A verdict delivered on a Sunday podcast
Jamie Carragher did not soften it. Speaking on the first episode of his new Sky Sports podcast on Sunday, the former Liverpool defender said he no longer believes Florian Wirtz is going through a rough patch. “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.”
He went further than that. The gap between what Liverpool expected and what they have received is, in his view, too wide to close. Wirtz would not make his Liverpool team, Carragher said, and the German’s display in Sunday’s 1-0 win at Bournemouth was one of the poorest he has seen from him in a red shirt.
Andoni Iraola took a different line. Liverpool’s manager accepted his playmaker started slowly at the Vitality Stadium, then pointed to the hour that followed. “Second half he was playing much better, he was finding better spots to receive and turn,” Iraola told reporters.
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What the numbers actually say
Wirtz created three chances at Bournemouth, matching Cody Gakpo for the most of any Liverpool player. He won six of his eight duels and recovered possession four times, a total beaten only by Alexis Mac Allister, Ronald Araujo and Jeremy Jacquet. He also made the near-post run that caused the ball to break for Alexander Isak’s winner, a goal that goes down without an assist because a defender got the last touch.
The other column is less kind. Only 26 of his 37 passes found a teammate, 70.3 per cent, and he gave the ball away 15 times before coming off in the 71st minute. Araujo (24) and Gakpo (16) lost it more often, though both played the full match.
Zoom out and parts of his game are climbing. Wirtz has played 43 line-breaking passes this season at 9.6 per 90, almost double his 5.2 per 90 in the Premier League last term. He has won the ball in the opposition final third six times, a figure only five players in the division beat, and he has covered more ground than any Liverpool player in three of his five league games.
One assist in six games, and a 100 million pound tag
The output is the problem. One assist in six appearances this season follows seven goals and eight assists in 49 games last season, his first Premier League goal arriving in late December as Liverpool finished fifth with nothing to show for it.
That is a long way from Leverkusen. In the unbeaten Bundesliga campaign of 2023-24 he produced 18 goals and 19 assists in 47 games, the only player across Europe’s top five leagues to reach 16 of each. A year later he added 16 goals and 14 assists, with only Mohamed Salah and Lamine Yamal bettering his 12 open-play assists.
The fee frames everything. Liverpool paid 100 million pounds plus 16 million in add-ons in the summer of 2025 for a player who is still 23 and six matches into life under a manager who arrived this summer. Carragher has reached his verdict. Anfield has not.
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