Florian Wirtz was Liverpool's £116m capture from Bayer Leverkusen, the standout signing of a £450m summer splurge. His first season was steady, if unspectacular — but a tactical problem has squandered his core strengths. Wirtz is not an archetypal winger; his pace is not his best asset and he relies more on speed of thought and movement. During November and December, Arne Slot shifted him to the left wing to provide defensive cover. It wasted the very qualities that made him worth the investment.
The problem with positional flexibility
Playing a number 10 as a left winger is tactically sound in isolation. Slot needed defensive balance, and Wirtz had the work rate to provide it. But treating Europe's finest young playmaker as a utility player was strategically misguided, especially when the real issue was not shape but personnel — Liverpool lacked quick, intelligent runners to feed.
Paul Gorst, writing in the Liverpool Echo, identified the mismatch sharply: "Wirtz will excel as a No.10 with quick players ahead of him. Utilising him in wide areas simply fails to maximise his potential." Gorst added: "Wirtz is not the archetypal wide forward. His pace is not his best asset and he relies more on speed of thought and movement."
The World Cup supplied concrete evidence. Playing in advanced central roles, Wirtz delivered 3 assists across 4 games, earning a 7.59 rating. In one group-stage match deployed as a number 10, he managed a 7.7 rating and one assist in 94 minutes — not spectacular, but a clear proof of concept that his creative output rises with central freedom.
The missing piece
The constraint is not Wirtz's quality but the platform around him. Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo both struggled with pace last season, limiting the penetrative play a number 10 needs to thrive. A playmaker cannot conjure chances alone — he requires intelligent, quick runners ahead of him. For much of 2025-26, Liverpool lacked that combination.
Alexander Isak changes the equation. The centre-forward's World Cup form — 7.29 rating, 1 goal, 3 assists in 4 games — shows what happens when a striker benefits from quality central service. With Isak leading the line and Wirtz providing the creative link, Liverpool finally has the architecture to justify its investment.
Central deployment is not optional if Andoni Iraola believes in that £116m outlay. The personnel problem is real, but it cannot be solved by pushing him further from goal.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →