Liverpool Jamie Carragher has urged manager Andoni Iraola to make a decision on the sacking of Florian Wirtz, describing the German striker’s performance against Bournemouth as the club’s poorest.
Wirtz has struggled to live up to the hype following his £100million move from Bayer Leverkusen last summer, with his displays attracting constant criticism.
The 23-year-old has seven goals and nine assists in 55 games for the Reds, his only official goal involvement this season coming in a 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest.
For PhotoMobWirtz created three chances in Sunday’s 1-0 win at Bournemouth, which was secured by a second-half goal from Alexander Isak.
Wirtz was part of the set-up play for that goal, failing to get on the end of Cody Gakpo’s right-footed cross at the near post before Isak tapped home.
Nine chances are attributed to him created in the Premier Leaguewith only Dominik Szobszlai and Gakpo ahead of him among Liverpool players in that regard.
But Carragher wasn’t overly impressed with Wirtz, and believes it’s time for Iraola to seriously consider his position in the team.
“That was one of the poorest I’ve ever seen him in a Liverpool shirt,” Carragher said on ‘The Jamie Carragher podcast’.
“I’ve been critical of him not having the numbers. But usually when you watch Wirtz, he’s clean and tidy, he keeps possession, there’s things you like. He comes out of a tough situation where you normally expect your player to lose the ball.
“But the reason I’m concerned is that I don’t think Wirtz is in bad form since he arrived at Liverpool. In fact, I think what we’re seeing is what it is.
“And I was worried about Wirtz probably 12 months ago. And maybe it was a little early to say it, but I didn’t say it. It was just in the back of my head.
“I commented about Liverpool away at Burnley and Liverpool won with a late penalty from Mo Salah. And when I was watching that game it was what I’ve seen in the last 12 months – I can’t see how it’s going to hurt you. It’s neat and tidy. And somehow the price for that kind of player should be half what Liverpool have paid.
“The concern for Wirtz now is that his performances so far, or what he has given Liverpool, are so low. Where we expected Liverpool to take another league title, to take Liverpool to a Champions League.
“The gap he has to get to justify almost what people expected, I almost think it’s too big. You can’t get there. Even if he gets a little bit better and gets there, it’s still not what Liverpool thought they were getting.”
Carragher: Iraola has a decision to make
Carragher made a series of damning comparisons with similar players at other clubs, with the former Liverpool centre-back adamant that Wirtz is not playing at a high enough level to warrant selection when they face Manchester City on October 11 after the three-week international break.
“I think from now on Iraola has a decision to make here. Wirtz would not be in my Liverpool team,” added Carragher.
“I thought that Bournemouth game was a big game for Wirtz. Because if he doesn’t produce (against Bournemouth), he’s going to have a three-week break. When we come back, it’s October. Before you know it, it’ll be Christmas in six or eight weeks, or it’ll look like Christmas. He’s got to do something!
“If you go around the Premier League and think about players in his position, not just for the top teams, forget the top teams we should be judging him against, I’m talking about normal mid-table Premier League players who have done more for their clubs.
“I think of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall at Everton. Nobody would say Dewsbury-Hall is a better player than Wirtz, that he would go for more money than Wirtz or cost £120m. But every three or four weeks he scores a goal.
“I saw 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 had never done before for Liverpool.
“I saw a goal that Emiliano Buendia scored for Aston Villa at Tottenham. Again, these players won’t earn more than £100m or £120m but they’re still giving their clubs pieces every few weeks.
“Wirtz wouldn’t be in my Liverpool team. Manchester City at home, for me, can’t be in the team.”
Carragher has been impressed with the ruthlessness Iraola has shown during his short tenure at Liverpool in ditching other big-name players and has indicated he wants him to replicate that with Wirtz.
“The things I’ve liked about Iraola so far, he’s had the courage to make big decisions,” explained Carragher. “Ryan Gravenberch just signed a massive five-year contract with massive money, because they thought he and Szoboszlai were going to be the future of midfield going forward. He’s not playing.
“Now, I can imagine the guys at the top of the club looking at this, thinking we’ve just given him a big contract, but no, he’s not playing.
“The full-back situation, he keeps changing full-backs, he’s left Jeremie Frimpong straight away. Milos Kerkez has been in and out. So he’s made decisions.
“But sooner or later he’s going to have to make a decision about 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 basically it.”
Can Klopp sprinkle stardust on Wirtz?
However, Carragher sees potential salvation for Wirtz during the international window, when he will work with former Liverpool manager and new Germany boss Jurgen Klopp.
“The only hope for Liverpool fans now is that Jurgen Klopp is Germany manager,” Carragher said.
“Wirtz is going with the German team for three weeks, and he’s clearly one of the best players in Germany, that’s how they see him. Can Jurgen Klopp sprinkle some stardust on him in that position?
“Jurgen is one of the best managers in the world, we know that. And what he gets out of the players is probably more than most managers because of the nature of his personality, and fingers crossed something can happen for him.
“There is a scenario that Jurgen Klopp and Germany have a big international window, he scores a lot of goals, assists and returns to a high. Manchester City is the next game, he makes an impact, everything is forgotten, everything is forgiven. There is a potential change there.”
“I’d like that to happen, I’d love it to be the match-winner against Manchester City.”
