Wirtz delivers but remains Liverpool’s conundrum
Florian Wirtz played a key role as Liverpool snapped their losing streak in the Premier League with a win at Brentford on Saturday, but the German midfielder may still be manager Andoni Iraola’s biggest puzzle. The 23‑year‑old has faced criticism for not matching the form that prompted Liverpool to break their transfer record with a £116 million fee for him from Bayer Leverkusen in June 2025. Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard even suggested that a spell out of the side might help the player regain confidence.
Iraola’s dilemma was on display in west London on Saturday. After their first league defeat of the season against Manchester City, Liverpool turned the tide by scoring twice in the second half against a Brentford side reduced to ten men before the break. The visitors created a wealth of chances, especially after the red card, registering 14 of their 21 total attempts in the second half.
Wirtz was central to Liverpool’s attacking play. He generated nine chances from open play, the most by any player in a Premier League match over the past six seasons. The last player to match that tally was Sadio Mane for Liverpool against Burnley in January 2021. In an away fixture, Wirtz became the first player in more than 15 years to produce nine chances, a feat last achieved by Samir Nasri, who supplied ten for Manchester City against Tottenham in August 2011.
Statistically, Wirtz was impressive, completing 53 of his 65 passes (81.5 %) and delivering a match‑leading 38 passes inside the final third. Yet his style continues to attract scrutiny. Former Liverpool midfielder and BBC Sport pundit Danny Murphy argued that a midfield built around Wirtz at the number 10 creates vulnerabilities, leaving the side too easy to defend against. “They got the job done. First and foremost, that’s another win on the road, which is always positive,” Murphy said. “But I thought they looked too easy to play against. The spaces are too big. They’re playing with two wingers and Wirtz at 10, so they’re relying heavily on the two midfield players to try and cover so much space. It was too easy for Brentford to play out and to get in behind. That would be the biggest concern today for me.”
Wirtz’s strengths are evident. He is tied for the most chances created in the Premier League this season, level with Brighton’s Pascal Gross at 18. He also assisted in consecutive games for Liverpool across all competitions for the first time, though this marks only his second goal involvement in seven league matches. He recorded a match‑leading 12 entries into the final third and made 37 passes in that zone. However, he lost possession 19 times, second only to Milos Kerkez (20), and won just one of his nine duels.
Murphy added, “They don’t look solid and don’t look together in terms of shape. Instead of a number 10, where Wirtz is struggling to impact games, put three midfielders in. Always, the priority is foundation, defence, stability, being hard to beat. The other stuff can follow from there. At the moment, it just looks a little bit open. Against better teams, you’re going to get hurt.”
The victory lifted Liverpool to fifth in the table, giving Iraola three wins from his first seven league games since replacing Arne Slot in the summer. The win also marked Liverpool’s first away league triumph after conceding first since December 2023, ending a run of 19 away games without a comeback win.
Injuries added to Iraola’s challenges. Striker Alexander Isak returned from a lay‑off, but Dominik Szoboszlai and Jeremie Frimpong both suffered injuries during the Brentford match. Iraola told BBC Sport, “When you come here, you see the results of Brentford at home and you have to be ready for this kind of battle. We had a lot of chances. Even at the end, we had some counters where we were three against one and need to finish. When we go 2‑1, every throw‑in and every free‑kick can be a problem. We are in a delicate situation with some of the players. We were talking about this run of four games in ten days, it’s very, very demanding. We have to rest again because we have another big, big game against Villarreal on Tuesday.”