Arne Slot has publicly defended Florian Wirtz amid calls for change after Liverpool endured a run of three successive defeats before the international break. The manager insisted it is premature to judge the 22-year-old following a summer move that carried a reported fee of \u00a3116 million ($155.6 million).<\/p>\n
Slot pointed to the practical signs of adjustment rather than headline numbers. \u201cIf you\u2019ve been brought in for so much money, people look mainly at goals and assists, but I can tell you he could be on six or seven assists already,\u201d Slot argued to Sky Sports . \u201cHe\u2019s been a bit unlucky with the finishing when he\u2019s given his teammates chances but, in general for a 22-year-old, it\u2019s quite normal that you have to adjust to going to another country let alone going to the Premier League.\u201d<\/p>\n
He invoked Kevin De Bruyne\u2019s early difficulties in England as context. \u201cMaybe I\u2019m now underestimating the best midfielder who has ever played in the Premier League, Kevin De Bruyne, he was 21 or 22 when he went to Chelsea [and struggled],\u201d Slot noted. \u201cGive him a bit of time, I would say. I\u2019m definitely going to give him a bit of time and in the meantime, he\u2019s been unlucky.\u201d<\/p>\n
Slot made clear his selection intentions. \u201cHe has to play and he\u2019s played a lot,\u201d the Dutch boss explained. \u201cBecause he\u2019s come from a different league and played so many games, it\u2019s quite normal that once in a while he needs a game where he doesn\u2019t play like I\u2019ve done with Mo Salah and many others.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo get the best out of him, it\u2019s of course necessary for him to play and that\u2019s what he did and what he\u2019s going to do in the upcoming weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
The context is visible in the numbers. In 2025\u201326 Wirtz, aged 22, has made 10 appearances for Liverpool, totalling 734 minutes, with 0 goals, 1 assist and 2 yellow cards. By comparison, Kevin De Bruyne at Chelsea in 2013\u201314, aged 22, recorded 9 appearances, 426 minutes, 0 goals, 1 assist and 1 yellow card.<\/p>\n
Jamie Carragher was among those who suggested Wirtz might be removed from the starting lineup, while other voices have urged a measured appraisal of his adaptation to a new country, team and system. Virgil van Dijk offered a personal perspective on settling after a big transfer. \u201cThe main thing is when new players are coming in, as when I came in for a lot of money, is that you feel welcomed, you feel calm, your home situation is sorted, your family is happy,\u201d the Dutch defender outlined. \u201cIf that is good, then you\u2019ll be able to excel. ]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Slot urges patience for Florian Wirtz, pointing to Kevin De Bruyne’s early career difficulties. Soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3862,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175,172],"tags":[1081,299],"class_list":["post-3863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liverpool","category-epl","tag-adaptation","tag-arne-slot"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3863","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=3863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}