The Telegraph talks about Wirtz’s problem: his body is not the primary factor, his position is inappropriate and his teammates are holding him back

November 10th: In the 11th round of the Premier League, Liverpool lost 0-3 away to Manchester City. Wirtz still failed to score the first goal of his Red Army career. So far this season, he has played 16 games and contributed 3 assists, but none of his assists were in the Premier League. The Daily Telegraph wrote an article analyzing the reasons why Wirtz was "lost".

Is his problem really physical?

After Liverpool's defeat at Manchester City, Neville, Richards, and Joe Cole all said that Wirtz's physical fitness was really poor. He was "like a child," "short, thin, not strong enough," "too light," etc. But such criticism may be somewhat superficial, because there have been many small playmakers who have performed well in the Premier League in recent years.

Of course, this is not to deny that the Premier League is the most physical league in Europe, which is indeed a problem for Wirtz. In his Premier League debut against Bournemouth, Wirtz was directly knocked to the ground by Semenho.

Even the most tactically advanced Premier League coaches: Guardiola and Arteta, attach great importance to physical confrontation. For example, during halftime against Sunderland, Arteta told his players that winning physical confrontations was a prerequisite for them to perform at their best. Guardiola also mentioned this when discussing how his team defeated Liverpool.

Wiltz has encountered much more physical confrontation problems in England than he did in Germany. This season, his success rate in confrontations in the Premier League is only 35% (success rate in aerial confrontations is 11%). In the Bundesliga last season, Wirtz's confrontation success rate was 45% (aerial confrontation success rate was 20%). In other words, Wirtz has not yet adapted to the higher intensity of physical confrontation in England.

Wiltz did not touch the ball enough in key areas

Wiltz has been the core of Leverkusen's offense in the past few seasons. After coming to Liverpool, he was often on the edge of the game. He did not receive the ball as frequently as before, nor did he get enough ball rights in areas that could threaten opponents. Wirtz's number of touches has dropped from 80 last season to 58 this season, and the drop is even greater in the final third: he averaged 27 touches per game in the Premier League, compared with 45 in the Bundesliga last season.

Obviously, Liverpool has not yet found the best position to pass the ball to Wirtz. Why? The first is that his teammates have not fully understood his running route; the second is that Slott's tactical system does not allow him to go to the position where he performed well last season.

Slott has put Wirtz in a more left attacking position in the last two games. Wirtz performed well in the midweek victory over Real Madrid and may have been his best performance since joining Liverpool, but the effect was not good against Manchester City.

Liverpool bought Wirtz to play the No. 10 position in the center, but his main touch position in Leverkusen last season was on the left wing (most of the time he was the left attacking midfielder in 3-4-2-1). Last season in the Bundesliga, 45% of his touches were on the left wing, compared to just 25% this season, and he actually touched more of the ball on Liverpool's right wing (27%).

Wiltz is able to use his right foot to cut inside on the left wing, away from the crowded center. He can get more time and space to control the ball, which helps him avoid some tall defenders in the Premier League. Therefore, Slaughter will likely continue with his current tactics, keeping Wirtz out of the midfield three for some time to come.

Teammates have dragged down Wirtz's performance

It can be said that Wirtz has not had good luck this season. In other words, he has been being dragged down by his teammates. Despite the above difficulties, Wirtz has become one of the most creative players in the Premier League this season. Among all the main attackers, only 7 players created opportunities more efficiently than Wirtz.

So far in the Premier League season, the German has created 16 opportunities for his teammates, but none of them have been converted into goals. It can be said that Wirtz has been doing his job conscientiously, but his teammates have not done theirs.

The most typical one was when Liverpool lost to Chelsea. Wirtz sent a beautiful pass while sprinting at full speed, creating a great opportunity for Salah, but the latter failed to grasp it. This could have been one of the best assists of the season. A similar situation also occurred with Isaac, Bradley, and Szoboszlai. Wirtz's pass failed to be converted into a goal by them.

These moments are enough to prove Wirtz's talent and creativity. There is no doubt that he deserves the transfer fee of 116 million pounds. The question for Liverpool is how long it will take for him to consistently show that quality in the Premier League, and what changes will be needed to help him achieve that.