Liverpool’s £116 million summer signing Florian Wirtz has endured a subdued start to life at Anfield, with no goals or assists in his first nine appearances. While that headline statistic fuels criticism — including Wayne Rooney’s claim that the German “damages the balance” of the team — a closer tactical analysis suggests a more nuanced reality. Wirtz’s individual performances have been shaped as much by Liverpool’s evolving system and structural challenges as by his own adaptation process.
Liverpool are in the midst of a stylistic shift under Arne Slot, whose approach differs notably from that of his predecessor. Inspired by his Feyenoord model, Slot is prioritising fluid positional rotations, quicker interplay through central areas, and compact attacking structures. This change has been compounded by the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose deep passing range was crucial to the team’s build-up play.
In theory, Wirtz is the ideal central creative force to knit together these rotations. In practice, however, he is being deployed in a role that diverges from the one in which he excelled at Bayer Leverkusen. Rather than consistently receiving the ball near the penalty area — where his creativity and decision-making are most dangerous — he is being asked to drop deeper to help initiate attacks.
This adjustment has limited his opportunities to score or assist, and although he has performed competently within this framework, it is not a setup that maximises his strengths.
The departure of Alexander-Arnold’s deep distribution has exposed Liverpool’s relative lack of passing quality in defensive areas. Beyond Virgil van Dijk’s diagonal switches to Mohamed Salah, few players reliably advance the ball into attacking zones. As a result, Wirtz has often assumed responsibility for early build-up phases, dropping into deeper positions to receive possession and drive the team forward.
While his technical ability allows him to perform this task, it comes at a cost: he spends less time operating in advanced spaces where he can influence games directly. A potential remedy could involve shifting build-up duties onto another player, such as Curtis Jones, who is capable of handling deeper distribution either in a double pivot or from the left side. Doing so would allow Wirtz to remain higher up the pitch, closer to the areas where he is most effective.
Another significant factor in Wirtz’s adaptation is the contrast in space and tempo between the Premier League and the Bundesliga. English teams, particularly those like Crystal Palace who defend compactly, deny space between the lines and apply more intense pressure.
At Leverkusen, Wirtz thrived when receiving the ball with separation — often starting wide on the left before driving inside, or operating as a central playmaker in games with more transitional space. Former coach Xabi Alonso consistently structured the team to create these scenarios, enabling Wirtz to receive on the half-turn, accelerate into space, and destabilise defences through feints and tempo changes.
Liverpool’s current setup offers fewer of these moments. Many of Wirtz’s most promising actions this season have come during transitions, when he has time and space to attack. Creating those conditions more often — either by positioning him wider initially or playing more direct vertical passes when he is between the lines — could unlock his best qualities.
Beyond tactical adjustments, Wirtz’s adaptation is also physical. Slot’s Liverpool press more aggressively and rotate positions more dynamically than his previous team, exposing them to counter-attacks and demanding intense counter-pressing from attacking players. Wirtz has embraced this responsibility wholeheartedly, covering more ground per 90 minutes than any other Liverpool player and ranking fifth in the Premier League among players with over 400 minutes played.
This workload, however, may be affecting his technical sharpness. In a recent interview with Sky Sports Germany, Wirtz acknowledged that heavy running demands might be reducing his effectiveness on the ball:
“I’m always at the top of the running stats because I try to push hard and do what the coach asks. But that means I might lack a little when I have the ball. As I play more and get fitter, it will become easier — I’ll be more recovered and able to push harder with the ball.”
At Leverkusen, Wirtz often conserved energy by walking or lightly jogging during defensive phases, allowing him to unleash explosive bursts in attacking moments. At Liverpool, energy conservation is harder to achieve — but pairing him with more industrious midfielders like Dominik Szoboszlai could allow Wirtz to focus more on high-impact actions in the final third.
Wirtz’s slow start should not be mistaken for failure. His underwhelming output reflects a broader transitional period at Liverpool, where tactical evolution, personnel changes, and adaptation to the Premier League’s intensity are all at play. The question is less about his individual quality — which remains unquestioned — and more about how Liverpool can better align their system with his strengths.
That might mean reducing his build-up responsibilities, creating more opportunities for him to receive the ball with separation, or fine-tuning the team’s structure to support his physical workload. Over time, chemistry with new teammates and a clearer tactical identity should help Wirtz rediscover the influence that made him one of Europe’s most coveted young talents.
The real story of Liverpool’s season could hinge on this: whether they evolve from using Wirtz as a patch for systemic weaknesses into building a framework that amplifies his exceptional abilities. If they succeed, the subdued start will likely be remembered as a brief adjustment period rather than a sign of deeper problems.
