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Jamie Carragher has expressed his concern about Florian Wirtz’s Liverpool performances in the Premier League and how drastically they have differed from his appearances in the Champions League.
The German, who arrived from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer in a deal worth up to £116million ($158M), has yet to impress domestically and has not registered a goal or assist in the Premier League.
That has not been the case in Europe, however, with Wirtz setting up two goals in the recent win over Eintracht Frankfurt and creating more chances than anyone else in the victory over Real Madrid last week.
Yet, just five days later he was anonymous in the 3-0 loss to Manchester City, and was subjected to chants of “what a waste of money” from the home fans at the Etihad.
Carragher admitted he is concerned about Wirtz’s ability to cope with the demands of the Premier League.
“I was worried about Florian Wirtz early on – not because he wasn’t amazing,” the former defender said on the latest episode of The Overlap Fan Debate.
“When you pay that much money for someone, I just want to see a few glimpses of something to make me think: ‘I know he’s not the Bayer Leverkusen version yet, but I can see little things’.
“That was early on, and I’ve seen a few things – the backheel at Chelsea, he played well against Real Madrid.
“My worry about Wirtz is when people say things like he has to get used to his teammates. He’s played well in Europe, but it’s a different game to the Premier League.
“He played well at Frankfurt and against Real Madrid at home, but he’s found it really tough in the Premier League. I worry about him going forward – I get it's early days, but I need to see something to keep me thinking that this will work.”
Wirtz started the campaign mainly playing as a no.10 but impressed in the wide areas against Frankfurt and Real, and typically tended to drift inside. Carragher feels that might help Liverpool get the best out of the German international.
“I agree with the thing about [Wirtz playing on] the left because I’ve been thinking about how he can get in the team – it’s not like he doesn’t play.
“When you think of the Premier League, there’s always at least six players in the middle of the pitch, and sometimes eight with full-backs coming in. It’s fast, it’s quick and it’s powerful.
“I think being on the left where there’s a bit more space, a little pocket – think of Man City players like David Silva or Bernardo Silva, those types of players, even though they are creative, they didn’t play in the no.10 position so much - it’s more a little bit wide where the space is.”
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