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 demand consistency as the Reds prepare for three pivotal home fixtures that will provide far clearer evidence of whether the German's game has genuinely moved forward. According to Sky Sports, the £116m playmaker's recent displays have offered genuine encouragement after months of scrutiny.
The fallout from Liverpool's 3-0 defeat to Manchester City at Anfield had been unforgiving for the club's record signing, with former Reds captain Jamie Carragher publicly questioning whether Wirtz deserved his place in the team. Sky Sports reported the pundit's blunt assessment of the situation.
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 Liverpool. It's not harsh to be having a go at Wirtz right now, he's got to do so much more.
Carragher went further in his criticism, highlighting the gap between expectation and delivery since Wirtz's arrival from Bayer Leverkusen.
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's frustration centred on the sheer volume of opportunities Wirtz had been afforded without producing the decisive moments Liverpool needed.
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's relentless cycle, a week can feel like an eternity, and Wirtz enters the club's demanding sequence of fixtures with renewed confidence following an impressive run of performances. The 23-year-old orchestrated Liverpool's attacking play during victories against LASK and Brentford, as well as at home to Villarreal, offering a glimpse of the talent that justified his substantial transfer fee.
In the Champions League demolition of LASK in Austria, Wirtz's precision unlocked the Austrian side's defence with a perfectly weighted inside pass that created Bradley Barcola's second goal during the 6-3 rout. He then produced another standout display in west London, where his creative brilliance proved instrumental in Liverpool's comeback against Brentford.
The visitors trailed the ten-man Bees when Wirtz's vision released Victor Munoz for the crucial leveller just after the hour mark. According to BBC Sport, Wirtz created nine chances from open play in that contest—the most in a Premier League game since 2021 and the most in an away match for over 15 years. His passing accuracy that afternoon was also notable, with BBC Sport recording that he completed 53 of 65 passes (81.5%), including a match-high 38 in the final third.
Across the entire league campaign, Wirtz has now created a league-leading 20 openings, though the quality of those chances warrants closer examination. In total, he has registered a goal involvement in three consecutive matches after scoring his first goal since April during Tuesday's 4-3 home victory over Villarreal, helping Liverpool secure five wins in their last six games across all competitions.
What has equally impressed Iraola is the developing understanding between Wirtz and his fellow £100m-plus recruit from Paris Saint-Germain on the left side of Liverpool's attack, a partnership that could prove crucial to unlocking the Reds' offensive potential.
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. 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.
Iraola's evident exasperation at the continued questioning of Wirtz is understandable, yet the manager has been in the game long enough to recognise that outside noise surrounding an underperforming big-money signing will not dissipate after merely a handful of encouraging showings. Wirtz managed just seven goals and ten assists across 49 games in his debut campaign, a return that invited legitimate scrutiny.
However, context matters significantly when assessing those recent performances. The conditions at both LASK and Brentford suited Wirtz's strengths considerably. LASK were making their Champions League debut and lacked the defensive sophistication to contain Liverpool's attacking patterns, while Brentford's task became substantially more difficult following Yehor Yarmolyuk's straight red card in first-half stoppage time.
The Ukrainian's needless dismissal allowed Wirtz to dominate the second period as the hosts tired, granting him the space and time to orchestrate play. Of those nine chances he created, six arrived after Brentford's numerical disadvantage became apparent. Crucially, none of those openings were classified as 'big chances' by Opta, a reflection of Liverpool's broader attacking struggles this season, where they rank only 16th for expected goals in the Premier League.
The same pattern emerges when examining Wirtz's league-high 20 chances created this campaign—again, none have been deemed high-quality by Opta's standards. This statistical reality presents a significant challenge for Iraola as he prepares for a sequence of fixtures that could define Liverpool's season.
The Brighton, Chelsea and Arsenal tests
Over the next ten days, Liverpool face potentially season-defining matches at Anfield against high-flying Brighton & Hove Albion and defending champions Arsenal in the league, separated by a League Cup clash with free-scoring Chelsea. The Reds have not won at home in the league since April 25 and have secured just 11 victories in their last 21 home games across all competitions, a statistic that underscores the importance of the upcoming fixtures.
Iraola faces a genuine dilemma. On one hand, he desperately needs Wirtz to replicate his recent form against opponents of genuine quality—matches where a big-money playmaker is expected to make the difference. On the other hand, can he afford to deploy the No. 10 against teams with the pace and counter-attacking threat to expose Liverpool's defensive vulnerabilities?
This was precisely the challenge that confronted Iraola's predecessor when Wirtz arrived last summer. Arne 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 to the left wing.
Iraola has not employed specialist holding midfielders during his managerial career, instead trusting players like Tyler Adams and Alex Scott to cover ground both defensively and offensively. He has so far resisted deploying Gravenberch as a dedicated holding midfielder, meaning a tactical shift appears unlikely.
Finding the correct midfield balance will prove integral to Wirtz's long-term success at Liverpool. According to BBC Sport, former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has argued that using Wirtz as the No. 10 leaves too much space for the two central midfielders to cover and makes Liverpool too easy to play against.
Sky Sports News' Liverpool reporter Vinny O'Connor expanded on this structural problem during the latest Sky Sports Premier League podcast, highlighting the absence of a true defensive anchor in Iraola's setup.
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.
O'Connor noted that Gravenberch has occasionally filled that role, yet the midfielder's natural instinct is to drive forward rather than sit deep. Alexis Mac Allister's strengths lie elsewhere, while Dominik Szoboszlai is not a natural holding player either.
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.
The structural vulnerability becomes apparent when Wirtz operates in the No. 10 position, leaving Liverpool exposed to counter-attacks—a weakness Newcastle United exploited ruthlessly during the opening weekend of the season with two rapid breaks through the middle.
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 suggested that the solution might involve deploying Wirtz in a more advanced position, almost as a second striker alongside Alexander Isak, rather than in the traditional No. 10 role. If that partnership flourishes alongside the pace of Bradley Barcola on the wing, it could create the additional space and time Wirtz requires to be truly creative.
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.
Wirtz's record in the Premier League against top-flight opposition has been particularly concerning. According to BBC Sport, he registered no goal involvements against Premier League top-10 teams in the previous season, a statistic that will weigh heavily on Iraola's mind as Brighton, Arsenal and Chelsea loom.
What happens next
Liverpool are scheduled to host Brighton & Hove Albion on October 25 in the Premier League, followed by a Carabao Cup tie against Chelsea on October 28. These fixtures will provide genuine evidence of whether Wirtz's recent performances represent a genuine turning point or merely a temporary respite from the mounting pressure.
Playing within a team that is regularly winning and controlling matches will undoubtedly benefit Wirtz going forward—something he has not consistently experienced since joining Liverpool. Iraola will hope that these crucial upcoming games finally provide the platform for his £116m signing to deliver the impact that justified his substantial transfer fee and silence the growing chorus of criticism.
