How Florian Wirtz fixes one of Liverpool's biggest flaws
Arne Slot's team are crying out for a world-class playmaker and the German midfielder could end up being exactly that.
It’s usually quite hard to poke holes in teams that have just won league championships, but in the case of Liverpool there are some notable issues with Arne Slot’s side that could fundamentally be fixed if the club do sign Florian Wirtz.
I don’t really want to labour the point because he’s just had an incredible season, but Liverpool are remarkably over-reliant on Mohamed Salah not only as their primary goalscorer but also as their main playmaker. In all competitions for the Anfield club this season, Salah was not only the club’s top goalscorer but he also provided almost three times as many assists as the next best player and almost double the number of key passes.
While the likes of Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister are all exceptional players, none of them seem to be developing into top-class playmakers. As we can see in this graph of every midfielder in the Premier League ranked by key passes and passes into the opposing box, none of the four Liverpool midfielders come anywhere close to the league leaders in terms of creating chances.
Slot does of course have other forward players to call upon - Cody Gakpo on the left wing has 24 goals and assists this season and Luis Diaz is a very useful player in a number of positions - but when it comes to goal contributions per 90 in the league this season neither Liverpool star made it into the top 10 and averaged around half the output of Salah. So not bad, but perhaps not quite at the elite level of attacking players.
This is a problem for two reasons: the first one is that Salah is 33 this summer and simply won’t continue being a world class player forever. And two, because no team with the ambitions and resources that Liverpool have to hand should be over-reliant on just one player to effectively power their entire front line.
Fortunately for the Anfield club, this is where Wirtz would come in. When we go back to that graph of players with the most key passes and passes into the opposing box per game and expand it to include every player in Europe’s top five leagues, we can truly see how good the German international is and why Liverpool are prepared to pay close to €150 million to sign him.
As we can see in the graph, only two players - Bayern Munich’s Thomas Müller and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Désiré Doué - have averaged more key passes per 90 than Wirtz, while just two players - Martin Ødegaard of Arsenal and Manchester City star Kevin de Bruyne - have averaged more passes to the penalty box per game. And, crucially, no player in Europe has managed to beat the 22-year-old talent at both.
What’s pretty remarkable is the fact that as a result of Leverkusen’s decline in form, Wirtz’s own stats have actually fallen compared to last season. His key passes have dropped by 21% and his passes to the penalty box have fallen by 20%. That’s not something that should really trouble Liverpool fans - it’s just a simple fact of playing in a poorer side this season - but instead it should underline just how good Wirtz is at this aspect of his game. Even a notable drop in his figures still has him stand out from just about every other playmaker in Europe this season.
Admittedly, it’s a little bit like comparing apples and oranges but just to hammer home the point, we can compare Wirtz’s career average in all Bundesliga games with Liverpool’s midfield and forward players just to see how impressive his stats have been at Leverkusen. Whether we can make direct comparisons between the English and German top-flight is certainly up for debate, but it is worth bearing in mind that Wirtz out performs every Liverpool player in both key passes and passes into the box. And even if his numbers were to drop off by 10-20% when he makes the move to England, he’ll still be better than all of Salah’s teammates at Liverpool.
Wirtz is a truly special player and capable of scoring and creating goals in equal measure. But there’s little doubt that his true talent lies in breaking through defences with his impressive dribbling and exquisite ability to cut through opposing lines with his passing. Liverpool don’t need more defensive midfielders, quick wingers or goalscorers next season. They need someone that creates goals for other players. A playmaker that can match the likes of De Bruyne or Salah. And Wirtz may be exactly that.
De Bryne made the transfer quite easily
Impressive stats but where does he play in this Liverpool side?
He's a natural 10, in fact he's arguably the epitome of a 10, so does he play as a 10?
I've been saying all season that the Liverpool side that just cantered to the league title doesn't really make sense in a lot of areas. We had a supposed 'right back' who possesses the qualities of a 10 and gave up defending years ago (problem solved as he's just gone to Real Madrid); conversely, we had a Hungarian playing 10 who possesses the qualities of a full back. We had Gravenberch playing as a 6 when he isn't one; we had Mac Allister playing as a 6/8 hybrid when he's more of a 10; we had Salah as chief goalscorer and (NEW IN 2024/25!) chief provider, when he had previously shown little or no inclination to pass to anyone, especially if they were called Sadio; a Uruguayan striker whose most accurate shot of the season was when throwing a chair at Colombian fans; and a four-metre tall left winger.
So would the signing of Wirtz for the 10 spot begin to remould the side into one where round pegs go into round holes and square pegs into square holes? Especially with a right back in Bradley who actually shows enthusiasm for the defensive side of the game?
I've also seen mention of Wirtz being signed to play as a false 9. Seems a little unlikely to me.
As much as the Liverpool midfield/team this season made no real sense, it worked, and the instillation of more 'sense' might actually mess things up. Dominic's energy goes if he's the one dropped, though we surely make up for it by playing a right back who runs rather than walks.
I don't really understand why Slot doesn't just try Mac Allister as a 10, move Ryan to the left-sided 6/8 and buy a proper defensive midfielder as a 6.
Maybe he'll have to do just that if Wirtz pulls a Zubimendi and says he's not ready to give up the lederhosen for a ska era pair of purple Sta-prest, before signing for Arsenal in the next window.
I'm not sure about little fellas in the English top flight, but Neves and Vitinha just ran rings around the rest of Europe so maybe a little fella is the way forward. At least until James Tarkowski kicks him up the arse.