Things have not gone to plan for Florian Wirtz at Liverpool so far, but he can bank on one thing. Most of the former players in Germany will make excuses for him.
Sky Germany have the latest on that front, with Oliver Kahn and Oliver Bierhoff coming out to defend the Liverpool forward.
Wirtz is having something of a disastrous start to life at Liverpool since arriving in the summer. He was one of the major signings of the transfer window in a €125m deal.
Liverpool beat Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich to his signature. There was great expectation around him as a result, particularly after he’d established himself as a rising star at Bayer Leverkusen.
He’s yet to get going for Arne Slot’s side, though. 13 games into the season, he’s managed three assists and zero goals. None of those assists have come in nine Premier League games. Indeed, he has now found himself being dropped, a prospect few would have predicted before the start of the season.
Plenty of excuses have been made as a result. That’s certainly the case in Germany, where many want to protect the 22-year-old from criticism.
Kahn and Bierhoff are among them, and the latter even thinks it’s okay to write off his first season at Liverpool entirely.
“They’ve probably bought too many players who have the ambition to play,” he said.
“But with him, I’m not worried about him asserting himself, based on what I’ve seen of him. He’s a brilliant footballer, has the right timing and the right vision, and that’s why you have to give him a little time.
“You used to say in Italy that the first season doesn’t count at all.”
Kahn, meanwhile, believes that Wirtz’s struggles may be down to him not settling with the Liverpool squad as yet.
“The way he moves around, you always get the feeling he hasn’t fully integrated yet,” he added.
“You see it with the players, when a goal is scored and who they celebrate with, he doesn’t quite fit yet, that’s my feeling. He still needs a bit of self-confidence to move confidently in this environment with so many top players.”
