Liverpool legend makes feelings on Florian Wirtz clear - 'The problem we have'

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The Premier League champions have lost five of their 11 games so far this term, which is already more than last time out, when they were beaten just four times en route to claiming the club's 20th title.The summer months saw Slot and sporting director Richard Hughes commit to around £450m on new arrivals, including £116m Wirtz and Alexander Isak, who eclipsed the Germany international as the most expensive signing in British transfer history at £125m from Newcastle United on transfer deadline day.Around half of that outlay was recouped in player sales and the high turnover has played part in a difficult few months for the Reds, who return to action against Nottingham Forest on Saturday on a run over seven defeats in their last 10.READ MORE: Liverpool announce major new agreement as club set to smash through £300m barrier“Liverpool have spent a lot of money and bought a lot of players, but with that comes the uncertainty as to whether everyone is going to go well straight away," Barnes told Footy Accumulators No Tippy Tappy Football podcast."Five new players have come into the team, two full-backs (Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez), which are important positions for us, they’ve now got to get used to a new way of playing.“Then there’s midfield where you had Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, who were strong defensive midfield players who worked with the full-backs, now we’ve got more creativity there."You’ve got players like Florian Wirtz, and Ryan Gravenberch is now playing in there, you’ve got players like Hugo Ekitike, so we’re finding our feet with them.“The most important thing is that they’re all good characters. They’re not going to sulk and throw their toys out of the pram if things aren’t going well."But finding a way of playing, particularly with Wirtz who I think is a very good player, and finding a home for him with a team and a system that’s going to suit him, is important.“The whole idea that because you’ve got great individual players means you’re going to win matches, that has been a bit of an issue.

I think he has been doing okay."He’s been playing well, he’s been creative, but I think that because the team hasn’t been consistent, we’re looking at him as part of that inconsistency. But when he’s on the ball and in terms of what he does, I think he’s been very good.“The problem we have is that before, we were a team that passed the ball much quicker and got it forward quicker.

We’re still finding our feet with that.“I’ll give them the season, and I think we’ll finish third, which will be a disappointment for Liverpool fans, but I think moving forward, we’re in a healthy place."Mohamed Salah can start every game, it’s just the fact that Liverpool are now playing in a different way. The way Liverpool played was designed for Salah to score goals, whereas now we are playing in a much different way.“Now you’ve got Wirtz, you’ve got Ekitike, who’s dribbling a lot, you’ve got [Cody] Gakpo on the left, so we’re playing in a different way, which means Salah isn’t going to be as impactful."It’s nothing to do with (Salah) himself being 33, it’s the fact that the team is now playing in a different way to create chances for different people.“It coincides with the fact that he’s 33 and people are putting two and two together, but he can’t start every game, but he won’t start every game now because we now have an abundance of strikers, so therefore he can be left out, but we have to come up with a way of playing that suits the team."We seem to be trying to fit all the star players in, which you can’t do.”