It’s worth noting off the top perhaps that Florian Wirtz was actually quite good for Liverpool to start off the month of November, putting in a starring turn against Real Madrid in the Champions League
and then managing to be a regular bright spot on a difficult afternoon against Manchester City.
Fair or not, though, when you arrive in a blockbuster £100M+ deal, that’s a price tag that comes with some heavy expectations. So with the Reds struggling and Wirtz not generally counted as amongst their most regular top performers, the growing question marks and doubts are perhaps inevitable.
However, when it comes to those, German national team manager Julian Nagelsmann thinks the problem for Wirtz at Liverpool so far hasn’t been Wirtz and whatever his struggles, they have a lot to do with the side’s larger struggles in 2025-25 as well as having teammates whose finishing has run cold.
“Liverpool could help him out by scoring some of the chances he creates,” Nagelsmann noted as he prepares his side to face Luxembourg and Slovakia in their final two World Cup qualifiers. “They somehow don’t like to shoot the ball in the goal, and the overall situation doesn’t make it easy for Flo.
“The whole club isn’t as stable this year as it was last year. It’s much harder to slip into the team now. So it’s also difficult for Flo to make a big impact. Ultimately, the overall situation is such that he just needs more time, which is normal. You see that sometimes with players who move to the Premier League.”
For Liverpool, Wirtz’ lack of return was forgivable early with the Reds still winning—despite that even at the time they didn’t appear to be winning sustainably. As they’ve stumbled of late, the lack of goals and assists have become harder to ignore even if Nagelsmann is right that it’s not all about Wirtz.
The hope now will be that when he returns from national team duty, with the Reds returning to action against Nottingham Forest on the 22nd before turning their attention back to Europe with PSV, Wirtz will have had the time he needs to settle. And hopefully his teammates’ finishing will improve, too.
