Florian Wirtz’s father Hans dismissed the rampant criticism washing his son’s way, insisting instead that “everything is going as expected.”
When Liverpool agreed what was at the time a club-record £116 million ($152.6 million) fee to bring Wirtz to Merseyside from Bayer Leverkusen over the summer, there would have been few fans expecting the attacking midfielder to still be waiting for his first Premier League goal or assist by mid-November.
The diminutive playmaker teed up Hugo Ekitiké in the Community Shield on an otherwise understated debut and created two goals against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League. However, when it comes to the blood and thunder of England’s top flight, Wirtz’s physicality as much as his quality on the ball have come under fire.
Former Manchester United fullback Gary Neville tore into the Germany international after Liverpool suffered a limp 3–0 defeat to Manchester City last weekend. “Wirtz is a problem,” the eight-time Premier League champion scoffed. “I thought Wirtz looked like a little boy. That can’t be the case.”
Wirtz Sr. had little time for Neville’s comments. “I only take the criticism from the former internationals in passing,” he told . “Florian is a young man who wants to prove himself in a new environment. Less than a third of the season has been played.
“So far, everything is going as expected; it’s a completely normal settling-in process, entirely independent of any transfer fee,” Hans Wirtz, who serves as one of his son’s agents in a unique double act with his wife Karin Groß, added.
“And: If you look at the statistics more closely, you can see that Florian’s stats regarding his involvement in the game are already quite good; only assists and goals are still pending.”
This argument was also raised by Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann, who sniped: “Maybe Liverpool could also help him out by scoring some of the chances he creates.” However, some figures who got to know Wirtz at Bayer Leverkusen offered an explanation which extends beyond blindly pointing at his stack of key passes.
