Carragher's Brutal Verdict on Florian Wirtz's Performance
Jamie Carragher did not bother with diplomacy at the Vitality Stadium. As Liverpool edged past Bournemouth 1-0, his focus on co-commentary for Sky Sports locked onto one man: Florian Wirtz.
“Wirtz has been really poor again,” he said during the first half. “It’s just nothing. Nothing is happening there at all.”
By full-time, his view had hardened, not softened.
Carragher’s brutal verdict: ‘This is just what he is’
On the Jamie Carragher Podcast after the game, the former Liverpool defender called it “one of the poorest” displays he has seen from Wirtz in a Liverpool shirt – and went much further than a simple bad-day-at-the-office assessment.
Carragher has long flagged the lack of goals and assists from the German, but he used to see enough to cling to.
“I’ve been critical of the fact that he hasn’t got the numbers,” he said. “But normally when you watch Wirtz, he’s neat and tidy, he keeps possession, there’s things that you like. He gets out of a tight situation where you’re normally expecting your player to lose the ball.”
That safety blanket has gone.
“The reason I worry is, I don’t think Wirtz is in poor form since he came to Liverpool. I actually think what we’re seeing is what he is.”
Carragher admitted the doubts have been simmering for a while. He traced them back a year, to a trip to Burnley where a late Mo Salah penalty pinched the points.
“When I was watching that game it was what I’ve seen for the last 12 months: I don’t see how he’s going to hurt you. It’s just neat and tidy. And in some way, the price tag for that type of player should be half of what Liverpool have paid.”
The numbers on the cheque and the numbers on the pitch are miles apart. That, for Carragher, is the crux.
“The worry for Wirtz now is that his performances so far, or what he’s given Liverpool, is so low. Where we were expecting him was to take Liverpool to another league title, to take Liverpool to a Champions League.
The gap he’s got to get to almost justify what people were expecting, I almost think is too big. You can’t get there. Even if he improves a bit and gets there, it’s still not what Liverpool thought they were getting.”
The knock-on effect: Szoboszlai out of position, balance out of shape
Carragher’s criticism did not stop at Wirtz’s own game. He pointed to the structural cost of persisting with him at No 10.
When Wirtz starts centrally, Dominik Szoboszlai drops deeper into midfield. Carragher is adamant that shift blunts Liverpool.
“When he plays at No 10, it means Dominik Szoboszlai has to play central midfield. I don’t think Szoboszlai is a central-midfield player, I don’t.”
So the question becomes bigger than one underperforming star. It becomes about what Liverpool are sacrificing to accommodate him.
‘He can’t be in the team for Man City’
The calendar now turns against Wirtz as well. After a three-week international break, Liverpool are thrown straight back into the fire: Manchester City at Anfield on October 11, live on Sky Sports. Around that fixture, there’s no let-up – Brentford, Brighton, Arsenal at the Emirates, Champions League ties with LASK and Villarreal, plus a Carabao Cup fourth-round meeting with Chelsea.
Carragher’s view is clear. That restart against City is not the stage for Wirtz.
“I think going forward Iraola’s got a decision to make here. Wirtz would not be in my Liverpool team,” he said.
He had earmarked Bournemouth away as a pivotal audition.
“I thought this Bournemouth game was a big game for Wirtz. Because if he doesn’t produce, he’s then going to have a three-week break. By the time we come back, we’re into October. Before you know it, it’ll be Christmas in six to eight weeks, or it’ll feel like we’re getting to Christmas. He has to do something!”
Then came the comparison that will sting. Carragher lined Wirtz up not against Europe’s elite, but against solid Premier League creators dotted around mid-table.
“If you go through the Premier League and think of players in his position – not just for the top teams, forget the top teams who we should be judging him against, I’m talking about normal Premier League players in the middle of the table – who have done more for their clubs.
“I think of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall at Everton. No one out there would say Dewsbury-Hall is a better player than Wirtz, or would go for more money than Wirtz, or would cost £120m. But every three or four weeks he scores a goal.
“I watched Morgan Gibbs-White for Nottingham Forest last week at Aston Villa, and in the second half he put in a performance in 45 minutes that Florian Wirtz has never done before for Liverpool.
“I’ve seen a goal Emiliano Buendia scored for Aston Villa at Tottenham. Again, these players aren’t going to get over £100m, or £120m, but they’re still giving their clubs bits every few weeks.”
That, for Carragher, is the damning contrast. Others with far smaller fees still deliver “bits” regularly. Wirtz, he argues, does not.
“Wirtz wouldn’t be in my Liverpool team. Manchester City at home, for me, he can’t be in the team.”
Iraola’s big calls – and the next one
One reason Carragher thinks this selection call is coming is Andoni Iraola himself. The new Liverpool manager has already shown he is not afraid to upset the hierarchy.
“The things I’ve liked so far about Iraola, he’s had the courage to make big decisions,” Carragher said. “Ryan Gravenberch has just signed a hefty contract on a five-year deal on massive money, because they thought him and Szoboszlai were going to be the future of the midfield going forward. He’s not playing.
“Now, I can imagine the guys at the top of the club looking at that, thinking we’ve just given him a hefty contract. But no, he’s not playing.
The full-back situation, he keeps changing the full-backs, he’s dropped Jeremie Frimpong straight away. Milos Kerkez has been in and out. So he’s made decisions.”
The logical next step, in Carragher’s eyes, is obvious.
“But sooner or later he’s going to have to make a decision on Florian Wirtz, and, for me, I hope it’s sooner. Not because I don’t like Florian Wirtz, I’m desperate for the kid to do well. I just want Liverpool to win. That’s it, basically.”
Klopp’s intervention: last hope for a misfiring star?
There is, however, one lifeline Carragher can see for Wirtz, and it lies away from Merseyside.
Jurgen Klopp, now in charge of Germany, has called up the Liverpool midfielder for the upcoming Nations League fixtures. Wirtz has been named in one of two separate Germany squads for this international window and will be rested before potentially featuring in Die Mannschaft’s final two games against Serbia and Greece.
“The one hope for Liverpool supporters now is Jurgen Klopp is the Germany manager,” Carragher said.
“Wirtz goes away with the Germany team for three weeks, and he’s obviously one of the best players in Germany, that’s how they see him. Can Jurgen Klopp sprinkle a bit of stardust on him in that position?
“Jurgen is one of the greatest managers in the world, we know that. And what he gets out of players is probably more than most managers because of the nature of his personality, and fingers crossed something can happen for him.”
The scenario is easy to picture. It is also exactly what Liverpool need.
“There’s a scenario there that Jurgen Klopp and Germany have a great international window, he gets loads of goals, assists and comes back on a high. Manchester City’s the next game, he impacts that, all is forgotten, all is forgiven. There’s a potential turnaround there.
“I would love that to happen, I’d love him to be the match-winner against Manchester City.”
That is the challenge now. Between Anfield and the Allianz, between Iraola and Klopp, someone has to unlock the version of Florian Wirtz that Liverpool thought they were buying – or accept, as Carragher fears, that this might simply be all there is.
