Liverpool’s £116 million signature Florian Wiltz endured a nightmare night as Germany collided with a shocking 2-0 defeat against Slovakia in the FIFA World Cup qualifying opener on Thursday night. The four-time world champion was hit with Bratislava after receiving a Shockros.
As the midfielder continues to adapt following his blockbuster work from Bayer Leverkusen, Wirtz was still searching for his first goal in the international break in September or supporting three Premier League outings. Sadly, for the new Reds star, he couldn’t even turn his fate back on even the more familiar circumstances.
Germany was forced to take part in the World Cup qualifiers after failing to win the UEFA Nations League on his home grass this summer, and Slovakia is now turning back their qualifying losses. Here’s how German media evaluated the midfielder exhibit…
In a work entitled “Superstar Crisis,” Sportsbuilder Yannick Hoover and Paul Grottenburg reported:
“The moment from the match completely encapsulates Wirtz’s struggle: 41 minutes at Bratislava: he loses ownership in half his opponent. Instead of chasing, Wirtz stands up to Ondrej Duda!
“Since his prominent transfer to Liverpool, things have not been a smooth voyage. Wirtz didn’t shine on both the club and international level. He was expected to lead the attack in Jamal Musiala’s absence (broken leg), but against Slovakia he was in fact invisible.
“He poses a threat in 13 and 32 minutes. Otherwise, the 140 million euro man would have had little effect.
“His performance at Liverpool was also inactive. In the Premier League, Wirtz often appears to be restrained and not fully integrated yet. Against Arsenal, he became a fool after 88 minutes with his ‘hard legs’. There’s still room for improvement, but he’s heading in the right direction.
“Now fans are hoping Wirtz will make his mark with Liverpool and with the Defenders. Ideally this Sunday will be in Cologne’s World Cup qualifiers against Northern Ireland.”
Writer Peter Ahrens, writing for Der Spiegel, commented: “If he wasn’t there, I can’t think of it.
“He dribbling, proceeding towards the Slovak penalty area and was involved in almost every dangerous situation, many of which weren’t that many.
SZ reporter Claudio Catuogno said:
“He then ran around the corner of the slalom once with a few enemies, like Felix Neureucher, and continued to swirl until the judge blew his whis for something.
“He couldn’t get into the space his teammates had expected him to be. He was pushing two slove kings in front of a disco and slamming them into the trash can like a teenager, so he missed the ball 0-1. What…recognized?
“The day before the match, the national coach was asked if Wertz could expect generosity as he had to readjust the game after his move from Leverkusen to Liverpool. No, “He is one of our most important players and he should play,” replied Nagelsmann. But he didn’t. ”
