Florian Wirtz has yet to record a goal or assist since the Community Shield, but Arne Slot has emphasised the need for his No. 7 to be given time as he offered a comparison to Kevin De Bruyne.
The German has faced scrutiny and had questions asked of him on the back of his £116 million switch to Liverpool, with his name consistently in the headlines.
Wirtz has yet to notch a goal or assist since the Community Shield but, for what it is worth, has created 11 chances in the Premier League that have not been converted by his teammates, as per FotMob.
There are questions being asked about how Arne Slot is utilising his No. 7, whom Slot has compared to De Bruyne as he needed time before he asserted himself in the Premier League with Man City.
“Maybe I’m 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,” Slot said in an interview with Sky Sports.
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“Give him a bit of time, I would say. I’m definitely going to give him a bit of time and in the meantime, he’s been unlucky.
“He has to play and he’s played a lot. Because he’s come from a different league and played so many games, it’s quite normal that once in a while he needs a game where he doesn’t play like I’ve done with Mo Salah and many others.
“To get the best out of him, it’s of course necessary for him to play and that’s what he did and what he’s going to do in the upcoming weeks.”
Wirtz has started two of the last four games in all competitions, but has played the seventh-most minutes of any Liverpool player so far this season (734 minutes).
‘The goals and assists will come’
As for Wirtz’s creative output, Slot is not concerned as he feels he could “be on six or seven assists already” if not for the unlucky finishing of his teammates.
“If you’ve 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,” Slot said.
“If you look at the passes he’s played to his team-mates which unfortunately didn’t lead to goals, one of the greatest examples is the Chelsea game where after one minute [since coming on] he had this great flick to Mo Salah.
“For Mo, this is 99 times out of 100 a goal. I have to say 98 out of 100 because the last time he got a ball like this was against Atletico Madrid from Florian Wirtz, but Mo hit the post.
“He’s been a bit unlucky with the finishing when he’s given his team-mates chances but, in general for a 22-year-old, it’s quite normal that you have to adjust to going to another country let alone going to the Premier League.”
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