Former England footballer Wayne Rooney has said that with Liverpool having signed a whole new front line this season, all the players are trying to find a place in the team, but midfielder Florian Wirtz
is the one who isn’t performing well, after the defending champions slumped to a surprising 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace.
Liverpool started their Champions League campaign with a fiery 3-2 victory over Atletico Madrid in the new 36-team league phase, but stumbled against Crystal Palace in the Premier League over the weekend.
Having already faced three of last season’s top five in their first six matches, Arsenal now have an opportunity to overtake Liverpool with upcoming games against West Ham, Fulham, Crystal Palace, Burnley and Sunderland.
“It has been tough for him. I don’t think any is denying that and he will be searching deep within himself to try and fix that. Liverpool don’t normally do this and they’ve signed basically a whole new front line; they all want to do well,” Rooney said while speaking on his show.
“They are all fighting against each other to get on the team and I think Wirtz is the one who is probably not doing as well, but he has got so much ability. I would have gone for Ekitike and Isak,” Rooney said.
“I think Wirtz actually damages the balance of Liverpool, in how they play. However, he is a top player, and I am sure he will continue to improve. Of course, he will. But he has had a slow start,” Rooney added.
Arne Slot’s team were bold in the summer transfer market, investing more than £300m to rebuild an attack that lost Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz.
Hugo Ekitike has made his mark at Liverpool, tallying five goals and an assist in just eight matches.
However, Wirtz is still waiting for his first goal involvement with the Reds. Signed for a reported £100m, he has yet to make an impact and will be eager to turn things around. Liverpool next play Galatasaray in the Champions League on Wednesday.
