Florian Wirtz Starts for Germany – This Is Exactly What He Needs

Florian Wirtz starts for Germany tonight against Serbia, and I think this is a really good opportunity for the Liverpool midfielder.

Wirtz hasn’t quite found his best form since arriving at Anfield. We’ve seen flashes of his quality, but not enough of the player who was so influential for Bayer Leverkusen.

That’s why I want to see him enjoy himself tonight.

There is already enough pressure surrounding Wirtz at Liverpool. His transfer fee gets mentioned constantly, every quiet performance is analysed and people are starting to wonder when we’re going to see the best of him.

I think we need to calm down a bit.

He’s still adapting to a new league, a new manager and a new team. That doesn’t mean we have to pretend everything has been brilliant, because it hasn’t. But writing him off would be ridiculous.

The Germany game gives him a chance to play without quite so much of that Liverpool pressure hanging over him.

And there is an interesting Liverpool connection too, with Jürgen Klopp now involved with Germany.

Klopp has already spoken positively about Wirtz and made the point that the youngster needs confidence rather than constant demands to produce something spectacular every time he gets the ball.

I completely agree.

What I want from Wirtz tonight isn’t necessarily a goal or an assist.

I want to see him getting involved.

I want to see him demanding the ball, turning away from defenders, finding those little passes and playing with the confidence we know he has.

Because the ability is still there.

We’ve all seen it.

Liverpool didn’t spend a huge amount of money on Wirtz because they thought he was an average player. They signed him because they believed he could become one of the best attacking midfielders in Europe.

It hasn’t clicked yet.

That doesn’t mean it won’t.

And perhaps a good performance for Germany is exactly what he needs before returning to Liverpool.

Florian Wirtz starts tonight.

Hopefully he can remind himself — and everyone else — why Liverpool wanted him in the first place.

By Jamie (The Kopite View)