English? Dijon? American?
Right now he’s American. No texture or heat about him. Overall just disappointing.
Florian and the (Slot) Machine
- Thread starter MomoWASright
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Right now he’s American. No texture or heat about him. Overall just disappointing.
So what? They were defo asking it as the season went on and his stellar performances weren't building up his goal tally. And I say that as possibly his biggest fan on here.
Well Wirtz doesn’t have a good competitive performance, goal or assist to his save him yet. A decent second 45 against doesn’t change that. Hopefully he destroys Burnley.
I don’t think Coutinho was great from the start. He struggled with the pace and physicality for a good while. He made some things happen, but also gave the ball away loads of times.
The difference is that we paid relative peanuts for him, so was given more time.
He scored on his full debut and generally performed well from the start.
Not in the slightest fair to me TBO. He's a young lad 22, living overseas for the first time and trying to integrate into a new team with a new style of play. I'm sure he's dealing with a lot more than just football and maybe trying too hard to impress.
Yes there are some playing the 'not worth the money not up to the hype ' card already, talk about knee jerk after 4 games, that's pathetic IMHO.
Could he be Naby Keita mk2? Possibly. But the time to suggest he may not work out would be end of the season at the earliest. And even then ...
I don't think we need to start even considering the possibility he goes as useless as Naby fucking Keita. The only way they would be possible is if Florian underwent hormone therapy, became a woman, and we could no longer register him for the Premier League.
There's not a world where wirtz is worse the keita. I absolutely agree he could be completely fucking gash and bombed out on loan next summer; but he still would be better than keita.
Even in your scenario, Wirtz could play for the women's team and still be more useful than keita
I’m not too worried about Wirtz as a player - his quality is obvious and he’s already showing signs of adapting to the Premier League. But it’s undeniable that the overall balance of the team has been adversely affected by the need to fit Wirtz in the team - we look too open with 4 attackers, but playing Wirtz in the front 3 would put a lot of pressure on him to deliver consistent attacking numbers. The midfield 3 of Gravvy-Alexis-Szobo had perfect balance and has been the foundation of our success last season, but now we are breaking it up to fit in a different kind of player… (as an aside it’s somewhat ironic that Wirtz chose Liverpool over Bayern because Slot seemed a lot clearer in his idea of how to use him in his system, but now it’s Bayern that has a Wirtz-shaped hole in their team after Musiala’s injury, while Slot is still figuring things out.)
All that being said, I think there IS a tactical solution to the Wirtz condundrum - playing Szobo on LW in place of Gakpo, which would both preserve the Gravvy-Alexis-Szoboszlai midfield dynamic and allow Wirtz to play at #10:
————Isak/Ekitike———-
Szobo——Wirtz———Salah
———Macca—Gravvy——-
Harsh on Gakpo who did absolutely nothing to deserve being dropped, but I think Szobo is far more fundamental to our game. An added bonus is that his tendency to drift infield from the wing and Wirtz’s desire to drift out from the center to the left wing will mean they both can play their natural game without interfering with each other’s movement. Another plus point is that Szobo and Kerkez already have a great understanding playing together for Hungary on the left wing. Finally, having Szoboszlai rather than Gakpo on the LW will allow Alexis to pick his moments to step forward (knowing that his position in CM will be covered by the indefatigable Dom) and play together with Wirtz as a pair of #10s, which is similar to how Wirtz played for Leverkusen:
————Isak/Ekitike———-
—-Wirtz—Macca——-Salah
———Szobo—-Gravvy——
And that’s the key to unlocking Wirtz because if has a partner to combine with who has a similar level of flair and technique and a great line-breaking forward in front, he will be unstoppable.
All that being said, I think there IS a tactical solution to the Wirtz condundrum - playing Szobo on LW in place of Gakpo, which would both preserve the Gravvy-Alexis-Szoboszlai midfield dynamic and allow Wirtz to play at #10:
————Isak/Ekitike———-
Szobo——Wirtz———Salah
———Macca—Gravvy——-
Harsh on Gakpo who did absolutely nothing to deserve being dropped, but I think Szobo is far more fundamental to our game. An added bonus is that his tendency to drift infield from the wing and Wirtz’s desire to drift out from the center to the left wing will mean they both can play their natural game without interfering with each other’s movement. Another plus point is that Szobo and Kerkez already have a great understanding playing together for Hungary on the left wing. Finally, having Szoboszlai rather than Gakpo on the LW will allow Alexis to pick his moments to step forward (knowing that his position in CM will be covered by the indefatigable Dom) and play together with Wirtz as a pair of #10s, which is similar to how Wirtz played for Leverkusen:
————Isak/Ekitike———-
—-Wirtz—Macca——-Salah
———Szobo—-Gravvy——
And that’s the key to unlocking Wirtz because if has a partner to combine with who has a similar level of flair and technique and a great line-breaking forward in front, he will be unstoppable.
Where does Szobo play for Hungary? Because I agree you have to get him on the pitch... But damned if he isn't one of the top two or three right backs in the world on current form.
Man talk about messing with formations and square pegs and round holes!
It's not that complicated. We have new players all over the pitch requiring integration and familiarisation. They have the quality as we've already seen in spurts. Just give them time don't start messing around to this extent.
Yesterday he played in deep midfield role. So it was playmaking duty and moving the ball forward.
His passing is so technically precise and arrives with such a high velocity that it highlights a deficiency in the other attackers' close control and first touch especially Mo, the ball was pinging off him like the silver ball on a pinball bumper.
They'll get use to one another.
They'll get use to one another.
Wirtz is gonna get Tayto’d later.
It's official, even Conor Bradley doesn't think Wirtz is up to Liverpool standards.
www.bbc.co.uk
Conor Bradley is looking forward to the challenge of facing his new Liverpool team-mate Florian Wirtz when Northern Ireland play Germany in World Cup qualifying on Sunday.
Wirtz joined the Anfield club from Bayer Leverkusen in a £116m deal in June and has started three Premier League games for Arne Slot's side.
The 22-year-old has yet to share the field with Bradley, whose return from a hamstring injury last month came as a replacement for Wirtz against Newcastle United, but the pair are set to be in direct opposition down the flank at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne.
"Florian's a top player. There's a reason we bought him for the money we did," said Bradley, whose first Northern Ireland goal came against the Scotland side of Liverpool team-mate Andy Robertson in March 2024.
"He's obviously had a brilliant few years at Leverkusen and now he's come to us, and I think he started the season really well. He's really good with the ball, he's really creative and he's not scared to take a few risks with the ball as well.
"He's a top player and I know it's going to be a difficult night for me but hopefully I can make it a difficult night for him too."
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Just a top player. Nothing more, nothing less.
Germany v Northern Ireland: Conor Bradley aims to give Liverpool team-mate Florian Wirtz a 'difficult night' in Cologne
Conor Bradley is looking forward to the challenge of facing his new Liverpool team-mate Florian Wirtz when Northern Ireland play Germany in World Cup qualifying on Sunday.
www.bbc.co.uk
Conor Bradley is looking forward to the challenge of facing his new Liverpool team-mate Florian Wirtz when Northern Ireland play Germany in World Cup qualifying on Sunday.
Wirtz joined the Anfield club from Bayer Leverkusen in a £116m deal in June and has started three Premier League games for Arne Slot's side.
The 22-year-old has yet to share the field with Bradley, whose return from a hamstring injury last month came as a replacement for Wirtz against Newcastle United, but the pair are set to be in direct opposition down the flank at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne.
"Florian's a top player. There's a reason we bought him for the money we did," said Bradley, whose first Northern Ireland goal came against the Scotland side of Liverpool team-mate Andy Robertson in March 2024.
"He's obviously had a brilliant few years at Leverkusen and now he's come to us, and I think he started the season really well. He's really good with the ball, he's really creative and he's not scared to take a few risks with the ball as well.
"He's a top player and I know it's going to be a difficult night for me but hopefully I can make it a difficult night for him too."
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Just a top player. Nothing more, nothing less.
He’s getting Tayto’d.
We’ve got this German side’s best player.
Shame it’s the worst German side ever.
Shame it’s the worst German side ever.
he’s mustard though
He’s the second best Liverpool player on that pitch right now.
Second best free kick I’ve seen the past 10 days
