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Former Bayer Leverkusen star Wirtz has faced scrutiny since his move from the Bundesliga to the Premier League.Despite his £116million transfer during the summer transfer window, Wirtz has yet to make a significant impact at Liverpool, leading to heightened criticism after the Reds were beaten 3-0 Manchester City just before the international break.READ MORE: Liverpool and Man Utd discover Antoine Semenyo release clause as January transfer 'accepted'READ MORE: Harvey Elliott shows true colours during Aston Villa loan after Liverpool transfer exitHowever, he made significant progress towards silencing his critics with an outstanding performance for Germany in their final World Cup qualification match.Wirtz set up Leroy Sane for his two first-half goals as they comfortably led 4-0 at half-time. He was substituted after 77 minutes with his team firmly in control.After Liverpool's defeat to Man City earlier this month at the Etihad Stadium, Gary Neville labelled Wirtz as a "problem" for the Reds.
The ex-Manchester United defender said: "Wirtz is a problem, let's be clear. He's a German international of great standing and he looks well short in respect of what you’d expect in a top physical match."However, Germany's head coach was quick to defend Wirtz, pointing out the difficulties the Liverpool playmaker faces both on and off the pitch."To be honest, the overall situation doesn't make it easy for Flo either," said Nagelsmann."The whole club isn't as stable this year as it was last year.
It's much harder to slip into the team now."If you look at the game against [Manchester] City, they were actually the worse team over the 90 minutes."So it's also difficult for Flo to make a big impact. Ultimately, the overall situation is such that he just needs a little more time, which is normal; you see that with other players who move to the Premier League too."He added: "We all know what he's capable of, and it's perfectly normal for a player of his age to go through a bit of a dip in form."We can't expect him to perform at the same level for three years straight."Instead, we all need to support him a little bit so that he can clear his head here, and then maybe Liverpool could also help him out by scoring some of the chances he creates."That would be one idea, because he does not create few chances, it's just that... they somehow don't like to shoot the ball in, that's also part of the truth."Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content.
