Troy Deeney has been rather critical of Liverpool this season.
Although things haven’t gone to plan at Anfield over the last few weeks, that doesn’t mean that the Reds’ players have just lost their quality overnight.
In fact, Deeney has already said this season that Mohamed Salah is no longer world-class, which shows how harsh he’s being on Arne Slot’s men at the moment.
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Things could certainly be better in L4, but on the face of things, the Anfield outfit are still second in the Premier League table and are just one point behind first-placed Arsenal.
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Florian Wirtz is one of Liverpool’s main players who has underperformed this season, with Deeney now sharing what he thinks needs to happen for Liverpool to get the best out of their playmaker.
Troy Deeney doesn’t think Liverpool get the ball to Florian Wirtz quickly enough
Wirtz may have only contributed to one goal this season, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been creating chances.
The German has actually been one of Liverpool’s most creative players, with his teammates the ones often letting him down.
Of course, he’s not yet reached the levels he showed for Bayer Leverkusen last season, but once things click at Anfield, it’s likely to be over for the rest of the Premier League.
And now, while speaking live on talkSPORT, Deeney has shared what he thinks needs to happen if Liverpool want Wirtz to get into form.
“I just think when I’m looking at Wirtz, I think they don’t get the ball to him quick enough,” he said.
“Liverpool, now that they’re trying to have a build-up of the pattern of the play.
“That’s nice, but he gets into some lovely areas and they’ve just got to keep firing the ball and get him on the half turn of driving forward.”
Arne Slot needs his players to start getting back to their best soon
Across all competitions this season, Liverpool have already lost four games.
Two have come against Crystal Palace, one against Galatasaray and the other against Chelsea.
Although one particular area of Slot’s team isn’t solely to blame for all of these defeats, it feels like each one could do with improving.
Defensively, Ibrahima Konate and Milos Kerkez have been calamitous, with both making several mistakes which have cost Liverpool valuable points.
The midfield has arguably been the Reds’ best area of their first-team squad, with the likes of Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai some of Slot’s best players this term.
As mentioned, however, Wirtz is yet to show why Liverpool spent £116 million on him, which is far from ideal.
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Similarly, some of Liverpool’s attackers have done well, but Salah, Gakpo, and even Alexander Isak have all underperformed.
Sunday’s game against Manchester United will be a massive test for Liverpool and will show whether they’ve learnt anything while away representing their countries.