German media rip into 'weak' Florian Wirtz as Liverpool star's woes continue

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Florian Wirtz continues to struggle for form despite hopes that the international break might have helped bring about a resurgence. The midfielder, who made headlines with his record-breaking £116million move to Liverpool in June, is a player clearly lacking in confidence at the moment.

Wirtz arrived at Anfield with high expectations, having been hailed as one of Germany's brightest talents and chose to sign for Liverpool over Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich . However, the 22-year-old's start to life on Merseyside has been less than stellar , despite occasional glimpses of his undeniable talent.

His lack of end product has been particularly alarming, with no goals or assists in 11 Premier League games to his name. Ironically, he managed two assists in his Champions League return to Germany against Frankfurt.

Despite the growing media narrative around the struggling playmaker, Julian Nagelsmann selected Wirtz for this month's World Cup qualifiers against Luxembourg and Slovakia.

He played the full 90 minutes of the first encounter on Friday, featuring in his favoured No.10 role, while he has recently had to play in a multitude of positions across the front line and in midfield under Arne Slot .

However, the overwhelming consensus among the German press was that he struggled. Germany as a team failed to radiate brilliance against a well-organised Luxembourg and needed a second-half brace from Nick Woltemade to secure the three points. Wirtz in particular received plenty of criticism.

Bavarian newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung wrote: “After about 35 minutes, the Germans finally celebrated their first (small) successes of the evening. They managed to disrupt Luxembourg's high press simply by being present and, at least, gained some ground on the pitch.

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“Florian Wirtz also gave the impression that he had finally substituted himself in, although his efforts during this phase seemed more well-intentioned than well-executed.”

The midfielder had a chance after nine minutes which the opposing keeper kept out. He then showed impressive speed and ball control in the 28th minute to create another chance but sent his shot sailing over the crossbar.

Der Spiegel delivered a scathing assessment, deeming it "an extremely weak performance" from the Liverpool star. They claimed he was at times invisible and "lacking physical intensity in almost all of his actions", before dealing a crushing blow by noting: "He repeatedly dribbled himself into trouble and lacked any spark or inspiration."

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Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung highlighted his deflected effort that went wide in the 39th minute, saying he "squandered" an opportunity to put Germany ahead before the break. However, they did note that the second goal came from his clearance attempt at the other end of the pitch.

It's clear that Wirtz's underwhelming performances for both club and country this campaign have left him and observers feeling disappointed, with attention now turning to how he'll perform in Germany's upcoming fixture. When he returns to the UK, Liverpool will take on Nottingham Forest at home on November 22.