In their final match before the gigantic international break, Liverpool beat Bournemouth 1-0, with Alexander Isak the only scorer. This was the Cherries' first home defeat since 3 January, beaten only once in any competition during this period. However, based on the post-match discourse, you would have no idea that the Reds were victorious.
That's because, the spotlight was firmly shone on Florian Wirtz, and not in a good way. Speaking on Sky Sports following the match, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher was scathing in his assessment of the German midfield.
"Wirtz was really poor once again. There is simply nothing there. Absolutely nothing is happening. That was one of the worst performances I have ever seen from him in a Liverpool shirt. I think Iraola has to make a decision here in future. For me, he cannot be in this team."Jamie Carragher on Florian Wirtz
This has led to a huge debate among Liverpool supporters, many quick to agree with the 48 year old, while others have hit back, strongly defending Wirtz and his impact. One man who falls into the latter is Emile Heskey. The former striker spent four seasons at Liverpool, scoring 60 goals in 223 appearances, a key part of Gérard Houllier's cup treble wining side of 2001.
Well, in response to Carragher's comments, Heskey asserts that Wirtz is not solely to blame for his difficulties impacting games:
"The players are not on the same wavelength as him. He is a linking player. But for that, the others also have to make runs... I have seen it many times before, when players were fantastic there [in the Bundesliga] and then moved to the Premier League. Everyone thinks German and English football are similar, but the Premier League is a bit different."Emile Heskey on Florian Wirtz
Across his final two seasons at Bayer Leverkusen, Wirtz scored 34 goals and registered 35 assists in all competitions. He was the undisputed star of Xabi Alonso's side that won die Werkself's first-ever Meisterschale, going through the entire Bundesliga campaign unbeaten, also hoisting aloft the DFB-Pokal and reaching the Europa League Final.
However, since joining Liverpool for £116 million, across 55 appearances, the 23 year old has bagged only seven goals and 11 assists, not what anyone was expecting when he landed on Merseyside. Andoni Iraola has done everything he can to get the best out of Wirtz, deploying him in his favoured number ten role, but Carragher is right when he asserts he must improve, or be left out of the team.
For this international break, new Germany manager Jürgen Klopp, someone Liverpool fans may have heard of, has named two squads, one for the first two fixtures and the other for the last two games. Wirtz is in the latter, available to take on Serbia in Munich on 1 October and then Greece in Thessaloniki three days later. Thus, it will be interesting to see if Klopp can light a fire under him before Wirtz returns to Anfield.
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