Florian Wirtz's Struggles at Liverpool: Jamie Carragher's Verdict

Jamie Carragher did not bother dressing it up. At the Vitality Stadium, as Liverpool laboured their way to a 1-0 win over Bournemouth, his verdict on Florian Wirtz cut straight through the afternoon haze.

“Wirtz has been really poor again,” he said on Sky Sports co-commentary. “It's just nothing. Nothing is happening there at all.”

For a player signed to change the direction of a club, this was the sound of patience snapping.

‘One of the poorest I’ve ever seen him’

Carragher doubled down once the final whistle went. On his Jamie Carragher Podcast, produced by Sky Sports, the former Liverpool defender called it “one of the poorest I’ve ever seen him in a Liverpool shirt.”

This wasn’t a rant about one bad day. It was a verdict on a pattern.

“I've been critical of the fact that he hasn't got the numbers,” Carragher said. “But normally when you watch Wirtz, he's neat and tidy, he keeps possession, there's things that you like. He gets out of a tight situation where you're normally expecting your player to lose the ball.

“But the reason I worry is, I don't think Wirtz is in poor form since he came to Liverpool. I actually think what we're seeing is what he is.”

That line lands hardest. This is not about a slump. In Carragher’s eyes, this might simply be Wirtz’s level in a Liverpool shirt.

He admitted the doubts had been building for a while. He traced them back a year, to a trip to Burnley where a late Mo Salah penalty won it. The performance that day, he said, mirrored what he’s seen across the last 12 months.

“I don't see how he's going to hurt you. It's just neat and tidy,” Carragher argued. “And in some way, the price tag for that type of player should be half of what Liverpool have paid.”

For a midfielder brought in at huge cost to tilt title races and Champions League ties, “neat and tidy” is a damning ceiling.

A gap too big to bridge?

The core of Carragher’s concern lies in expectation versus reality.

“The worry for Wirtz now is that his performances so far, or what he's given Liverpool, is so low,” he said. “Where we were expecting him was to take Liverpool to another league title, to take Liverpool to a Champions League.

“The gap he's got to get to almost justify what people were expecting, I almost think is too big. You can't get there. Even if he improves a bit and gets there, it's still not what Liverpool thought they were getting.”

It’s not just about his own output, either. His presence at No 10 has a ripple effect on the rest of the side.

When Wirtz plays centrally, Dominik Szoboszlai is dragged deeper into midfield. Carragher is clear: he doesn’t see Szoboszlai as a central midfielder. That tactical knock-on, in his view, weakens Liverpool twice over – once by fielding an underperforming playmaker, and again by blunting one of their most dynamic players.

‘He can’t be in the team against City’

All of this lands at a delicate moment in Liverpool’s season.

After a three-week international break, Andoni Iraola’s team walk back into a storm: Manchester City at Anfield on October 11, live on Sky Sports. Around that fixture, they face Brentford and Brighton in the league, Arsenal away at the Emirates Stadium on October 1, Champions League ties with LASK and Villarreal, and a Carabao Cup fourth-round clash with Chelsea.

These are the weeks when big signings are supposed to justify the outlay. Carragher, though, does not want to see Wirtz anywhere near that City game.

“I think going forward Iraola's got a decision to make here. Wirtz would not be in my Liverpool team,” he said. “I thought this Bournemouth game was a big game for Wirtz. Because if he doesn't produce [against Bournemouth], he's then going to have a three-week break.

“By the time we come back, we're into October. Before you know it, it'll be Christmas in six to eight weeks, or it'll feel like we're getting to Christmas. He has to do something!”

That “something” has been missing, Carragher believes, not just in comparison with elite rivals but with ordinary Premier League creators.

He namechecked Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall at Everton, Morgan Gibbs-White at Nottingham Forest and Emiliano Buendia at Aston Villa – players who will never command £100m-plus fees, but who, as Carragher put it, “are still giving their clubs bits every few weeks.”

“I watched Morgan Gibbs-White for Nottingham Forest last week at Aston Villa, and in the second half he put in a performance in 45 minutes that Florian Wirtz has never done before for Liverpool,” he said.

That comparison stings. Not just because of the names involved, but because it strips away the glamour and talks about impact, plain and simple.

“Wirtz wouldn't be in my Liverpool team. Manchester City at home, for me, he can't be in the team.”

Iraola’s courage – and the next big call

Carragher does, however, see one reason for optimism: Iraola has already shown he is not afraid of big calls.

He pointed to Ryan Gravenberch, tied down on a long, lucrative five-year deal as a supposed midfield cornerstone. He is not playing. Jeremie Frimpong has been dropped. Milos Kerkez has been shuffled in and out. Full-backs have been rotated, reputations ignored.

“The things I've liked so far about Iraola, he's had the courage to make big decisions,” Carragher said.

The implication is clear. If Iraola can bench a major investment like Gravenberch, he can do the same with Wirtz.

“But sooner or later he's going to have to make a decision on Florian Wirtz, and, for me, I hope it's sooner,” Carragher added. “Not because I don't like Florian Wirtz, I'm desperate for the kid to do well. I just want Liverpool to win. That's it, basically.”

This is not personal. It is ruthless, title-chasing logic.

Klopp, Germany and a last route back

There is, in Carragher’s mind, one possible lifeline.

Jurgen Klopp, now Germany manager, has called Wirtz into one of his two Nations League squads. The Liverpool midfielder will get a brief rest before being in contention for Germany’s final two games against Serbia and Greece.

“The one hope for Liverpool supporters now is Jurgen Klopp is the Germany manager,” Carragher said.

“Wirtz goes away with the Germany team for three weeks, and he's obviously one of the best players in Germany, that's how they see him. Can Jurgen Klopp sprinkle a bit of stardust on him in that position?

“Jurgen is one of the greatest managers in the world, we know that. And what he gets out of players is probably more than most managers because of the nature of his personality, and fingers crossed something can happen for him.”

The scenario is easy to picture. Wirtz finds rhythm in a Germany shirt, racks up goals and assists, comes back to Merseyside buzzing. Manchester City roll into Anfield, and the much-maligned playmaker finally bends a heavyweight game his way.

“There's a scenario there that Jurgen Klopp and Germany have a great international window, he gets loads of goals, assists and comes back on a high. Manchester City's the next game, he impacts that, all is forgotten, all is forgiven,” Carragher said. “There's a potential turnaround there.

“I would love that to happen, I'd love him to be the match-winner against Manchester City.”

For now, though, that remains fantasy. The reality is a £100m-plus midfielder who, in the eyes of one of Liverpool’s most influential voices, should not start their biggest league game of the season.

The next few weeks will show whether Florian Wirtz is merely neat and tidy – or whether he has the courage and quality to rip up that label and rewrite his Liverpool story.