Florian Wirtz told one thing he must do at Liverpool after Jamie Carragher comments

Florian Wirtz has struggled to make much of a mark at Liverpool since his £116million move from Bayer Leverkusen this summer, and Kenny Dalglish has now explained what the attacking midfielder can do

Kenny Dalglish believes Florian Wirtz must forge a partnership with Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike to thrive at Liverpool. The 22-year-old arrived at Anfield this summer in an at-the-time club record transfer from Bayer Leverkusen to the tune of £116million.

But after six Premier League appearances, he has failed to justify his hefty price tag with the Germany international yet to score a goal or provide an assist in the English top flight. The attacking midfielder thrived with Die Werkself last term, finding the back of the net 16 times and setting a further 15 up.

But having failed to gel with his new team-mates in Liverpool, many football fans and pundits alike are wondering whether the attacking midfielder will provide a return on the Reds’ investment. While some may feel as though Wirtz may simply need time to adapt, club legend Dalglish has explained what he needs to do to get up to speed on Merseyside.

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Speaking on the Stick To Football podcast, the legendary former Anfield forward and manager – who scored 170 goals for Liverpool from 511 appearances between 1977 and 1990 – said: “The first thing he needs to do is what he’s doing at the moment.

“He’s great at taking the ball into the feet, he’ll open himself up and the pass has beat you but he’s still got control of it. Or he’ll take it the other way back past you to go that way and you’re going this way.

“He can see what’s in front of him, and once he gets it…I saw Isak the other day, the second-half when he came on I think, and he’s talking to one of the boys about his movement, what he would do.

“And the boy is sitting and listening to him and once they get on the same wavelength…By the way, that wee fella, he could open a can of soup.”

Dalglish was then asked how long it took him to forge a similar bond with Ian Rush during his playing days, given just how prolific the two were in the 1980s. To which, he replied: “It could happen right away.

“For Rushy, it was training for us. We did it in training, so that’s where you learn it first, isn’t it? I told him, ‘Rushy, if there’s a space there just leave it, I’ll play it and you go for it.’ Simple.”

It comes after Jamie Carragher recently delivered a scathing assessment of Wirtz, as he put the midfielder’s short tenure at Anfield under the microscope. Following Liverpool’s 1-0 Champions League defeat to Galatasaray on Tuesday evening, he told CBS Sports: “I’m not watching a top team.

“Liverpool are not playing football, they are playing basketball. And I told [Arne] Slot this on the first game of the season against Bournemouth. They obviously have a fantastic manager.

“Liverpool last season were a top team, but also a workmanlike team, which they’ve sprinkled a bit of stardust on in terms of the transfers they have brought in. And they haven’t gained anything going forward, but they’ve lost a lot defensively.

“I think for the manager now, he now needs to really earn his money. He did last season, by winning the Premier League, but there are few problems he has got to fix.

“It will be really interesting how he does about it, because he spent a lot of money on certain players. Right now, the balance of the team is not right, and the obvious one that stands out is Florian Wirtz, who is just not at the races at all.

“He’s a young boy, coming to a new league, and has plenty of time to go. But right now, he needs to come out of the team, Liverpool go back to what they were last season, and try to build some confidence and some stability. Right now it looks like a mess.”

Wirtz will hope to make a mark when Liverpool travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea on Saturday evening, off the back of back-to-back losses to Crystal Palace and Galatasaray. While the Reds currently hold a two-point lead over Arsenal at the peak of the Premier League standings, they will need to keep their foot on the gas should they hope to retain their title.

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