myself getting into good spaces. And then I was unfortunate to lose the ball before we conceded, but on the whole it was okay. I tried to get into better spaces during the second half.
"I know that I can do much, much more. I think the second half was really good, and from everyone else too. So I'm satisfied that we've won today and that I finally have a goal involvement."
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