Florian Wirtz has struggled to find his best form for Liverpool since his big-money move from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, but Danny Murphy has spoken about his time at Anfield so far.
Danny Murphy has revealed why he hasn’t been at his best for Liverpool since Florian Wertz’s big-money move. The Reds spent £100m plus £16m in add-ons to sign Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer.
Despite setting up Hugo Ekitike’s opening goal in the Community Shield match against Crystal Palace more than two months ago, Wirtz has neither scored nor provided an assist since. His performances as a number 10 and as a winger caused debate among fans and pundits alike.
Former Liverpool star Murphy said in an interview with Wetbassis: “Speaking about Wirtz, one week he’s playing with Ekitike and the other week he’s playing with Isak. The wide players don’t change on the right, but on the left it changes a little bit.”
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“He’s also been putting together midfield partnerships behind him. And when you’re a number 10, you start building relationships with the midfielders. Who can give me the ball early, who can give me the ball early, who can I trust and rely on? Let’s say we talk about Wirtz, for example.”
“So he has to adapt quickly and adapt to the incredible physicality of playing for Newcastle or playing against Arsenal, two very physical teams.
“On top of that, he has to adapt to the expectations and pressures of the supporters and the media about what he should do.
“I’ve seen enough of Wirtz’s bright moments to not worry. His talent, vision and skillset are something we can all see.”
“I think his biggest problem is adapting to the speed of the Premier League. I know from personal experience that that only comes by playing. It’s about getting your mind and body used to it.”
Wirtz, who will represent Germany against Northern Ireland on Monday night, has created more chances than any other player in the squad.
Murphy continued, “I don’t think it’s a tactical or positional issue. I think he’s found himself in great positions many times.”
“Statistics revealed on the eve of the weekend’s games show he has created more chances than anyone else in all competitions.
“If you watch the Chelsea game, we don’t talk positively about Wirtz or positively about Liverpool, but when he came on his first touch was an unbelievable pass to[Mohamed]Salah. Nine times out of 10, Salah converted it.”
“If he had done that, Liverpool might have won the game and we would have been talking about how good Wirtz was. Against Everton, he put it on the table for Salah, who missed, and (Jeremy) Frimpong, who was a breath of fresh air.”
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