Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann has jumped to Florian Wirtz’s defense and backed the number 7 to prove his worth at Liverpool once he “gets used” to the Premier League.
Despite Arne Slot’s failure to get the best out of Wirtz so far, Nagelsmann believes it is only a matter of time before he starts to copy the form he showed during his five-and-a-half years at Bayer Leverkusen.
Asked after Germany’s 4-0 win against Luxembourg if he was concerned about Wirtz’s problems since moving to the Premier League, Nagelsmann said Sports1: “Even though he hasn’t scored a goal, he is the player who creates the most chances in the Premier League.
“It’s not his fault if his teammate doesn’t score [the chances]and the statistic is not even a third of the truth.
“He just needs to get used to the competition. I saw that he felt completely liberated. He knows what he is capable of and how things work.”
Wirtz is the best of the Premier League players because of the chances created
As Nagelsmann rightly points out, according to Opta, no Premier League player has created more chances in all competitions this season than Wirtz (21).
However, his struggle to “get used to the competition” is reflected in the fact that he is ranked joint 15th for chances created in the English top flight (11), while Cody Gakpo (14) is ranked third. FotMob.
Man United’s Bruno Fernandes, who has started all seven of his side’s matches, leads the way with 19 chances created.
The Germany international has failed to register a goal or an assist in the nine games in the league and Champions League since moving to Anfield in June.
The 22-year-old was named to the bench for the 2-1 defeat at Chelsea last weekend, with his debut coming at half-time in place of Conor Bradley after the defender was shown a yellow card.
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When Liverpool visited Crystal Palace seven days earlier, Wirtz was deployed on the left side of the attack as Slot attempted to kick-start the career of England’s Bundesliga Player of the Year.
After playing 90 minutes against Luxembourg on Friday, Wirtz will feature in Germany’s World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland on Monday before returning to Anfield ahead of next weekend’s match against Man United.
Slot hopes his involvement with the national team will benefit him as he works his way back to form for Liverpool.
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