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Florian Wirtz was always destined to face a steep challenge upon his arrival at Liverpool, as his German experience hadn't equipped him for the demands of the Premier League.
That's the view of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, who has put forward a considered assessment of the star's difficulties at Liverpool. Wirtz has struggled to make his mark since his transfer from Bayer Leverkusen during the summer window, managing only three assists across 16 appearances thus far.
The German arrived with an outstanding reputation following two remarkable seasons in the Bundesliga with Leverkusen, yet this form hasn't carried over into reliable performances at his new club.
Gary Neville has been amongst those to criticise Wirtz, comparing him to being "like a little boy" during Liverpool's 3-0 loss to Manchester City prior to the international break.
Arne Slot has struggled to identify the optimal role for the creative midfielder within his 4-3-3 system, while a slight injury ruled him out of Saturday's 3-0 reverse against Nottingham Forest.
Speaking on Sky Sports before Arsenal's 4-1 demolition of Tottenham on Sunday, Henry shared his perspective on the contrasts between the Premier League and Bundesliga, suggesting this might account for Wirtz's troubles.
"It’s not easy to arrive in a team and perform straight away, as we can see with Florian Wirtz at Liverpool. But I always have a question mark over people who perform in Germany. That’s only me," he said.
"I’m not saying they won’t perform in another league, I’m just saying because of the way the league is there, really stretched, if you can run well, you’re going to have a lot of opportunities, goals, and assists.
"People can run with you in this league, so it’s very difficult."
Henry also reckons that the current tactical approaches in top-level soccer don't favor players like Wirtz, who excel when afforded space to drift and orchestrate play.
"If we talk about creating... do you think that managers now are letting their players dribble? Or do they want to control everything to make sure they don’t get countered?" he explained.
“Playing a low block all the time means it is not always easy to create.
"Look at Arsenal: we don’t always create a lot of opportunities. We score a lot of set pieces... You’re going to create a lot less than we used to be able to do in our time, because teams are playing low and they don’t try to bite or come out, so the spaces are tight.
"And if you don’t allow people to dribble and make mistakes - like I always said, the reward is in the risk - then where are you going? You’re not going to have the stats of creating, and if you don’t take your chances when you do, then you’re in trouble."
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