2 hours ago
27
Former Manchester United and England star Gary Neville admitted that Florian Wirtz struggled against Manchester City, as the slow start to his Liverpool career continued.
Wirtz played for 83 minutes in the 3-0 defeat to City on Sunday, before being withdrawn for Federico Chiesa. The German midfielder has recorded three assists this season, but none of his attacking returns have come in the Premier League.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot recently assigned Wirtz to a new role after making adjustments to the formation, and it paid off against Real Madrid on Tuesday night. However, City dominated Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium, and Neville was unimpressed with Wirtz.
Wirtz had two shot attempts against City, but both efforts were blocked. The German also completed 21 of 24 passes, finishing the game with an 88 percent completion rate.
However, he lost possession nine times and came up second-best in three duels against City. Neville noticed Wirtz's lack of physicality during the game and said on Sky Sports, "Physically, Wirtz has found it tough. He has been out-muscled a lot."
Wirtz has been under the spotlight more than most new signings in the Premier League this season, mainly due to the $156 million package Liverpool agreed to pay Bayer Leverkusen this summer. Wirtz has been criticized for not meeting expectations, but it's still very early to cast judgment.
The German is only 22 and is adapting to the physicality of the Premier League while also adjusting to English culture. Wirtz appears to have shown improvement in recent weeks, and his father, Hans-Joachim Wirtz, is pleased with the progress.
Wirtz's father even admitted that they'd review his start after 10 games, and not on a game-by-game basis. "My thought from the very beginning was to wait and see how the first 10 league games went," Hans-Joachim Wirtz told ZDF.
"We and Florian are perfectly happy with that. The incredible speed [of the Premier League], the back and forth... That was very impressive for the first few games.
"The distances covered and the speed were significantly greater [than the Bundesliga]. But the style of play is sometimes enormously different because it doesn’t seem as organised, but rather more focused on pace.
"It was exciting for him to join a team that had certainly grown and had added one or two new players besides himself. And all of them were of a corresponding quality. All of that was quite exciting for him.
"I think the league table clearly shows that there’s still room for improvement in this football machine. But the mechanics will sort that out.
"I hope he’s such a good player that he can adapt to the demands there and that he enjoys it just as much as he did in the Bundesliga."
English (US) ·