Florian Wirtz bold Liverpool claim made after Julian Nagelsmann blunt comments - 'In time'

Former Liverpool favourite Jason McAteer believes Florian Wirtz will grow into one of the best players in the Premier League with Liverpool

It comes with the territory when you are the golden boy of German football and have a £116m price tag around your neck. But it's safe to say the performances of Florian Wirtz following his big-money move from Bayer Leverkusen to Liverpool have been the subject of intense scrutiny, both in his homeland and the country he now calls home.

And, sure enough, following his display in Liverpool's 3-0 defeat at Manchester City on Sunday, the 22-year-old's name has not been far from the headlines at the start of the international break.

And comments made by Wirtz's Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann certainly caught the eye. Suggesting the talented playmaker has not been helped by the form the defending Premier League champions are showing, Nagelsmann said: "To be honest, the whole situation does not make it easy for him either.

OPINION

READ MORE : Andy Robertson makes Liverpool future admission with contract issue to 'take over life'

"The whole club itself is not as stable this year as it was last year. It's much harder to slip into the team now.

"If you look versus City, they were the worse team over the 90 minutes. So it is also difficult for Flo to make any real big impact.

"Ultimately, the overall situation is such that he just needs a little more time - which is normal and you see that with other players, who move to the English Premier League as well."

It's a view shared by former Liverpool favourite Jason McAteer, who is convinced the criticism is impacting Wirtz, who has looked excellent in the Champions League but has yet to find his feet in the faster and more physical English top flight.

"I think Wirtz has found it difficult at Liverpool," said McAteer, who made 139 appearances for the Reds in the 1990s, notching six goals and 18 assists.

"He was a fantastic talent at Leverkusen, part of that team under Xabi Alonso. And it was a team really that I felt Xabi built around him in the end. He was the focal point and grew into that role and responsibility. He flourished and his German career has taken off, he's a bit of a golden boy in Germany.

"He's had to move away from his family, adapt to a different culture. People forget about these things when foreign players come to the Premier League.

"It does take time to forge relationships, it does take time to create an understanding with your fellow team-mates. But also, in the Premier League there's a big spotlight on top players. Everybody has an opinion, everybody scrutinises their performance and you don't really seem to be given an opportunity to settle.

"It's like you have to hit the ground running. It's like because they paid £120m and he's a superstar, he's not allowed to play badly.

"Unfortunately it's not turned out that way. The scrutiny, the criticism, it seems to be affecting him. So I understand why he's not in the team.

"But I thoroughly think, in time, he'd be one of the best players in the Premier League."

Wirtz has yet to score or record an assist in the Premier League and he never looked like doing either during the miserable defeat at Man City, who effectively put the game to bed in a largely one-sided first half albeit one marred by a major VAR controversy.

The loss leaves Arne Slot's defending champions eight points behind leaders Arsenal and four behind City in second.

And McAteer, speaking to AceOdds.com, said: "Considering the result on Saturday for Arsenal (who drew 2-2 at Sunderland), I didn't feel the Man City game was a must-win for Liverpool. I felt a draw would have kept them involved.

"Obviously, a defeat puts a different complexion on it. It puts them further behind Arsenal. I know it's only a point for Arsenal but they're all important. Had Arsenal won and Liverpool lost like they did, I would have probably said yes, they're out of the title race. I still think they've got a couple of fingers on a challenge but they need to put a run together.

"First of all, they need to find a way of playing, a system, Slot's best team. They need to find some consistency and it looks like he's gone a little bit back to the drawing board, after the results."

"It was always going to be a big 10 days with Aston Villa, Man City and Real Madrid in the Champions League. It was always going to be a big ask. Villa was a must win, there was a lot of emotion at Anfield, coming off the back of six defeats.

"You just felt like a sigh of relief when they won against Villa. I thought it was a really, really good performance with a clean sheet. He'd gone back to basics a little bit with his team selection, tried and tested. Great results, good performance.

"Real Madrid, everyone rises to the occasion. The fans got right behind the team, the performance was great, stand-out performance by Conor Bradley. (Dominik) Szoboszlai again, he's been brilliant. It was just an emotional night really, great result, could have been more, three or four. They made Madrid look ordinary.

"And then they've just gone to the well, one too many times, with Man City. I thought the performance levels dropped off.

"They looked tired, physically and emotionally. And they just met a Man City team that Pep Guardiola, on his 1,000th game, found a way of playing against Liverpool.

"The 3-0, some people felt it flattered them but I thought it was a really good performance by City and they deserved it."

The Reds return to action after the international break on Saturday, November 22 when they play host to Nottingham Forest.

Click here to read article