Liverpool’s Florian Wirths was below par again in the defeat to Manchester City, with Gary Neville insisting the German playmaker is a big problem that needs to be addressed
Gary Neville has admitted it’s time to stop “tiptoing around” after a critic confessed that Florian Wirtz had “looked like a little boy” after the player’s below-average performance.
The player, who joined in the summer, was at one point the biggest player in English history, but has struggled to make an impact since moving to Anfield for a whopping £116m. Wirtz moved to Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen with great acclaim, but he has yet to show the same form as he did in Germany.
The 22-year-old is yet to score or assist in the Premier League and lacked influence as a number 10, prompting manager Arne Slott to move him into a wider role. This change did not improve his fortunes and he struggled for influence as the Reds were tormented by Manchester City.
Neville admitted that Wirtz’s age and lack of experience in England meant that the heavy criticism had fallen on him, but admitted it was time to admit the German was a challenge for the Reds after another uphill battle.
He said on the Gary Neville Podcast: “Wirtz is a problem. Let’s just say it, it’s a problem. He’s over £100 million. To be fair, a few weeks ago I said (Milos) Kerkes looked like a little boy down there, but today I thought Wirtz looked like a little boy. That can’t be true.”
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“We’ve been tiptoeing around him for the last few months, mainly around the fact that he’s young, coming to a new country, but he’s over £100 million. He’s got to get back on his feet quickly. He’s obviously got something, he’s really good. He’s a good player, technically great, but today he was beaten there by Matheus Nunez and others. He was thrown around the pitch and didn’t get results.”I was really worried about his performance, as well in terms of quality. ”
Werts was part of a huge summer investment at Anfield that ended with the arrival of Alexander Isaac breaking the English transfer record for the second time, but he also struggled to maintain his form early in his Reds career.
Neville insists that given the money Slott has spent on Wirths, negotiations need to continue with him and that the Liverpool manager is looking to shuffle his front line to find a winning formula.
“He’s a German international of great standing, but he looks quite short for what you would expect from a top-level physical game in the Premier League,” Neville added.
“They’ve got to get him up to speed, they’ve got to instill a little bit of tenacity in him and they’ve got to give him a little bit of something that means he starts to get back into shape, because what they have to do is stick with him and continue to be persistent.”
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