Germany supervisor Julian Nagelsmann and former Liverpool supervisor Jürgen Klopp each defended Florian Wirtz’s underwhelming begin to Premier League life.
Wirtz joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen in a then-club document £116 million ($154m) deal in the summertime.
Since transferring to Anfield, Wirtz has struggled to command video games in the identical approach he did at Leverkusen, the place he starred throughout an unbeaten Bundesliga-winning season underneath Xabi Alonso.
The German midfielder was dropped to the bench by Arne Slot for Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Chelsea earlier than the worldwide break.
Regardless of his tough begin to life at Anfield, Wirtz has remained a mainstay in Nagelsmann’s Germany squad and scored a surprising free-kick within the win over Northern Eire in September, in addition to full 90 minutes within the 4-0 win over Luxembourg.
Nagelsmann instructed Sport 1: “Regardless that he hasn’t scored any objectives, he’s nonetheless the participant who creates essentially the most probabilities within the Premier League.
“It isn’t his fault if his team-mates do not convert them, and the statistics do not even inform the entire story.
“Wirtz must get used to the league. I noticed him taking part in with complete freedom. He is aware of what he is able to and the way issues work.
“He hasn’t at all times had it straightforward — he’ll should work arduous now too.”
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Klopp, who managed Liverpool between 2015 and 2024, additionally leapt to Wirtz’s defence.
Liverpool headed into the worldwide break off the again of three consecutive defeats — to Crystal Palace and Chelsea within the Premier League and to Galatasaray within the Champions League.
Klopp believes it’s these defeats which have amplified the scrutiny on Wirtz and that the whole lot will work out in the long run.
He instructed n-tv: “His high quality is so excellent, the discussions are a bit exaggerated.
“Liverpool simply misplaced three video games in a row, which is uncommon.
“However that is additionally regular in life and that is why such issues are mentioned there.
“[Wirtz is] a once-in-a-century expertise, and in some unspecified time in the future he’ll present that in each sport once more — simply as he did at Leverkusen.”
Liverpool resume Premier League motion towards Manchester United on Sunday afternoon, in a sport Wirtz shall be determined to show Nagelsmann and Klopp proper and lightweight up the Premier League stage.
