Is Florian Wirtz Receiving Unfair Criticism? | w/ Dave Segar
Florian Wirtz hasn't been at his best since joining Liverpool last season - but is the criticism he's receiving unfair? With his unbelievable goal involvements numbers in the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen, Liverpool believed they'd signed the next big star - but it hasn't turned out that way. In this video, we break down Florian Wirtz playing style, strengths, weaknesses and tactical role, looking at why the 23-year-old has struggled in the Premier League and how Liverpool can get the best out of him moving forward. Check out the Opta Analyst website: https://theanalyst.com/ 📬 Sign up for the Opta Analyst Newsletter here for free: https://theanalyst.com/sign-up Follow Opta Analyst: Twitter: https://x.com/OptaAnalyst Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theoptaanalyst Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/optaanalyst/ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@optaanalyst QUESTION - Have a question about a player or data? Drop it in the comments! florianwirtz liverpool liverpoolfc
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Florian Werder's time at Liverpool has divided opinion. Have we seen the best of him or does his underlying data prove there's more to come? We're joined by Opta analyst Dave Seager for a deep dive into his numbers. Dave, it's fair to say Werder's time at Liverpool has been a bit of a roller coaster, but when you come with that price tag, obviously all eyes are going to be on you. Do you think the criticism's been fair? >> I think having criticism is certainly fair. I don't think there's any denying that he's he's not performing to the levels expected. Um I think even he's he's admitted that himself. Obviously seven goals and eight assists last season isn't terrible, but for a player who who did as well as he did uh in the Bundesliga, the numbers he was getting over there as well, and of course, as you said, the price tag um it comes with huge expectations. Whether that's fair or not, I think is is up to interpretation. I think usually a player should just be judged by the the measurements of any other player. They they they don't decide their their their price tag or their fee. Obviously it was a huge amount of money, so there's there's going to be those expectations, but then you could argue Kylian Mbappé went to Real Madrid for free, so does that mean if he doesn't score for a year, he doesn't get any criticism cuz he didn't cost anything? Um so yeah, it's I I think it's fair definitely that there's criticism, but I think the the extent of it or the the the amount of it has been a bit over the top. >> behind a player can obviously tells a very different story. So what's Werder's underlying data telling us about his performances? >> I think the the the main thing, and to be fair, I think this is something that he hasn't really been getting criticism for. I think people have been a bit uh understanding about this side of it is that he's trying. Um is that I think sometimes with with so many big money signings, I think you can maybe make the argument that they're they're not giving their all to to show what they can do. And I think the thing with Werder's is that he's he's definitely trying to have an impact. It's just not not quite working. So like even last season when when Liverpool signed him, uh the summer they did, it was it was obviously after they'd lost Trent Alexander-Arnold and lost so much creativity from the team as a result. And the idea was that Werder's, cuz he was so good at Bayer Leverkusen and was so creative there, the idea was that he was going to come in and and generally replace those numbers even though he obviously plays in a different position to to Alexander Arnold. But last season in all competitions, he created 95 open play chances for Liverpool, which was at least 27 more than any other player, which I think might surprise some people given obviously generally accepted he didn't have a great season. But I think what's important to to know about that is that while he did create an awful lot of chances in in open play, they weren't necessarily always brilliant chances. He wasn't laying it on a plate for players time and time again. So even though he created that many chances, Dominik Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah, and Cody Gakpo all created more what I would define as big chances, which is a bit of a sort of gray area, but it is effectively a chance. It is what what I think people would generally just call a clear-cut chance, a chance from which you would usually expect a player or reasonably expect a player to score. Viets created, I think it was 13. Gakpo and and Salah were 14, and Szoboszlai was 16. This was This was from open play. Um but when you look at his expected assists, it was 10.17 in all competitions for Liverpool, which was very slightly below Salah and Szoboszlai, but they of course both took set pieces, corners, and free kicks. So when you take that out, probably from open play, Viets was was the most creative outlet for Liverpool. But also his his off-the-ball numbers. I mean, even even this season, he's got a lot of criticism obviously for his performances so far this season. But again, I think a stat a lot of people are seeing is that he's done a lot of running. So three of Liverpool of the of the five games he's played in, three of them he's been covered the most ground of all Liverpool players. It shows that he's he's putting in plenty of running. Obviously Andoni Iraola is a big fan of that. And yeah, I think the fact that he's he's putting in that running shows that he's putting in the effort. But it's not just running for the sake of running. He's won possession in the opposition's final third six times this season, which only five players in the Premier League have done more. He's also applied more pressures than all but five players in the league. So, yeah, it goes to show that if Wirtz is asking him to put in the effort and put in the running, he is doing that. I think he just needs maybe a little bit more luck, a little bit more the ball going for him, not bouncing off him. And then when he is setting up players, if they could put it in the net and get them assist, I'm sure he'll be grateful for that, too. >> You mentioned luck there, but the Bundesliga and the Premier League are two very different leagues. Obviously, his data while he was at Leverkusen was unbelievable. But do you think that's played into these high expectations? >> Yeah, I think undoubtedly when Liverpool signed him, there was there was a lot of hype around him and and I think justifiably so. You know, I know Jamie Carragher said recently that maybe what we're seeing is is what he is and that's the level he has. I think that was I think a lot of what Carragher said was was reasonable and accurate, but I think that was maybe a bit unfair just because it it kind of suggests that what he did in the Bundesliga wasn't wasn't valid or wasn't worthy of of having high expectations when it comes to the Premier League. >> Yeah, maybe it's it's a bit a bit easier to get those numbers in the Bundesliga, but at the same time it's one of Europe's top five leagues. Bayer Leverkusen when Wirtz was there, obviously when Xabi Alonso was there, those those final two seasons they had together were that they were just undeniably one of the strongest teams in in Europe. The fact they got to the Europa League final, of course, in that 23-24 season, that unbelievable 23-24 season where they won the league for the first time. And yeah, Wirtz was a big, big part of that, you know, he'd come back from a a really bad ACL injury just about a year prior. And then, yeah, the 23-24 season just absolutely took it by the scruff of the neck, got 18 goals and 19 assists that season. As yeah, Leverkusen went on to win the league, they won the DFB Pokal as well, and yeah, got to the Europa League final, that final against Atalanta, that was the only game they lost in any competition the entire season, which was unbelievable. And then, obviously, his final season there, which wasn't quite as successful, but still still not bad, and he got I think 16 goals and 14 assists. And yeah, that was enough to convince Liverpool to bring him in. I think there was undeniably going to be a bit of a a bit of a struggle, a bit of a gap to to to bridge. And obviously, new teammates, a new league, a new manager. The fact he was coming in to play for the English champions at the time, I think people thought it might be a bit easier, but obviously, the the incredibly sad death of Diogo Jota as I think Andy Robertson acknowledged last week, it was not only hard on the players who were already there, but Viets and the others who were coming in, it just it really stole their their their start to to time at Liverpool because it just wasn't the same. He was coming into a grieving club. Um but I think that's why, you know, there was a slow start. And I think people expected as the season went on, it would improve. It kind of it did a bit. He did He did very well um around sort of December, January time. But then it tailed off a bit towards the end of the season. And I think his start to this season with just one assist in in six games has been a little concerning as well. But yeah, as I said, the the if his luck improves a a little more, then then that will maybe change change some minds, but he certainly needs to needs to show more than he has so far. But I I don't don't have any doubt that he will. >> As someone that watches Liverpool week in and week out, moving forward, how do you think they get the best out of it? >> I personally think he he is better centrally. I mean, he's not blessed with incredible pace, certainly playing for any Real or team. Um I mean, he he always wants his his wide men, his wingers to to be full of pace. Um that's how he gets the best out of them is that that he wants them getting the ball, dribbling, making runs in behind. Obviously, with signing Bradley Barcola, that that speaks to that. Obviously, what all the success he had with Antoine Semenyo at Bournemouth as well. Um so, I I think Viets it's it's definitely going to be uh sent more centrally that that they get the best out of him. Of course, for for Leverkusen and uh even for Germany, Jurgen Klopp's already said effectively how how he's likely to play him for Germany is in almost a in-between role at Leverkusen where he thrived so much. He was obviously in a completely different system. But he played effectively as one of two number 10 {slash} second strikers. But, he played on the left and he had Alex Grimaldo as the left wing-back really providing that width for him. Now, obviously at Liverpool it's a completely different system. He's just the number 10. So, yes, he's got me left back as as the left back who's providing some of that width, but he's also having to cover more of the right as well. Which he's not used to doing. So, it's it's probably just going to be more adapting to that, adapting to yeah, the Real's expectations of him. Um and if if he can do that, then I think it could be it could be a real real boost for for Real in getting the best out of his his wingers as well. He does still have the option of course of of playing him on the left from time to time. But, as I said, I don't I don't think that's something Real will do. I think Real has just already said he's going to play him as a 10. So, uh we'll we'll see, I guess. But, if if it ends up being a success, then I think he'll be as a 10. I don't really see him playing out wide.