Florian Wirtz position at Liverpool 'not his fault' as finger pointed - 'he knows'

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Liverpool Echo IconSportFootballLiverpool FCLiverpool attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz has been defended after a slow start to life at Anfield following £116m summer transferGermany boss Julian Nagelsmann is adamant Florian Wirtz cannot be entirely blamed for his lack of impact at Liverpool this season. Wirtz has yet to contribute a goal or an assist in the Premier League since making a £116million move from Bayer Leverkusen during the summer.The only goal contribution from the attacking midfielder remains his assist for Hugo Ekitike four minutes into his competitive Reds debut in the Community Shield defeat to Crystal Palace at Wembley in August.Wirtz has been benched for two of the last three Premier League games and has managed a full 90 minutes only once since moving to Anfield.READ MORE: Liverpool defender suffers major blow as two players hand Arne Slot fitness boost ahead of Man UtdREAD MORE: Alexander Isak warned over role as uncertain Liverpool future addressed - 'Can't write him off'Nevertheless, only two attacking midfielders are creating on average more chances per top-flight game than the 22-year-old, who is among the leaders in the statistic for Premier League players in all competitions this season.And Nagelsmann, who selected Wirtz to start Germany's 4-0 World Cup qualifying win over Luxembourg on Friday evening, believes the perception of the player would be different if his Liverpool team-mates were more prolific.“Even if he hasn’t scored a goal, he’s the player who creates (among) the most chances in the Premier League," said the Germany boss, as quoted by Sport1."It’s not his fault if his team-mate doesn’t score them, and the statistic isn’t even a third of the truth.“He simply has to get used to the league.

I’ve seen him feel completely liberated. He knows what he’s capable of and how things work."Not everything has always been handed to him - he’ll work hard now, too.”Wirtz's only goal this season is the impressive free-kick he netted for his country in their 3-1 win over Northern Ireland last month.

Germany visit Belfast in their next World Cup qualifier on Monday.