Florian Wirtz has shown more than a few glimpses of why many consider him one of the most exciting young midfielders in the game since signing for Liverpool. The diminutive German has really come on as of late,
providing a consistent threat with his quick footwork on the dribble as well as his slick passing. He has been one of the most creative performers for Liverpool, but luck has not been kind to him as he has seen several narrow misses from his attempts, as well as some poor finishing efforts from people he has set up.
Wirtz finally notched his first Premier League assist for the club last weekend against Spurs, sliding the pass in for Alexander Isak to slot home. Just a week later against Wolves, Wirtz finally got his first Premier League goal as well with a toe poke finish from close range after a brilliant pass from Hugo Ekitike.
After Wirtz was named the Player of the Match, he provided his thoughts in a post-match interview. When asked about the feeling after finally netting, Wirtz was understandably happy to have finally broken his duck.
“It was very nice. The feeling on the pitch with the fans around [the stadium]… I was very happy and I liked it! I was confident that I would score one day. Of course, I wanted to start scoring and assisting earlier, but it was like this. I had to accept it, but I just knew that it would come, and I just tried to keep going like that.”
As for the match itself, Wirtz felt the side played quite well in the first half, and were rewarded with two goals in just 90 seconds. He is just as perplexed as everyone else, however, as to how they continue to make life hard for themselves, allowing a set piece goal and struggling to keep hold of the ball in the second half.
“I think we played a brilliant first half and every time we lost the ball we got it directly back. Everyone was working really hard, but then in the second half in the last 20 to 25 minutes we made it harder for ourselves and difficult. To be honest, I cannot explain why. We have to talk about this in training because we have to change that.”
Despite the struggles it was another win for Liverpool, their fourth in a row in all competitions, and it sees their unbeaten streak extend to seven matches. The string of results have seen the Reds rise back up to fourth in the Premier League table. For Wirtz, he feels that the results are a reflection of the squads improved performances, and he expects to continue stacking up points.
“That’s the way we want to do it, we want to be there, and we want to be top of the table. It’s not been an easy start for us, but I think in the last games we have been doing better and better and getting the points. We are just trying to win every game now and today we had the next three points, so it’s good.”
