Florian Wirtz Faces Criticism at Liverpool from Robert Huth
Robert Huth doesn’t like what he’s seeing from Florian Wirtz at Liverpool – and he’s not sugar-coating it.
“I really find it hard to see how this can still turn around,” said the former Premier League defender on All Out Football’s In The Mixer podcast, dissecting Wirtz’s situation at Anfield with the bluntness that marked his playing days.
Huth, a veteran of 322 Premier League appearances and a title winner with Leicester City in 2016, accepts Wirtz is “obviously a good player”. That’s where the praise stops. For him, the Premier League might simply be a level too brutal for the 23-year-old at this stage.
“He has real problems with his physicality,” said the 42-year-old, who won 19 caps for Germany and featured at the 2006 World Cup on home soil. In Huth’s eyes, that weakness is not a minor detail in England. It’s a potential deal-breaker.
Liverpool certainly didn’t pay for a long-term project. They committed a hefty base fee of 125 million euros to Bayer Leverkusen in 2025 to drag Wirtz to Merseyside, a statement signing intended to keep the club among the Premier League elite.
So far, the return has been underwhelming. Wirtz’s first season at Anfield flickered without ever truly catching fire. There were bright spells, yes, but nowhere near the consistent influence expected of a nine-figure playmaker. Under new coach Andoni Iraola, this second year is supposed to be different – the season that justifies the fee and the hype.
Wirtz, for his part, insists that story is still on track.
“I would say that I have developed in almost every area. Definitely when it comes to my physical level,” he told RTL and Sky recently, pushing back at Huth’s assessment and similar criticism. The Germany international painted a picture of a player adapting fast to the demands of English football.
“Even in training, I have to push myself almost to my limits every day, simply because there are players here who are also fully committed in training every day and have that kind of quality. You also have to be at a good level yourself,” he explained.
The message from Wirtz is clear: he believes he’s catching up, physically and mentally, to the league’s intensity.
Huth isn’t buying it.
The former centre-back zeroed in on Wirtz’s display in Liverpool’s opening Premier League game of the season, a 2-2 draw at Newcastle United. The numbers weren’t the issue. For Huth, the problem was what you saw when the ball wasn’t at Wirtz’s feet.
“His body language is also a bit poor,” Huth said, unimpressed by the midfielder’s presence and reaction in the heat of the contest. That, to him, is another warning sign.
He doesn’t just doubt a quick turnaround. He’s already talking about an exit strategy.
“By Christmas they will probably look to move him on if he does not improve, because he has become an expensive problem for Liverpool,” Huth claimed.
An expensive problem, a sceptical countryman, and a second season that suddenly feels like a referendum on a 125-million-euro gamble. Wirtz says he’s ready for the fight. Huth thinks the clock is already ticking.
