Florian Wirtz delivered one of his most commanding performances in a Liverpool shirt during last weekend's visit to Brentford, yet manager Andoni Iraola will need the German to sustain that level of excellence as the Reds prepare for three pivotal home fixtures that will reveal much about where the playmaker's game truly stands.
The reaction to Liverpool's recent 3-0 defeat at Manchester City at Anfield painted a bleak picture for the club's £116m acquisition. Former Liverpool captain Jamie Carragher went so far as to call for Wirtz to be dropped from the team following another subdued showing against the Premier League champions, according to Sky Sports.
I'm just sorry to say this Florian Wirtz signing it's not working and it hasn't worked so far and Gravenberch should not be sitting on the bench when Wirtz is playing for Liverpoolthe Sky Sports pundit declared.
It's not harsh to be having a go at Wirtz right now, he's got to do so much more.
Carragher's critique was withering.
I struggle to think of one game where he's won Liverpool the game or he's been the man. He was brought in to be a star of the Premier League. I felt he could be the Kevin De Bruyne that at times got Man City over the line.
The former defender pointed to the sheer volume of opportunities Wirtz has had to prove himself.
Wirtz has been here for 55-60 games, it's a lot and I don't see it changing. Wirtz where he's almost nailed on that he plays every week in that No 10 position it has to stop. I think he needs to come out of the team, I said that last time out and I'm going to say it again.
Yet in football, a week can feel like a lifetime, and Wirtz enters the club's demanding fixture schedule with renewed confidence after shining in Liverpool's recent sequence of victories against LASK and Brentford, plus a home triumph over Villarreal.
The 23-year-old orchestrated the midfield during the 6-3 Champions League demolition in Austria, threading a perfectly weighted inside pass to create the second of Bradley Barcola's hat-trick in a congested area. He then repeated that creative excellence in west London, where he helped the Reds overturn a deficit to inflict Brentford's first league defeat of the season on Saturday.
When Brentford were reduced to ten men, Wirtz's incisive pass released Victor Munoz for the equaliser just after the hour. He created nine chances from open play in that contest—the highest tally in a Premier League match since 2021 and the most in an away fixture for over 15 years. Across the league this season, he has now set up 20 openings, leading all players.
According to BBC Sport, Wirtz completed 53 of 65 passes at Brentford (81.5%), including 38 in the final third, though he lost possession 19 times and won just one of nine duels contested.
Wirtz then delivered a match-defining second-half display in Tuesday's 4-3 home victory against Villarreal, scoring his first goal since April and recording a goal involvement in three consecutive matches. That result extended Liverpool's winning streak to five victories in their last six games across all competitions.
What encourages Iraola equally is the developing understanding between Wirtz and his fellow £100m-plus recruit from Paris Saint-Germain on the left flank of the attacking line, a partnership that could unlock greater attacking potency.
He's coming in from two very good games, he played very well LASK away, he helped the team a lot in possession, out of possession,Iraola reflected on Wirtz's recent form.
I hope we can keep him there. You ask me every day basically about him, we analyse and over scrutinise everything, but when he does well also, it's fair to say.
The Liverpool manager's exasperation at continued questioning about Wirtz is understandable, yet his £116m playmaker cannot expect the scrutiny to fade after merely a handful of impressive displays. His debut campaign on Merseyside yielded only seven goals and ten assists across 49 games in all competitions—a return that invites persistent external pressure.
The sample size remains too small to draw definitive conclusions about the Germany international. Moreover, both recent performances came under circumstances that favoured his style. LASK were making their Champions League debut, while Brentford played the entire second half with only ten men following Yehor Yarmolyuk's straight red card in first-half stoppage time.
That Ukrainian's needless dismissal undoubtedly allowed Wirtz to dominate the second period at the Gtech Stadium as the hosts tired, affording him greater space and time to operate. Of his nine chances created, six came after Brentford's numerical disadvantage, and crucially, none were classified as 'big chances' by Opta. Liverpool's broader attacking struggles are reflected in their ranking of only 16th for expected goals in the Premier League this season.
The same pattern emerges with Wirtz's league-leading 20 chances created this campaign—none have been deemed high-quality by Opta's metrics. According to BBC Sport, Wirtz has 18 chances created in the Premier League this season, level with Brighton's Pascal Gross, and his Brentford assist marked his first time assisting in consecutive Liverpool matches across all competitions.
This presents Iraola with a fundamental dilemma as he prepares for potentially season-defining matches at Anfield. Brighton and Hove Albion, Arsenal, and Chelsea represent three high-intensity encounters that will test whether Wirtz can deliver when facing elite opposition with limited time and space.
Liverpool have not won at home in the league since April 25 and have recorded just 11 victories in their last 21 home games across all competitions. The trio of fixtures—Brighton on October 25, Chelsea in the Carabao Cup on October 28, and Arsenal on November 1—will be tightly contested affairs where the playmaker's quality is expected to make the difference.
Yet Iraola must weigh whether deploying Wirtz against opponents capable of punishing Liverpool on the counter-attack is wise. Newcastle United exposed exactly this vulnerability on the opening weekend, striking twice through the middle via fast breaks. Can the manager afford to play his No 10 against teams that will press aggressively and offer minimal time on the ball?
This was the precise challenge that faced Iraola's predecessor, Arne Slot, when Wirtz arrived last summer. Slot restructured his title-winning midfield to accommodate the German in the hole, with disastrous consequences, before reverting to the previous campaign's successful 4-3-3 diamond formation with Gravenberch as sole No 6 and repositioning Wirtz on the left wing.
Iraola never employed specialist holding midfielders during his Bournemouth tenure, instead trusting Tyler Adams and Alex Scott to cover ground both defensively and offensively. He has so far resisted using Gravenberch as a dedicated holding midfielder, suggesting he is unlikely to follow Slot's eventual solution.
Finding the correct midfield balance remains integral to Wirtz's Liverpool success. Sky Sports News' Liverpool reporter Vinny O'Connor outlined the core problem on the latest Sky Sports Premier League podcast:
If it's not working then he'll [Iraola] take a big decision [to drop Wirtz] and make that call ultimately. It is to do with the players around him and it is finding that balance in midfield and he's not necessarily helped I don't think by the fact that Liverpool don't have an out-and-out destroyer who can sit in front of that back four.
At the moment, Gravenberch has played that role, but we've seen again at times this season how he wants to drive forward as well and play a part higher up the pitch. MacAllister, obviously that suits him better and [Dominik] Szoboszlai isn't someone who naturally sits and holds in midfield either.
So there's a dynamic in that midfield - who does what and when and when you've got Wirtz in there, that leaves Liverpool at times completely wide open. We've seen how they've been caught on the counterattack, so solving that problem is going to be key to getting the best out of Wirtz.
O'Connor identified a potential pathway forward.
At the moment, you've got that solidity behind him and at times Wirtz has played even further forward than a No 10, almost as like a second striker off [Alexander] Isak and if their relationship thrives and you've got the pace on the wings from the likes of Barcola and the threat that he provides as well occupying defenders, maybe that opens up more spaces for Wirtz, gives him more time on the ball, more time to be creative and ultimately make the kind of impact that we're expecting from him.
The doubts surrounding Wirtz extend beyond the English media. Former Germany international Dietmar Hamann has stated he sees no future for Wirtz at Liverpool, suggesting the club could make a decision on his future at the end of the season.
According to Goal, Wirtz has accumulated seven goals and 13 assists in 58 competitive appearances for Liverpool—a tally that falls significantly short of expectations for a player of his profile and fee. The contrast with his Bayer Leverkusen record is stark: he recorded 35 goals and 47 assists across 140 Bundesliga matches before his move to Merseyside.
Playing within a team that regularly dominates matches and controls possession will undoubtedly benefit Wirtz's development. That luxury has been scarce since his arrival, and Iraola will hope the upcoming sequence of home fixtures provides exactly that environment. Success in these three crucial tests could transform the narrative around his tenure and vindicate the substantial investment in his signature.
