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Florian Wirtz has been backed to overcome his tough start to life at Liverpool by a former great of German soccer.
The 22-year-old has struggled to make a significant impact since his £116 million ($156M) summer move from Bayer Leverkusen. In eight Premier League and European games, he has yet to score a goal or assist for his new club.
Arne Slot has even tried deploying Wirtz from the left wing in recent games to try and get more end product from the German, who has produced promising moments in games but has yet to contribute anything decisive. Unsurprisingly, that has led to criticism, with Jamie Carragher and Dietmar Hamman among those to voice their concerns this week.
But Voller, a member of Germany’s 1990 World Cup-winning squad and Leverkusen’s sporting director when Wirtz joined the club, said he is not concerned.
“Florian is playing in a new league and a new club. These are normal adjustment problems,” he told Bild.
“Almost every professional has them. I have no doubt that with his running and playing ability, he will make the breakthrough.”
Voller is not the only legendary figure from the 1980s to lend Wirtz his support this week. Sir Kenny Dalglish backed the midfielder to start producing soon.
“The first thing he needs to do is what he's doing at the moment,” the Liverpool legend said on this week’s Stick to Football podcast.
“He's great at taking the ball into the feet, he'll open himself up, and the pass has beat you, but he's still got control of it.
“Or he'll take it the other way back past you to go that way, and you're going this way.
“He can see what's in front of him, and once he gets it... I saw [Alexander] Isak the other day, the second half when he came on [against Galatasaray], I think, and he's talking to one of the boys about his movement, what he would do.
“And the boy is sitting and listening to him, and once they get on the same wavelength... by the way, that wee fella, he could open a can of soup.”
It comes amid an intriguing statistic circulating on social media that in all competitions this season, no Premier League player has created more chances for team-mates than Wirtz.
He will hope to end his barren spell in front of goal when Liverpool faces Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
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