Copyright Teamtalk.com
Florian Wirtz has been reduced to a bench role at Liverpool and his late cameo against Aston Villa painted a sorry picture of where the big summer signing is at right now – but how does he get back into this team? Liverpool‘s lineup for their Premier League clash with Aston Villa was more recognisable than the XI Arne Slot sent out against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday. In fact, it almost looked like a Liverpool lineup from last season, with just Giorgi Mamardashvili and Hugo Ekitike added into the mix at the top and tail of the 4-2-3-1 formation. Among the substitutes were a couple of Liverpool’s other major signings from the summer, Milos Kerkez and Florian Wirtz. For Wirtz, it was the third out of four Premier League games in which he has been on the bench at the beginning. Considering he was rested against Palace, it came as a surprise. When the lineups were announced, several prominent Liverpool accounts on X were puzzled. “So we rested Wirtz completely on Wednesday and started Mac Allister, who looked rubbish (and has all season). Now we start Mac Allister again today when he clearly needs time out of the team and bench Wirtz. Completely makes sense that,” wrote LFC Laurie. “Florian Wirtz benched again for the same midfield that didn’t work against United or Chelsea. I just don’t get it. How is he meant to shine if he can’t get in our starting 11?” pondered SamuelLFC. “Wirtz not starting is outrageous btw,” complained LFC Transfer Room. “How’s Wirtz meant to get used to the Premier League if he doesn’t start games?” posed lfccxt. Should Wirtz be starting for Liverpool? It’s a big dilemma Slot has to deal with at the moment. Put simply, Wirtz isn’t contributing to the level Liverpool want in the Premier League so far. One of the many questions the head coach has to address is whether it’s best to take Wirtz out of the team – which was deemed to be the best advice a few weeks ago, supported by the likes of Jamie Carragher, to take the heat off – or to give him a run of games to build his confidence up. Neither method seems to be working at the moment. Liverpool’s starting midfield against Villa was the tried-and-trusted combination they usually leaned on last season, consisting of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai. Mac Allister and Gravenberch combined for their second goal, with the former passing to the latter, whose shot went in via a Pau Torres deflection. And in general play, Szoboszlai – the player most threatened by Wirtz’s summer arrival at first glance – produced plenty of quality passes, earning the player of the match award from TNT Sports. Wirtz eventually came on in the 77th minute, replacing centre-forward Hugo Ekitike and effectively taking over as a false nine, but realistically acting as an additional attacking midfielder. A few minutes later, he played the ball into touch with a misaimed pass. It wasn’t the kind of thing he needs to be doing to force his way back into Slot’s plans. That kind of language itself is worrying. Wirtz cost Liverpool more than £100m, becoming their record signing until they added Alexander Isak for even more money. On paper, Liverpool would have never been expecting him to have to force his way into the team. But that’s where Wirtz finds himself now and he needs to change the narrative sooner rather than later with his performances. But how? Where will Wirtz break in? Presuming Slot wants to stick with the 4-2-3-1 shape, in which Wirtz would be best as the central attacking midfielder, he may now be wondering what he’ll need to do to cement his place. The Villa clash was the fifth occasion this season that Gravenberch, Mac Allister and Szoboszlai have started together. Only in one of those games (against Crystal Palace in September) was Wirtz a starter too, stationed on the left wing. Interestingly, it was whilst playing as a winger – on the right – that Wirtz put in his best performance as a Liverpool player, in the Champions League win over Eintracht Frankfurt in which he recorded a double assist. It’s no guarantee that Liverpool will always go with their three midfielders from last season, especially given those aforementioned concerns over Mac Allister’s performance levels this season, but if they do, then Wirtz may have to push for more minutes on the wing. Mohamed Salah shook off his recent demons to score the opening goal from the right wing, with a first-time finish after intercepting an Emiliano Martinez pass. Thus, it would likely be the left-hand side from which Wirtz would have to start competing, where Cody Gakpo is the player to dislodge. Alternatively, Wirtz will be pushing for a run of games in his preferred no.10 position, with Szoboszlai – who has done a job wherever he has played this season – adapting his role. But the German will have to justify that by getting more involved – and sharpish. Even with the rot stopped of Liverpool’s losing run, the Wirtz problem is a headache that isn’t going away.
