The comments online calling for Slot to drop Wirtz are ridiculous. The problem isn’t one of the best attacking midfielders in the world, it’s the tactics/setup that have failed completely to get the best out of him.
Wirtz was very good in possession yesterday. The issue was that as usual he wasn’t in possession that often and that he didn’t have many options to pass to.
Calls to drop Wirtz are silly and premature at best..
As has been pointed out he needs options to pass to and he is not getting them,laying the ball off to nowhere isn’t a great option.
Sure it will come together,but that needs to be soon!
Thats the problem ONLINE supporters, plastic ones
We’ve used Wirtz in two positions so far, none of which, in the way he’s being used, are anything different to what he did so far in his career. His performances have been much more questionable than Slot’s management of his minutes. We’re giving him chances and hoping for him to improve, but we also cannot force it and just leave him on the pitch every minute of every game until he starts performing better and more consistently.
I was actually disappointed with his distribution v gala. There were at least a couple of times when he gave the ball away that seemed sloppy and he also played the ball backwards or sideways in a way that suggested either a lack of confidence or specific instructions to not ‘advance’ the play from certain parts of the pitch.
Agree - everyone around him is out of form.
He takes up great positions but no one can seem to see him
At some point, he’s the one who will have to take care of the ball better and come out as a winner from duels more often. Not play like Lucas Leiva of course, but it’s not all about finding him better and earlier. He’s not the only player in this team, not everything has to go through him. Football has long improved since those ideas. It’s more about seeing a red shirt available (no matter who it is), play with accuracy, pace and intent. When we lose it, be more compact and aggressive to win it back as quickly as possible. If not, drop back to a middle or lower block and defend. He often does something well initially, but then the fight doesn’t stop, you have another player (who you might not see) chasing you. Bundesliga gives you more time and space, that is true.
exactly…its not like he’s Mo Salah or anything…
this.
im happy with Wirtz ( didnt see the Gala game so more a general comment than a judgement of that game), if i had one issue i think it feels like everyones waiting (player himself aswell) for him to trouble the stats board, when all he really needs to do is keep flowing with the game, play with his teammates and wait for the right moment instead of forcing it…
as you say, not like a Lucas Levia type footballer, but just as a player…
like MCallister…i have no idea when he scored his first goal for the cub or what his stats look like, all i know is we are a better football team when hes in it and playing well.
just do that Flo, and everything will fall into place
I think he is in the unfortunate position that on one hand he indeed had not shown why he was probably the best player in Germany for a couple of seasons and being bought for a high price that people gets more easily impatient with him. This is a test of his mental strength to keep fighting and improving and get into the groove or if not, he will just fade away before long.
Wirtz himself has spoken fairly openly about the adaptation he is having to make - the pace of the game, the time on the ball, the amount of running he’s having to do affecting the execution of some of the stuff he’s having to do, not being able to get through 90 mins yet as a result of all the above.
I get people want to see magic from day 1 from a player who arrived at that cost, but the fee was to get 6 years worth of quality out of him. You can see the quality and it is encouraging to me that he’s clear eyed and seemingly fairly undaunted by the adaptation he is going to have to make.
He seems a smart player. If anything he’s looked a little too smart and too tentative for us. Once an understanding is developed this will change - it’s a shame that we didn’t have a full uninterrupted preseason as I’d think this would be happening now but I’m sure (barring injuries) we will see this from Flo in 2026.
some good news for Flo ;
Carragher calls for him to be dropped (read a headline, cant be arsed clicking a link let alone reading the guff thereafter)
so on two fronts, Carragher is usualling just screaming a sensationalist headline and Slot might just dig his heels in for that very reason.
stick to spitting on random people filming you Carra…
You can see how us signing Wirtz really motivated Szobo.
Like Wijnaldum’s reaction and form (in early 18/19, much better than his previous two seasons) when we signed Keita.
Clickbait Carra. We need the exact opposite. Keep playing him and keep him on the pitch for longer. Everytime he has figured out the game and is starting to run it Arne takes him off or switches his position
It’s nothing shocking, is it? He’s not calling for one of our best performers to be “dropped”. Truth is he hasn’t performed very well so far, so I don’t have an issue with what Carra says there. If it means for a certain period playing a bit less, starting less games, sometimes doing a job in the left half-space, it’s no big deal. And I’m saying that as someone who was incredibly excited by his signature and thought (and hoped) he would tear it up from the first moment. The team comes first. And hopefully with time, he will get better. We don’t have 30 players (and thankfully we don’t!), we have plenty of games, he will still play more than enough football to get there. But getting the team back on track in terms of performance in all phases of the game is always the priority. Now it’s the time to forget about the long term for a bit and focus on the short term.
The King has spoken,
that’ll do for me!
now lets get our support behind the “wee fella”
I’d hope he could open a can of soup.