Florian Wirtz is yet to score for Liverpool since making a £116million transfer from Bayer Leverkusen and Thierry Henry has offered a compelling theory as to why he’s stuggled
Florian Wirtz was always going to be fighting an uphill battle when he joined Liverpool because his experiences in Germany didn’t prepare him for the Premier League. That’s the opinion of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry who has offered a thoughtful theory on the £116million summer signing’s struggles.
Wirtz has yet to make an impact since joining Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, with just three assists in 16 games so far. The Germany international arrived with a stellar reputation after two incredible campaigns in the Bundesliga for Leverkusen, but that hasn’t translated into consistency at his new club.
Gary Neville has been among those to criticise Wirtz, brutally describing him as being “like a little boy” in Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat by Manchester City before the international break. Arne Slot has failed to find the best position for the playmaker in his 4-3-3 formation while a minor injury saw him miss the 3-0 defeat by Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Speaking on Sky Sports ahead of Arsenal’s 4-1 thrashing of Tottenham on Sunday, Henry explained his thoughts on the difference between the Premier League and the Bundesliga and why that perhaps explains Wirtz’s issues.
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“It’s not easy to arrive in a team and perform straight away, as we can see with Florian Wirtz at Liverpool. But I always have a question mark over people who perform in Germany. That’s only me,” he said.
“I’m not saying they won’t perform in another league, I’m just saying because of the way the league is there, really stretched, if you can run well you’re going to have a lot of opportunities, goals and assists. People can run with you in this league, so it’s very difficult.”
Henry also believes that the prevailing tactical trends in elite football don’t suit players like Wirtz, who are at their best when given space to roam and create. “If we talk about creating… do you think that managers now are letting their players dribble? Or do they want to control everything to make sure they don’t get countered?” he explained.
“Playing a low block all the time means it is not always easy to create. Look at Arsenal: we don’t always create a lot of opportunities. We score a lot of set pieces… You’re going to create a lot less than we used to be able to do in our time, because teams are playing low and they don’t try to bite or come out, so the spaces are tight.
“And if you don’t allow people to dribble and make mistakes – like I always said, the reward is in the risk – then where are you going? You’re not going to have the stats of creating, and if you don’t take your chances when you do then you’re in trouble.”
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