Liverpool supporters shouldn’t worry too much about Florian Wirtz. His magical moments in the Number 10 role will come soon enough…
I MISSED a friend’s birthday celebrations last week.
He’s a Chelsea season ticket holder and didn’t pass up my apologetic text message to respond with ‘No dramas, mate. Until Wirtz does something I wouldn’t show my face either’.
Whilst fully aware of the piss-taking, I was surprised this was the avenue he chose to go down. Liverpool supporters have been generally understanding of the initiation Wirtz has encountered, as well as seeing enough glimpses from the German to remain excited.
Opposition fans may have expected more by way of putting him in Fantasy Football teams and being fearful of his contribution to the Champions. Either way a few of them are clearly watching enough to comment.
The signing of Alexander Isak has whetted the whistle of everyone and footage of him in training only added to the blockbuster nature of his arrival. Isak will add another dimension to Liverpool’s newly formed attack when fully up to speed.
The ‘building the plane whilst flying it’ metaphor has definitely been present in the first three matches. Losing so much of last season’s attack and replacing it with players new to the league and country, and one who hasn’t had any pre-season is evidence that we’re learning on the job.
Liverpool are outscoring their expected goals so far this season quite considerably, having netted eight with an xG of 3.46. I would like that to be slightly more even in the coming months as someone who gets more jittery about overperforming underlying numbers in certain areas.
Most importantly and despite any context around performances, the Reds are four points better off on the corresponding fixtures from last season.
For Wirtz, playing competitive Premier League football has clearly required a physical adaptation, leading to ‘cramp in places he didn’t know he could get it’ being Arne Slot’s line after Arsenal.
He’s played against three incredibly difficult opponents so far, where final third space has been restricted and he’s been man-marked. This is something he needs to adapt to, but he also needs to have games where he and Liverpool can set up camp against a low block and pick the lock of opposition back lines with his trickery.
You would hope this, along with some counter-attacking situations, becomes available in the coming weeks.
An underestimated but present trait of Wirtz so far has been his workrate. The German has averaged 24 pressures and won 1.7 turnovers per 90 – among the highest in the league for his position. In this sense, Liverpool haven’t lost what Dominik Szoboszlai gave them last season at Number 10.
What they needed more of from the position is goals, assists and sprinkles of creative magic which assert full dominance over rivals. We’ve seen Wirtz show glimpses of this already, but we remain patiently waiting for him to fully come to the new Liverpool party.
Having Isak on board will undoubtedly help this team. His attacking prowess speaks for itself. How it all gels together remains to be seen. But ultimately, Slot wanted more options and now has them.
Burnley on Sunday, another new challenge and a new opportunity for Florian Wirtz to dazzle.
Most importantly, the chance for me to show my face at a mate’s party in future.
