The pundits continue to line up to have their say on Liverpool’s £116m summer signing Florian Wirtz, who is still searching for his first goal for the club
Owen Hargreaves believes the raft of summer signings has upset the balance of Arne Slot’s Liverpool team(Image: George Wood/Getty Images)
If Florian Wirtz didn’t realise the scrutiny that comes with being the second biggest signing in Liverpool’s history, then he surely does now. Not a day seems to go by without a pundit giving their thoughts on his performances for his new club.
There is reason to. While no Premier League player has created more chances for his team-mates in all competitions this season than the 21 Wirtz has provided, he has yet to score for Liverpool or lay on a goal since his assist for Hugo Ekitike just four minutes into his competitive debut in the Community Shield defeat to Crystal Palace.
That has led to the likes of Anfield great Jamie Carragher and former Everton and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney suggesting the Germany international may need to be left out of Arne Slot‘s starting line-up.
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Sir Kenny Dalglish, arguably the greatest player in Liverpool’s history, has offered his advice to Wirtz, while Germany national team director and World Cup winner Rudi Voller, who worked with the player at Bayer Leverkusen before his £116m move to Merseyside, has no doubt the 22-year-old will come good.
But for Owen Hargreaves, who made his name in Germany with Bayern Munich before moving to Manchester United to play alongside Rooney, he shares concerns similar to his old club team-mate and Carragher.
“They were so good last year, they looked like they should blow everyone away,” TNT Sports expert Hargreaves said of the Reds, who will head to Chelsea on Saturday for their final Premier League game before the international break on the back of two straight defeats.
“This year, they have signed some really good players, but Wirtz, when you pay that money, you try to get him in.
“But actually, that midfield three was the best in the league last year. You couldn’t get better than [Ryan] Gravenberch, [Alexis] Mac Allister and [Dominik] Szoboszlai.
“All of a sudden, you spend that money on Florian and you’ve got to play him really.
“They’ve tried to get him in, and then Szoboszlai has played at right back, and I just think the balance is off.
“[Ibrahima] Konate has made a few mistakes, which we didn’t see last year.
“I just think it’s a balance issue. They’ve got two new full-backs; the addition of Wirtz, [Alexander] Isak.
“You’ve got to think that they’ve got so many great players. It goes back to the Arsenal-[Mikel) Arteta thing; you’ve just got to get the balance right on the game.”
Danny Murphy, the former Liverpool midfielder who played alongside Hargreaves for England, disagrees, however.
Speaking talkSPORT, Murphy said: “Well, if you can’t see where he gets in the team, you’ve not been watching Liverpool. He gets in the team as a 10
“The reason they brought him in is because they don’t want a Szoboszlai-like player in that position. They want a more creative player, that’s why they brought him in.
“The fact he’s not doing it right now, people will go towards Szoboszlai as a selection because he gives them the athleticism and the tenacity because they think that’s what’s the proof.”