Liverpool's start to the new season has been nothing short of outstanding, yet one player has been a source of disappointment amidst all the success: Florian Wirtz. In this week’s video, I try to explain why the German international may be playing better than some would think, why his role has changed since his time at Leverkusen, and why he is still being held back from showing his full potential for Arne Slot’s team.
The Good News: Playmaking and Passing
In terms of playmaking, Wirtz's statistics are definitely down on last season, but they’re not as concerning as they might seem. While his passes into the penalty area have dropped from 2.49 to 1.25 per 90, his passes into the final third have actually risen from 3.68 to 4.0 per 90. Furthermore, his key passes per 90 have risen from 2.18 to 2.25. In a sense, he's playing a little further back and providing more initial passes in a play rather than the final, killer ball. This helps to explain why his expected assists have dropped from 0.36 to 0.17 per 90.
Wirtz's Changed Role at Liverpool
Last season at Leverkusen, Wirtz completed almost four times more successful dribbles than the next-best player. This season, for Liverpool, he sits fourth behind Hugo Ekitike, Cody Gakpo, and Ryan Gravenberch. Similarly, he made almost twice as many dribbles into the penalty area as any other player at Leverkusen, but now he falls behind Gakpo and Mohamed Salah. On the whole, Wirtz's touches per game have dropped significantly. When we look at where that drop-off is, we can see that while his touches in the middle third of the pitch have only dropped by 18%, his touches in the final third and penalty box have dropped by a massive 34%.
The Real Problem: No Longer the Main Goalscorer
This is largely because Liverpool already has world-class players to do the business in the final third. Salah is the obvious example, but Ekitike and Alexander Isak have also joined the club, alongside the likes of Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai. As such, alongside Wirtz’s diminished role in the final third, his shots per 90 have dropped by 39%, and his shots on target per 90 have dropped by a massive 63%. Last season, he finished top of Leverkusen’s squad for total shots and shots on target, but so far this season, he is joint fourth in Slot’s team with as many shots and shots on target as Gravenberch.
This is perhaps the biggest concern for Wirtz. He is an excellent passer and playmaker and can find a way to fit into Liverpool’s midfield and facilitate Salah and company, as well as Alexis Mac Allister, Gravenberch, or Szoboszlai. But so far at Liverpool, he hasn’t been able to show any of his goalscoring potential. Until Slot can find a way to get Wirtz among the goals like Salah, Ekitike, or Isak, he will only be able to show a portion of his full potential for his new club.
