Jamie Carragher's Harsh Critique of Florian Wirtz
Jamie Carragher did not bother with sugar-coating. At the Vitality Stadium, as Liverpool ground their way to a 1-0 win over Bournemouth, his focus kept drifting back to one player in red.
Florian Wirtz.
“Wirtz has been really poor again,” he said on Sky Sports co-commentary. “It's just nothing. Nothing is happening there at all.”
By full-time, Carragher’s verdict had hardened. For him, this wasn’t a blip. This was the problem.
‘One of the poorest I’ve ever seen him’
On the bonus Jamie Carragher Podcast for Sky Sports after the game, the former Liverpool defender doubled down.
“That was one of the poorest I've ever seen him in a Liverpool shirt,” he said.
Carragher has long questioned Wirtz’s output. The numbers, the end product, the decisive moments – he thinks they’re missing. Usually, he admits, Wirtz at least brings something: tidy touches, calm in tight areas, the ability to escape pressure and keep the ball.
This time, he saw none of that.
“The reason I worry is, I don't think Wirtz is in poor form since he came to Liverpool. I actually think what we're seeing is what he is.”
That’s the line that will sting at Anfield.
Carragher revealed his doubts had been building for a year. He traced it back to a game at Burnley, when a late Mo Salah penalty snatched a win. Even that day, he watched Wirtz and saw the same pattern he now can’t ignore.
“I don't see how he's going to hurt you,” he said. “It's just neat and tidy. And in some way, the price tag for that type of player should be half of what Liverpool have paid.”
Liverpool did not sign Wirtz to be neat and tidy. They signed him to tilt title races, to swing Champions League ties. In Carragher’s eyes, the gap between the player they thought they were getting and the player they actually have is now alarmingly wide.
“The gap he's got to get to almost justify what people were expecting, I almost think is too big. You can't get there. Even if he improves a bit and gets there, it's still not what Liverpool thought they were getting.”
The knock-on effect in Iraola’s midfield
Carragher’s criticism doesn’t stop with Wirtz’s own game. He sees a ripple effect across the Liverpool side.
When Wirtz starts as a No 10, Dominik Szoboszlai has to drop deeper into central midfield. Carragher hates that trade-off.
“I don't think Szoboszlai is a central-midfield player, I don't,” he said.
For him, that tactical compromise weakens Liverpool twice: a No 10 who doesn’t hurt teams enough, and a dynamic attacking midfielder pushed into a role that blunts his strengths.
And with a brutal run of fixtures looming, Carragher believes Andoni Iraola has to act.
‘He can't be in the Man City team’
After the international break, Liverpool are thrown straight into the fire. Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City come to Anfield on October 11, live on Sky Sports. Around that, Iraola’s side must deal with Brentford, Brighton and a trip to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on October 1.
Layered on top: Champions League ties against LASK and Villarreal, plus a Carabao Cup fourth-round meeting with Chelsea.
In that context, Bournemouth away felt like an audition for Wirtz. Carragher thinks he failed it.
“I think going forward Iraola's got a decision to make here. Wirtz would not be in my Liverpool team,” he said.
“I thought this Bournemouth game was a big game for Wirtz. Because if he doesn't produce, he's then going to have a three-week break. By the time we come back, we're into October. Before you know it, it'll be Christmas in six to eight weeks, or it'll feel like we're getting to Christmas. He has to do something!”
Carragher then widened the lens. Forget the elite. Forget Kevin De Bruyne and Martin Ødegaard. He compared Wirtz to solid, mid-table Premier League creators and still found him wanting.
He namechecked Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall at Everton. Nobody, he argued, would claim Dewsbury-Hall is more talented than Wirtz or worth more on the market. Yet Dewsbury-Hall chips in with goals every few weeks.
He pointed to Morgan Gibbs-White at Nottingham Forest, recalling a second-half display at Aston Villa that he insists Wirtz has “never done before for Liverpool.”
He referenced Emiliano Buendia at Aston Villa, scoring at Tottenham and regularly offering “bits” for his club – bursts of influence, tangible contributions.
These aren’t £100m players. They’re not £120m players. But they are, in Carragher’s view, giving more to their teams than Wirtz is giving to Liverpool.
“Wirtz wouldn't be in my Liverpool team. Manchester City at home, for me, he can't be in the team.”
Iraola’s big calls – and the next one
Carragher actually admires Iraola’s willingness to be ruthless.
He highlighted Ryan Gravenberch, tied down on a hefty five-year contract and touted as part of the club’s midfield future alongside Szoboszlai. He’s not playing.
He pointed to the full-backs. Jeremie Frimpong, dropped straight away. Milos Kerkez, in and out. No sacred cows, no guarantees.
“The things I've liked so far about Iraola, he's had the courage to make big decisions,” Carragher said.
For him, Wirtz has to be the next big decision.
“But sooner or later he's going to have to make a decision on Florian Wirtz, and, for me, I hope it's sooner. Not because I don't like Florian Wirtz, I'm desperate for the kid to do well. I just want Liverpool to win. That's it, basically.”
Klopp, Germany and one last hope
There is, in Carragher’s mind, one potential lifeline.
Jurgen Klopp.
The former Liverpool manager, now in charge of Germany, has called Wirtz up for the upcoming Nations League fixtures. Klopp has split his options into two separate squads, and Wirtz will be rested before being in contention for Germany’s final two games of the window, against Serbia and Greece.
“The one hope for Liverpool supporters now is Jurgen Klopp is the Germany manager,” Carragher said.
“Wirtz goes away with the Germany team for three weeks, and he's obviously one of the best players in Germany, that's how they see him. Can Jurgen Klopp sprinkle a bit of stardust on him in that position?”
Carragher trusts Klopp’s touch with players, his ability to draw more from them than most.
“Jurgen is one of the greatest managers in the world, we know that. And what he gets out of players is probably more than most managers because of the nature of his personality, and fingers crossed something can happen for him.”
The scenario he sketches is simple but powerful. Wirtz explodes for Germany: goals, assists, confidence. He comes back to Liverpool transformed, riding a wave.
“There's a scenario there that Jurgen Klopp and Germany have a great international window, he gets loads of goals, assists and comes back on a high. Manchester City's the next game, he impacts that, all is forgotten, all is forgiven. There's a potential turnaround there.”
Carragher doesn’t hide what he wants to see.
“I would love that to happen, I'd love him to be the match-winner against Manchester City.”
For now, though, the reality is harsher. A £100m-plus signing, under scrutiny from one of the club’s most influential voices, heading into a crucial international break with his place in Liverpool’s biggest game of the season very much in doubt.
Manchester City at Anfield is looming. By then, everyone will know whether Florian Wirtz has answered his critics – or given Iraola no choice but to leave him out.
