J\u00fcrgen Klopp has sought to calm concerns around Liverpool\u2019s recent dip and the adaptation of new signing Florian Wirtz.<\/p>\n
Wirtz, signed from Bayer Leverkusen for a fee of \u00a3116 million ($154.7 million), is 22 and has yet to contribute to a goal in a competitive fixture. The midfielder\u2019s early performances have prompted scrutiny following a run in which Liverpool lost three games in a row.<\/p>\n
Klopp defended the player and the club\u2019s handling of the situation, telling Sport: \u201cWith Florian Wirtz, I simply don\u2019t have to worry because his quality is so outstanding.\u201d He added context on the wider reaction: \u201cThe discussions are a bit exaggerated. Liverpool just lost three games in a row, which is unusual. But that\u2019s also normal in life. And that\u2019s why such things are discussed there. Now I\u2019ve been in the middle of such discussions long enough and can say: Nothing could interest people there less than the public discussions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Offering practical advice, Klopp said: \u201cBasically, it can\u2019t hurt to develop a bit of a thicker skin, and that\u2019s no different with Florian. But he has a stable environment, and the club is great in moments like these. So, if anyone\u2019s worried: You don\u2019t have to be, you can stop. Everything will be fine!\u201d<\/p>\n
Wirtz\u2019s wait for a goal or an assist at Liverpool has drawn attention beyond the club. Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann defended the player\u2019s contributions, saying: \u201cEven though he hasn\u2019t scored any goals, he is still the player who creates the most chances in the Premier League.\u201d He added: \u201cIt\u2019s not his fault if his teammates don\u2019t convert them, and the statistics don\u2019t even tell the whole story.\u201d<\/p>\n
A review of wider Premier League numbers in the draft does not support Nagelsmann\u2019s specific claim. Manchester United\u2019s Bruno Fernandes leads chance creation with 19, two ahead of Everton loanee Jack Grealish. Liverpool\u2019s Cody Gakpo has 14 chances created, while Wirtz has 11. The statistics underline the scrutiny but also the context around a player adjusting after an expensive move.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Klopp insists fans should not worry as Wirtz adapts after \u00a3116 million move and poor form. Stay calm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3726,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[230,175,969],"tags":[1081,872,1019],"class_list":["post-3727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analytics-stats","category-liverpool","category-premier-league","tag-adaptation","tag-cody-gakpo","tag-creative-players"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}