Wirtz Hasn’t Started As Well As Many Expected – Danny Murphy

Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has set a goals and assists target for Florian Wirtz that would justify his £116 million ($156m) transfer fee. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.

According to him, if Wirtz intends to play the majority of the season as a 10, he has to be prepared to deliver double figures for assists and goals in his first season.

He added that even though the German has been quite unfortunate this term, he still hasn’t started as well as many anticipated.

His words, “It’s a difficult one because I think if Liverpool win the Champions League or win the league, his numbers become less relevant and the microscope on them becomes less because there has been collective success.

If he is going to play the majority of the season as a 10 then you have got to be looking at, ideally, double figures for assists and goals – that would be a success. I think he has been a tad unfortunate in some ways, although you have to accept that he hasn’t started as well as we anticipated.

I think he has been a bit unlucky because he has made a lot of chances that haven’t been converted. Sometimes if some of those go your way – [Mohamed] Salah missed a sitter against Everton, [Jeremie] Frimpong missed a sitter, a couple at Galatasaray, the beautiful flick at Chelsea that Salah mis-hit on his right foot. All of a sudden the narrative changes a little bit if a few of those go in, or it’s not as intense.

I have seen so much to like about him, you can see his class and intelligence and his vision. I think he has been a little bit surprised by the physicality of the league and how intense and difficult that is, every game. In the Bundesliga you probably had more games where they were in control of the ball and not being up against so much intensity. You think of the Newcastle away game, for example, the power of Arsenal – every game you play in the Premier League is physically difficult. That’s probably the area where he has adapted the most.

I’ve got no concerns about him – the quality, it’s there for all to see.

It’s also difficult, although they spent a lot of money on him and he’s expected to do well, the reality is when you are a young lad coming into a club the size of Liverpool and you have not experienced that expectation before, it can be a bit intimidating. I have seen it many times. None of the signings that Liverpool have made have come from an equal club of stature and size, so what you are asking them to do is not only adapt to what [Arne] Slot wants, you are asking them to adapt to this huge expectation and focus on you individually. He will have never dealt with that before, Wirtz, to this level.

I think it is just a bit of adaptation time. I like him. He just needs a little bit longer and a little bit more experience in this league to really show his true self. There have been moments. The last game against Chelsea, that first assist for Salah, not many players are capable of that kind of vision and technical ability. I’m excited to see him. Yes, there is criticism inevitably, any player on the planet that goes for 100 million-plus, if you don’t start scoring and making assists then you are going to get criticised. He is going to have to deal with that.”

WOW.

Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has played its home games at Anfield since its formation.

Domestically, the club has won 19 league titles, eight FA Cups, a record nine League Cups and 16 FA Community Shields. In international competitions, the club has won six European Cups, three UEFA Cups, four UEFA Super Cups—all English records—and one FIFA Club World Cup.

The club established itself as a major force in domestic and European football in the 1970s and 1980s, when Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish, led the club to a combined 11 League titles and four European Cups. Liverpool won two further European Cups in 2005 and 2019 under the management of Rafael Benítez and Jürgen Klopp, respectively; the latter led Liverpool to a 19th league title in 2020, the club’s first during the Premier League era.

Anfield was built in 1884 on land adjacent to Stanley Park. Situated 2 miles (3 km) from Liverpool city centre, it was originally used by Everton before the club moved to Goodison Park after a dispute over rent with Anfield owner John Houlding. Left with an empty ground, Houlding founded Liverpool in 1892 and the club has played at Anfield ever since. The capacity of the stadium at the time was 20,000, although only 100 spectators attended Liverpool’s first match at Anfield.