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Gary Neville believes Florian Wirtz is “starting to purr” as the German international looks to have found his feet at Liverpool.
After a tough start to life at Anfield, Wirtz has made six goal contributions in his last eight Premier League outings, including four goals. The 22-year-old scored and assisted in the Reds’ 4-1 win over Newcastle on Saturday - Liverpool’s first league win in six games.
Wirtz’s partnership with Hugo Ekitike in particular has been catching the eye of late, with the pair linking up for goals against Newcastle and Qarabag over the past week, and looking to have grown a good understanding between each other.
Former Manchester United captain Neville was impressed with what he saw from the Reds at the weekend, and in particular Wirtz’s performance.
The Sky Sports pundit has been critical of the ex-Bayer Leverkusen star at times this season, although he’s now starting to see similarities between Wirtz and a United star.
“The response from Liverpool was excellent,” Neville said on his podcast.
“I've been saying it for quite a while, I've been saying Ekitike is fantastic for quite a while, but Wirtz has just got to get himself in that left channel, as close to the penalty box as he can.
“He really can slow his mind down in those final moments. He's got real composure, a cold mind. I've said all season he drops too deep.
“There's an element of watching Bruno Fernandes close to [Bryan] Mbuemo; just get Wirtz close to Ekitike, get them near to each other and you'll be in business because he's got the quality in tight areas and can find a pass.
“He can manipulate the ball and knows where he is. It's a real unique quality do be able to do that and that's why Liverpool paid the money for hm.
“He looks like he's starting to purr now, it was a great response from Liverpool in what's been a real difficult time for them.”
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Liverpool will hope Wirtz can now make a difference as the Reds look to beat United and Chelsea to a place in the Premier League’s top four, with Arne Slot acknowledging the importance of his growing relationship with Ekitike.
“I don’t think it comes to a surprise to anyone – definitely not to me because the more players play together, the more they can find an understanding,” Slot said.
“And I’ve tried to explain why it was difficult for them to play earlier in the season every three days again, and now they are able to do that, because they can keep going.
“They can play more often together, we can play more often with the same team or same combinations and, as last season has shown, the more you can play together, the better it is.”
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