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Florian Wirtz has "not been at the races", could Manchester United's visit shake him into life?
Ten games, no goals and just one assist. It has not been the most auspicious of starts to Florian Wirtz’s Liverpool career ahead of Sunday’s crunch clash with Manchester United.
The Germany international arrived on Merseyside in June from Bayer Leverkusen amid much fanfare after signing for a then club-record £116million fee.
Certainly his pedigree was undeniable, as a quick glance at his CV confirms.
Wirtz notched 57 goals in 197 Leverkusen appearances as a dynamic playmaker blessed with pace, awareness and the ability to make clever decisions at high speed.
He made his Liverpool debut against Crystal Palace in the Community Shield and needed just four minutes to help create the space for Hugo Ekitike to score the opener at Wembley.
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A sign of things to come?
Not quite. Not yet, anyway, as with two months of the season gone, Arne Slot is still waiting for Wirtz to ignite. He's not the only one.
It might be slightly harsh to say that Wirtz has done next to nothing for Liverpool since then – but it wouldn’t be too far wide of the mark.
Michael Owen, once a Liverpool favourite who won a Premier League title with their hated rivals United in 2010-11, spoke exclusively to DAZN News via casino.co.uk about the 22-year-old’s early-season struggles ahead of Sunday’s huge clash at Anfield.
“There’s no denying that he hasn't set the world alight in a short period of time so far, which is obviously a little bit frustrating,” said the ex-England striker.
“In the grand scheme of things, it's only been half a dozen games. In a full career, it could be a decade of playing the game.
“There are that many pundits and critics in today’s world who want to be the first to say that he’s not playing well; we could have seen that after the first game of the season.
“He played OK in the Community Shield, but since then he’s not really been at the races.
“The only people being critical of him, can’t have watched too much of him in Germany.
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“If you watched him there, you’d realise that you’re watching one of the world's most technically gifted footballers; a serious, serious talent.”
Owen is referring to the kind of form which earned Wirtz a reputation one of the Bundesliga’s top performers as a number 10, having made his top-flight debut aged 17 for Leverkusen in May 2020.
Just 19 days later, Wirtz became the then-youngest goalscorer in Bundesliga history against Bayern Munich, who were also in the market to sign him this summer.
In addition to his goalscoring efforts, Wirtz provided 44 assists in the Bundesliga since he made his debut – but there has been no return like that since joining Liverpool.
He was also dropped for the 2-1 Merseyside derby victory over Everton at Anfield on September 20 and again for the 2-1 defeat at Chelsea last time out.
“Obviously, I'm not sitting here saying he's playing well,” conceded Owen.
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“He's not playing well. Hence, he's been left out for the two tough games in recent weeks.
“The Merseyside Derby would be a game that you're really looking at thinking, which players should I pick here for this contest specifically?
“Of course, then he was on the bench at Chelsea, which will have hurt him a bit.
“That will also hurt the manager a bit, because I'm sure that he wanted to piece him in to the starting XI for a game like that.”
But timing is all in professional sport and perhaps Sunday’s visit of United can be the game where Wirtz really springs to life.
He certainly has the talent and his record in Germany suggests he has the desire too.
Now he has to go and show it – consistently – as Liverpool bid to get their season back on track after three straight defeats.
There could be no better occasion for Wirtz to kickstart his career than producing a big performance to help inspire the Premier League champions to victory over their old adversaries.
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