From September strugglers to match-winner: why the Wirtz revival matters for Iraola’s Liverpool
Not so long ago, Florian Wirtz was the name at the centre of most Liverpool debates for all the wrong reasons. After a goal and an assist in the 3-1 win at Crystal Palace, it feels like the conversation is finally shifting, and we think it is about time.
Journalist David Lynch, discussing the German’s form with Dave Davis on a podcast on Anfieldindex.com, made the case that Wirtz has now reached the first milestone everyone was waiting for. The task from here, in his view, is simply to sustain it.
What the Palace performance told us
The raw output against Palace was impressive. Beyond the goal and the assist, Wirtz completed two of his four attempted dribbles, played five passes that broke opposition lines and won the ball back seven times. He also ran 12.4 kilometres, more than anyone else on the pitch, which says plenty about his work rate for a player so often accused of drifting out of games.
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Davis made the point that it is not only the end product that has improved. Wirtz is simply playing better across the board and making things happen. Lynch backed that up with a telling statistic: five goal contributions in his last eight appearances, with only six of those being starts. For a player who was struggling to influence anything a couple of months ago, that is a significant turnaround.
Why the bar had to be lowered first
It is worth remembering where this started. Lynch recalled how poorly Wirtz was playing through September and October, coming off a difficult debut season at Anfield. His view at that point was that the target should not be world-class brilliance straight away. The first job was just to be better than he was.
That, Lynch believes, has now been achieved. He expects there will still be quieter afternoons and games where Wirtz finds the going hard, but the important thing is to keep the trend heading in the right direction. He also suggested that the goals and assists will feed his confidence, giving him a platform to climb towards the level Liverpool paid for.
We think that is a sensible way of looking at it. Players arriving with huge price tags and huge reputations often need a reset of expectations before they can grow into a new league, and Wirtz appears to be doing exactly that.
The rough edges still to smooth out
None of this means the job is done. Lynch was candid about the moments that still drive him mad, such as passes played behind a teammate when the move is on. At times, he said, Wirtz looks technically outstanding, and then he produces a ball so poor you wonder how it happened.
Davis recalled one such moment, where Wirtz took an exquisite first touch only to misplace the pass to Cody Gakpo straight after. It is that inconsistency in execution that separates a very good player from an elite one.
A second season that could still look good
Lynch remained upbeat overall. If Wirtz keeps adding goal contributions at his current rate, he believes the German will finish the campaign with tallies that make people reassess this season entirely. The conversation could then turn to how good he might look in year three.
For Andoni Iraola, the challenge is making sure this run is the start of something rather than a purple patch. Our take is that the signs are really encouraging. Lynch’s message to Wirtz was simple: keep doing what he is doing, and then keep doing it some more. On this evidence, Liverpool will be happy to let him.