Germany boss blames Liverpool stars for Florian Wirtz ‘007’ criticism

Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann has defended Florian Wirtz, saying his Liverpool teammates need to do better to finish the chances he creates.

Liverpool broke the British transfer record to sign Wirtz over the summer, paying Bayer Leverkusen £116million – a fee that has since been eclipsed by Arne Slot’s purchase of Alexander Isak.

But while regarded as one of the best young players in the world, the attacking midfielder hasn’t hit the ground running at Anfield.

The 22-year-old has just one goal contribution in 10 games this season – an assist on his debut in the Community Shield loss to Crystal Palace in August.

And after failing to score or assist in his opening seven Premier League appearances, rival fans have given him the derogatory ‘007’ nickname.

He is not the only Liverpool star struggling, with Mohamed Salah and Isak among those coming under fire, especially after the Reds lost their last three matches.

Wirtz remains a key player for his national team however and his international manager has been keen to dismiss the criticism.

‘Even though he hasn’t scored any goals, he is still the player who creates the most chances in the Premier League,’ Nagelsmann said ahead of Germany’s crucial World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland on Monday night.

‘It’s not his fault if his teammates don’t convert them, and the statistics don’t even tell the whole story. He hasn’t always had it easy – he’ll have to work hard now too.

‘Wirtz needs to get used to the league. I saw him playing with total freedom. He knows what he’s capable of and how things work.’

It should be noted, Nagelsmann’s claim that Wirtz is the Premier League’s top creator is not strictly speaking accurate.

At the start of October, Wirtz and Jack Grealish were top for the most chances created by a Premier League player (21), but that was across all competitions.

Looking exclusively at the Premier League, Wirtz has so far created 11 chances, ranking him 17th, some way off top creator Bruno Fernandes.

Even so, the stat suggests the German is performing better than the ‘007’ tag would lead one to believe and Jurgen Klopp is another who thinks the criticism is ‘being blown out of proportion’.

The legendary Liverpool boss said: ‘I don’t have to worry about Florian Wirtz because his quality is so outstanding. Of course, everything is fine, and everyone knows that.

‘Liverpool have just lost three games in a row – it’s unusual for something like that to happen after such a long time. But it’s also normal in life.

‘That’s why these things are discussed. I’ve been in the middle of such discussions long enough now, and I can tell you: nothing could interest people less than the public discussions that are taking place there. So it doesn’t matter, and everything will be fine.

‘[Wirtz is] a once-in-a-century talent, and at some point he’ll show that in every game again, as he did at Leverkusen.

‘He has a stable environment at Liverpool, and the club is great in moments like these. If anyone’s worried, you don’t have to! You can stop.’

Wirtz can break his Liverpool duct when they host arch-rivals Manchester United next Sunday.

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