\nAh, good to see you again, Mr. Wirtz, we\u2019ve missed you!<\/p>\n
For weeks it wasn\u2019t even clear whether it was Florian Wirtz or a bewildered doppelganger on the pitch in Liverpool and the national team.<\/p>\n
In Leipzig, the original was back: technique, turns, crosses, passes, two beautiful assists before Leroy Sane\u2019s goals \u2013 everything was back to normal, just like the player who cost a fortune this summer.<\/p>\n
He even provided arguments for being named Man of the Match without scoring himself. If Julian Nagelsmann wants to achieve his goal (the title) at the World Cup, he needs exactly this Wirtz.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
BILD<\/strong> dished out a grade 1 rating for Wirtz\u2019s performance, which is their highest possible rating.<\/p>\n\nJust like Sane, he had a few misjudged passes at the start.<\/p>\n
But then that dream pass before the 3-0 \u2013 that was finally the old Leverkusen Wirtz again! A magical move! And because it worked so well, the two of them did it again a few minutes later.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Sport 1<\/strong> called Wirtz\u2019s display \u2018perfect\u2019, noting his defensive contributions as Germany kept a clean sheet.<\/p>\n\nHe was brimming with enthusiasm. He was the creative force in the German attack. He was everywhere on the pitch, orchestrating many of the German team\u2019s attacks and shining as a provider of assists.<\/p>\n
Before the 3-0 goal, he played a monster pass from his own half to Sane, who was through on goal and slotted the ball past (Martin) Dubravka to make it 3-0. Later, he first won the ball back on the touchline and then delivered a perfect cross to Sane, who finished off Germany\u2019s fourth goal.<\/p>\n
In the second half, he made several good defensive interceptions. He received thunderous applause when he was substituted (77th minute) \u2013 for his selfless dedication to the team, he deserves a perfect score.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
SPIGEL Sport<\/strong> may well have put it best as Wirtz appeared to play without a weight on his shoulders.<\/p>\n\nHe seemed relieved of a weight. As if he had remembered what an outstanding attacking player he truly is. Liverpool and the difficult first weeks after his transfer suddenly seemed a world away.<\/p>\n
Wirtz dissected the Slovakian defense with a pass that led to Sane\u2019s 3-0 goal. He also set up Sane\u2019s 4-0 with a ball recovery and a perfectly placed cross.<\/p>\n
As he left the pitch, the Leipzig fans rose to their feet.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Wirtz\u2019s lack of confidence was clear to\u00a090 Plus\u00a0<\/strong>before he grew into the game against Slovakia.<\/p>\n\nThe Liverpool star\u2019s current crisis at the club was evident; he didn\u2019t initially exude much confidence.<\/p>\n
However, he improved steadily and played a crucial role in the 4-0 halftime lead with two excellent assists for Sane (36th, 41st minute). He was hard-working defensively and deserved a goal of his own.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung<\/strong>, meanwhile, said:<\/p>\n\nFor Wirtz, struggling at Liverpool, and Sane, returning to the German national team, this half-time match was balm for the soul after many debates in recent weeks.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u2018Unplayable\u2019 Wirtz shows Liverpool \u2018what they\u2019ve been yearning for\u2019<\/p>\n
There was also high praise from Goal<\/strong>, who named Wirtz as their MVP for Germany in their 6-0 win.<\/p>\n\nHaving struggled at club level and come in for criticism\u00a0for a series of sub-par displays following his Liverpool move,\u00a0Florian Wirtz\u00a0showcased just why the Reds spent big to secure his services over the summer.<\/p>\n
Wirtz was a creative force in Leipzig as he tore the Slovakia backline to shreds, linking up superbly with Leroy Sane on the opposite flank. Liverpool fans will be hoping he can transfer this flying Germany form to club level when domestic duties return this weekend.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
And because you\u2019re obviously desperate to know what Shaka Hislop<\/strong> made of Wirtz\u2019s performance\u2026<\/p>\n\n\u201cFlorian Wirtz I thought was outstanding. The player from Leverkusen that Liverpool have been yearning for him to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cComes into this game, and just dictates so much about Germany\u2019s creative play. Those passes from midfield, the runs from the left hand side \u2013 this was Florian Wirtz at his comfortable best.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of times when you\u2019re with your club and struggling, international duty is a welcome departure, when you can go and be among players that you know and feel a whole lot relaxed.<\/p>\n
\u201cRegarding this game, I\u2019m not sure how relaxed everyone could be [considering what was at stake for Germany], but once they got the opening goal, everybody just seemed to settle down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought Wirtz was unplayable, certainly unreadable, in terms of his passing from deep, or getting on the ball. That\u2019s the Florian Wirtz that everybody has been yearning for.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florian Wirtz has finally shown Liverpool fans why the Reds paid \u00a3100million to sign him from Bayer Leverkusen.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":578324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5310],"tags":[2000,299,2912,163,1824,225,179,12,101,10031],"class_list":{"0":"post-578323","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-germany","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-florian-wirtz","11":"tag-front-page","12":"tag-germany","13":"tag-home-page","14":"tag-liverpool","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-premier-league","17":"tag-soccer"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115570869733230531","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}