Florian Wirtz has had a slow start to life at Liverpool after his big-money move to Anfield from Bayer Leverkusen, with one of his international team-mates taking up his place in defence.
Newcastle star Nick Waltemmed has slammed criticism of Florian Wirtz as “ridiculous” after the midfielder got off to a slow start at Liverpool. The midfielder joined the Reds from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer for £116m.
However, the 22-year-old is yet to live up to expectations as a Liverpool player. He has four assists in all competitions, one of them in the Premier League.
He thought he had finally scored his first goal for the Reds against Sunderland, but his shot was ultimately ruled an own goal by Nordi Mukiele. Newcastle’s Germany star Waltemmed has hit out at the criticism Wirtz has received in the past.
In an interview with German outlet Stern, he slammed his critics as “ridiculous”, adding: “This is a pseudo-argument. Anyone who has some understanding of football can see what a great skill he has. Flo will also be successful in the Premier League.”
Unlike Wirtz, his German team-mate Wolltemade made a quick start as a Newcastle player, having arrived from Stuttgart for £69 million. The 23-year-old has made 18 appearances in all competitions for Newcastle, scoring seven goals.
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While Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk made similar comments, Voltemede had glowing words about Wirtz. The Dutchman recently told his manager to ignore the critics and focus on his own performance.
“There are good reasons why a club like us bought him. He is an outstanding, world-class player in my eyes and he can only get better, but it will take some time. For him, he has to stay calm, not get too high and not too low.”
“In very good times and very bad, don’t let the outside world drag you down, don’t let the numbers game drag you down.
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“Right now there’s a lot of focus on whether you’ve scored a goal or an assist or a clean sheet, but it’s also about what you see and how you’re contributing to the team. It’s not just the numbers, it’s the tangible things, and sometimes that’s the focus. He was involved in the equalizer, but he did a lot of other good things as well in the last game (against West Ham).”
Wirtz continues his quest for his first Liverpool goal this weekend. The Reds travel to Leeds United on Saturday afternoon. Daniel Farke’s side come into the game fresh off a 3-1 win over Chelsea at Elland Road.
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