1 hour ago
21
Liverpool legend John Barnes has dismissed concerns voiced by Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville about Florian Wirtz and the club's other summer signings.
Wirtz and his new colleagues have failed to deliver the desired impact as the Reds endure a challenging Premier League title defence. With the November international break upon us, Liverpool sit eighth in the standings, eight points behind early pacesetters Arsenal, whilst remaining just one point shy of the top four.
Manager Arne Slot's side started the season brightly, but their form has deteriorated significantly, leaving them increasingly distant from both the Gunners and Manchester City, who extended their lead over Liverpool following Sunday's 3-0 loss at Etihad Stadium. After securing the Premier League crown, Liverpool pursued an ambitious summer transfer window, releasing several title-winning squad players whilst bringing in talent such as Wirtz, Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike, and Milos Kerkez.
The fresh arrivals have failed to elevate Liverpool during this troubled spell, with the Germany international receiving especially harsh criticism from experts.
Nevertheless, Barnes argues that demanding instant results from the new recruits was unreasonable, insisting that they will ultimately demonstrate their quality. Speaking exclusively to The Mirror via Video Gamer, he commented: "I've always said the solution isn't spending £200 million and buying the best players in the world, which we have, it's about getting the right balance."
"Last year, [Slot] didn't spend any money, changed the way we played with Jurgen's team but they were still used to the way they played because they're all good footballers. We've signed five players, Frimpong, Kerkez, Ekitike, Isak, and Wirtz, that's five new players coming into first-team, that'll take time.
"They're young, inexperienced, as much as they're good individual players you have to give them time to work, it'd be great if they hit the ground running and everything was great.
"I think long-term it will work but it will take time, they're so used to Jurgen in terms of how we played, this is a completely new set of players, new to Liverpool, some new to the country, they're younger, I can see they have good character so I have no worries that they won't comeback and be strong again."
He continued: "When we brought all these players, thought we were all going to win the league and we were going to run away with it, I didn't.
"Now we're in this difficult period, I'm not going to discount them and say they're not good enough or Arne Slot isn't. It's going to take time because they're good players, good characters and I can tell you once we get back to what we're doing, everyone is going to jump on the bandwagon.
"I have no fear whatsoever; not to say we're going to win the league, but if you look at the team and characters, we will be back challenging again." However, former England stalwarts Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville have been forthright in their evaluations of Florian Wirtz.
The 22-year-old chalked up his first competitive assists for the Reds in their dominant Champions League victory over Eintracht Frankfurt, before displaying flashes of genius in the win against Real Madrid. Yet Wirtz has found the Premier League a tough nut to crack, with his struggles exposed during a gruelling afternoon for Liverpool in Greater Manchester.
In the wake of the defeat, Neville commented: "I thought Wirtz in particular — it was a really bad day for him. We've been tip-toeing around him haven't we, for a few months, around the fact that he's young, coming to a new country. But he's £120million, you're going to have to stand up soon.
"I mean he's obviously got something. He's a really good player and technically fantastic, but he's been mauled out there today by [Matheus] Nunes and by others. He's been chucked around the pitch and didn't deliver in the quality side of things either. His performance was a real worry.
"Wirtz is a problem, let's call it what it is. It's an issue. He's £120M and he looked like a little boy out there. It can't be the case. He's a German international of great standing and he looks well short of what you'd expect from a top physical match.
"They've got to get him up to speed and get that tenacity into him that means he can get into form. They've got to stick with him, and persist, but they've got to find a way to get the best out of him." Meanwhile, during The Overlap's Fan Debate, Carragher insisted that the German needs to show some signs of promise for his $157 million move from Bayer Leverkusen to be considered successful.
"I was worried about Florian Wirtz early on – not because he wasn't amazing," the former defender admitted. "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."
English (US) ·