Jeremie Frimpong defends Florian Wirtz after claims he's 'not clicking' at Liverpool

Florian Wirtz had another somewhat mixed day at the office on Wednesday as Liverpool left it late to beat Atletico Madrid.

The spotlight has been shining brightly on Wirtz since June, after the German made a record-breaking switch to Anfield from Bayer Leverkusen.

At times, the attention has appeared too much for Wirtz, with performances not particularly matching his £116m price-tag.

Earlier this week, pundit Micah Richards claimed that Wirtz is simply ‘not clicking‘ after joining Liverpool, but did suggest that his displays are sure to improve.

Liverpool supporters will of course be patient with their new No. 7, and there were again some good flashes against Atletico.

And speaking after the Reds continued their 100 per cent winning record this season, fellow new signing Jeremie Frimpong backed Wirtz to answer his critics.

Jeremie Frimpong says ‘much more to come’ from Florian Wirtz

Frimpong and Wirtz are great friends having spent much of their young careers together at Leverkusen and now Liverpool.

While in Germany, Wirtz earned his reputation as one of the most exciting and creative footballers in Europe.

MORE LIVERPOOL STORIES

READ MORE: Arne Slot admits something really surprised him about Alexander Isak’s Liverpool debut

And having seen that up close, Frimpong says he is sure the 22-year-old will deliver the same at Liverpool.

“He’s just getting started you know,” the Dutchman told LFCTV. “Obviously I’ve been with him for four years in Leverkusen so I know what he can do. I’m seeing that, it’s coming, there’s a lot more to see from him.”

While at Leverkusen, Wirtz and Frimpong were part of a team famed for scoring late winners under Xabi Alonso. And having brought that same trait to Liverpool, the right-back dismissed suggestions of luck playing a part.

“It’s just part of football, sometimes you score last minute, I’ve had a lot of last minutes in my career so far, obviously with Leverkusen!” Frimpong smiled.

“The most important thing is that we won. I thought we deserved to win, we were the better team. You like to score earlier but sometimes it doesn’t work like that.”

Frimpong happy with Liverpool decision

In an unexpected twist, Frimpong has actually managed to get on the scoresheet for Liverpool before his buddy Wirtz.

Despite his lack of a goal so far, though, the Germany international has been part of a team which has been winning while gelling together all the time.

And according to Frimpong, while performances are expected to improve, winning games – and trophies – is exactly why he joined Liverpool in the first place.

“I feel like we’re doing good right now, we won all our games and football’s about winning,” he said. “We can play better but if you play better and you lose no one’s going to care about that. Football’s winning, of course we can play better but the most important thing is winning.

“To win trophies you have to win and score goals. This is why I came to Liverpool, Liverpool’s a winning team, they know how to win trophies and that’s what I want to do.”

Click here to read article