'No idea': German media hit out at Florian Wirtz criticism coming from England
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The German media have leapt to the defence of Liverpool midfielder Florian Wirtz on the back of his Premier League transfer.Bayer Leverkusen’s CEO has claimed that Liverpool weren’t Wirtz’s first choice for a move this summer.Regardless, much has been made about his start to life in England, with many pundits and former players having their say.Join our newsletter for news & smart analysis. Jamie Carragher is worried about Wirtz after his display in the 3-0 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday.Chris Sutton expressed similar concern about the Liverpool player following the weekend’s action.Photo by Rene Nijhuis/MB Media/Getty ImagesFlorian Wirtz defended in GermanyBut German outlet Bild have now published a piece defending the Reds star and commenting on the criticism of the ex-Leverkusen man.They led with the headline ‘Wirtz’s critics in England have no idea’ before mentioning how a number of former Manchester United players have questioned the 22-year-old.Bild wrote: “Wayne Rooney said that Wirtz was ‘harmful’ to Liverpool’s style of play.
Rio Ferdinand tried to instill ‘doubt’ in him about the transfer. And Gary Neville criticizes the playmaker almost weekly.
Most recently, he described Wirtz as ‘a problem’ that needed to be ‘called by its name’ and as a ‘schoolboy'”.The reason for his struggles in England, meanwhile, they suggest, is because the rest of Liverpool’s players aren’t performing well and taking their chances, including Mohamed Salah, who they say is ‘struggling’.Photo by Visionhaus/Getty ImagesThe problem Liverpool face with Florian WirtzThere is no doubt that Wirtz has had a tricky start to life at Anfield, and Arne Slot is likely to face another problem once the November international break is over.Now that Alexander Isak is back in training, Slot has suggested Hugo Ekitike could play on the left.Wirtz’s best performance for Liverpool came in that position against Real Madrid last week.Robbie Fowler thinks that, despite his showing against Los Blancos, Wirtz is a number 10.He said: “I can’t see why people say he needs to come off the left, for me he’s a number 10. Liverpool are trying to shoehorn players into positions.“It’s up to the manager to find a system and a way of playing to get the best out of players because Liverpool’s identity is not what it was a couple of years back.”But if Wirtz is moved back into the middle, one of Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch, or Alexis Mac Allister – their title-winning trio who also started in their two most recent wins – would have to be dropped.It’s a tricky situation for Slot to manage, with chopping and changing positions unlikely to help Wirtz put together a consistent run of form at Liverpool.