Liverpool icon Kenny Dalglish urged patience with Florian Wirtz but also laid out what the 22-year-old must do to truly find his rhythm in Arne Slot’s side.
Florian Wirtz arrived at Liverpool with a glittering reputation. A two-time Bundesliga Player of the Year, the 22-year-old was expected to be a transformative figure in Arne Slot’s new-look attack.
But two months into his Anfield career, the German midfielder is still waiting for his first Premier League goal or assist and the scrutiny is growing louder.
Wirtz, who took on the iconic No.7 shirt following his £116 million switch from Bayer Leverkusen, has yet to justify his hefty price tag. After six top-flight appearances, he’s struggled to impose himself on games in the way he did so effortlessly in Germany, where he recorded 16 goals and 15 assists last season.
Supporters don’t need reminding of the scale of his achievements before arriving. But legendary figure Kenny Dalglish has warned that entertainment alone won’t be enough if Liverpool are to stay competitive this season.
“The winning would have been more important than the entertaining,” Dalglish said, underlining the urgency for Wirtz to adapt quickly.
Until their recent dip, Liverpool had managed to keep winning while Wirtz found his feet. But back-to-back defeats to Crystal Palace and Galatasaray in the space of four days have amplified the criticism, and few players have come under more intense scrutiny than the £116m man.
For a player widely regarded as one of Europe’s brightest attacking talents he’s yet to make his mark
Kenny Dalglish, arguably the greatest to ever wear the No.7 shirt, believes there are clear signs of what Wirtz can bring provided he strikes up the right understanding with his new teammates, particularly fellow summer arrivals Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike.
Speaking on Stick To Football, the former Liverpool player-manager offered a fascinating insight into Wirtz’s game and what needs to happen next.
“The first thing he needs to do is what he’s doing at the moment,” Dalglish explained. “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 Isak the other day, the second-half when he came on 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.”
Dalglish drew parallels with his own partnership with Ian Rush in the 1980s, which produced one of the most lethal attacking duos in Liverpool’s history.
“It could happen right away,” he said. “For Rushy, it was training for us. We did it in training, so that’s where you learn it first, isn’t it? I told him, ‘Rushy, if there’s a space there just leave it, I’ll play it and you go for it. Simple.”
Not everyone has been so patient. Jamie Carragher delivered a scathing assessment of Liverpool’s current form after their Champions League defeat in Istanbul earlier this week.
“I’m not watching a top team,” he told CBS Sports, pointing the finger at several underperforming players Wirtz among them after the 1-0 loss to Galatasaray.
The result came on the back of a last-gasp defeat to Crystal Palace, and has piled pressure on Slot’s side to respond when they travel to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea on Saturday evening.
For Liverpool, the challenge is to ensure that time doesn’t come at the expense of results. For Wirtz, it’s about proving he can be the player who elevates this team not one who slows its rhythm.
Saturday at Stamford Bridge would be the perfect stage to make that statement.
