Jurgen Klopp has doubled down on his view of Florian Wirtz’s move to Liverpool. The Liverpool Echo reported the latest Klopp on Wirtz comments after Germany beat Serbia 2-0 on Thursday.
Wirtz, 23, played a part in both goals. He set up Tom Bischof’s opener and scored Germany’s second himself.
Klopp said he has never had any problem with Wirtz, and he returned instead to a point he has made before. He believes the timing of the move, not the player, is the real story.
What Klopp said about Wirtz and the timing of his move
Klopp was clear about where he stands.
“I’ve had a great time with him, and I only know the one I know now; I didn’t get a sense of the other one,” he said, according to the Liverpool Echo.
He was then asked about Wirtz’s start at Anfield.
“He came to Liverpool at the worst possible moment. He’s an incredible player who will come back. If he were out of form and people said, ‘Play him anyway’ – but he’s in form,” Klopp said.
Klopp used almost the same words in September:
“Flo arrived in Liverpool at the worst possible moment.” He has linked the comment to the death of Diogo Jota, not to anything Wirtz did on the pitch.
Wirtz arrived at Anfield less than a month after Jota and his brother Andre Silva died in a car crash.
What the comments mean for Wirtz at Liverpool
These words matter for how supporters see Wirtz’s first season and a half on Merseyside. Klopp on Wirtz, in this sense, is a defence rather than a verdict on his ability. Klopp is also clear that he speaks as Germany’s head coach, not as Liverpool’s manager.
The Liverpool Echo says Wirtz has been through managerial change at both club and international level. That change has come in the fifteen months since he arrived at Anfield. The report adds that Andoni Iraola has taken over from Arne Slot on Merseyside, and that Wirtz has been a regular for Iraola’s unbeaten side.
The same report highlights that Wirtz’s only Liverpool assist this season came in Victor Munoz’s equaliser against Nottingham Forest. That is a different picture to his display for Germany this week.
This is not the first time we have covered the link between Klopp and his former player. Our Germany and Wirtz report looked at an earlier stage of the same story, while our earlier Klopp comments piece covered his praise for the midfielder during the September break.
Liverpool’s October schedule and the next games
Wirtz returns to domestic football with a busy month ahead. Liverpool play two Champions League fixtures in October, plus a league game against Manchester City. That gives him three big matches to answer any debate with performances, not words.
Our Man City verdict piece looks at how that fixture is shaping up. For the full interview, supporters can read the Echo report where these comments first appeared.
