‘The Big Difference’—Germany Chief Explains Florian Wirtz’s Liverpool Struggles

Liverpool’s £116 million signing has endured a subdued start to his Premier League career.

Florian Wirtz arrived at Liverpool with lofty expectations. / IMAGO/Pro Sports Images

German Football Association sporting director Rudi Völler has weighed in on Florian Wirtz’s struggles at the start of his Liverpool career, putting his slow start down to a wider team issue.

Wirtz, off the back of two excellent seasons in the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen, signed for Liverpool in a then-club-record £116 million ($155.4 million) deal. The Reds subsequently broke their transfer record again to eventually bring Alexander Isak to the club amid a historic summer splurge, and many projected the champions to stroll to a second straight league title in 2025–26.

However, after a productive start laden with late drama, Liverpool have lost three on the bounce in all competitions, and much has been made about Wirtz’s form. The German international is yet to record a single goal contribution in a competitive fixture for his new club, and he was named on the bench for their 2–1 defeat at Chelsea on Saturday afternoon.

Wirtz will now step away from the limelight by teaming up with the German national team for their October World Cup qualifiers, likely adding to his 33 caps.

“We’re very happy that he [Wirtz] is with us for 10 days now. I am convinced he will deliver two wonderful international matches," Völler said of Liverpool’s struggling playmaker on Sky90.

The former German international knows Wirtz well, having functioned as Leverkusen’s sporting director for 17 years between 2005 and 2022, then later managing the national team on an interim basis. He played 90 times for his country, winning the World Cup, and spent much of his playing career away from his homeland.

Völler thus knows all about the difficulties of acclimatisation, but has suggested that Wirtz’s current issues are more tactical.

The German FA sporting director knows Wirtz well. / IMAGO/osnapix

“The big difference is: at Bayer Leverkusen, despite the individual quality of the other players, he was always looked for,” he said.

“Players like Granit Xhaka, Alejandro Grimaldo or Robert Andrich certainly ran the game. But the moment Florian made himself available, he always got the ball. Even as a young guy, he was already the chief."

The sample size may be small, but there is evidence to back up Völler’s hypothesis. Wirtz’s touch count per 90 minutes has dropped to 59.1 in the Premier League from 80.3 in the Bundesliga last season and 85.3 in 2023–24. The playmaker recorded 22 league goal contributions during his final two campaigns in Germany.

“I deliberately watched some Liverpool games with him: he does an incredible amount of work, runs a lot, makes many sprints, and also goes deep, Völler continued. “But he isn’t played to in the way he was used to at Leverkusen or with the national team. That’s something that has to be developed over weeks and months.”

Despite the issues Völler laid out, he’s backing the “extraordinary” Wirtz to eventually find his groove at Anfield.

"He will assert himself,” the 65-year-old confidently stated.

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