Nagelsmann blames Liverpool team-mates for Wirtz struggles: ‘That would be one idea’ | OneFootball

Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann thinks Florian Wirtz would have had a greater impact at Liverpool this season if his team-mates had helped him out.

The Reds have been in disappointing form this season after many expected them to take the Premier League by storm with their high-profile additions.

As well as Wirtz, Alexander Isak joined in a huge move, while there were other solid additions in Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong and Hugo Ekitike.

Except from maybe Ekitike, most of their summer signings have flopped with Liverpool starting the season with five losses from their first 11 Premier League matches.

Defending champions Liverpool are eighth in the Premier League table and eight points adrift of leaders Arsenal heading into the international break.

Wirtz is yet to register a goal or an assist in the Premier League, while he has two assists in the Champions League and former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger claimed last week that Liverpool have “destroyed their midfield” to satisfy Wirtz.

But Nagelsmann thinks the criticism of Wirtz is unfair as it’s “difficult” for the Germany international to have “any real big impact” with Liverpool producing underwhelming performances.

Germany head coach Nagelsmann said in his first press conference ahead of World Cup qualifiers against Luxembourg and Slovakia: “To be honest, the whole situation does not make it easy for him either. The whole club itself is not as stable this year as it was last year. It’s much harder to slip into the team now.

“If you look vs City, they were the worse team over the 90 minutes. So it is also difficult for Flo to make any real big impact.

“Ultimately, the overall situation is such that he just needs a little more time – which is normal and you see that with other players, who move to the English Premier League as well.”

Nagelsmann added: “We all know what he is capable of and it is perfectly normal for a player of his age to go through a bit of a dip in form.

“We cannot expect him to perform at the same level for three years straight.

“Instead, we all need to support him a little bit, so that he can clear his head here and then, maybe, Liverpool could also help him out by scoring some of the chances he creates.

“That would be one idea, because he does create a few chances. It is just that they somehow do not like to shoot the ball in, from those chances. That is part of the truth.”

Manchester United legend Gary Neville likened Wirtz to a “little boy” in their 3-0 defeat to Manchester City over the weekend with his display “a real worry” for the Reds.

Neville said: “We’ve been tip-toeing around him haven’t we, for a few months, around the fact that he’s young, coming to a new country. But he’s £120million, you’re going to have to stand up soon.

“I mean he’s obviously got something. He’s a really good player and technically fantastic, but he’s been mauled out there today by [Matheus] Nunes and by others. He’s been chucked around the pitch and didn’t deliver in the quality side of things either. His performance was a real worry.

“Wirtz is a problem, let’s call it what it is. It’s an issue. He’s £120m and he looked like a little boy out there.

“It can’t be the case. He’s a German international of great standing and he looks well short of what you’d expect from a top physical match.

“They’ve got to get him up to speed and get that tenacity into him that means he can get into form. They’ve got to stick with him, and persist, but they’ve got to find a way to get the best out of him.”