Florian Wirtz had barely played poorly in his first five games for Liverpool, but the sheer weight of his £116 million price tag meant the expectations are higher.
After setting up Hugo Ekitike in the Community Shield – his official debut – the German failed to either score or assist in any of the Premier League wins over Bournemouth, Newcastle, Arsenal and Burnley.
For a player with 16 goals and 15 assists in 45 appearances in his final campaign at Bayer Leverkusen, that has been held up as a disappointing return.
Unsurprisingly, Arne Slot was faced with questions over the efficiency of his new playmaker in his press conference ahead of the visit of Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
But while Wirtz still failed to register a direct goal involvement in the 3-2 win at Anfield, he did produce his best performance yet.
Patrolling in his advanced midfield role, he showcased a closer connection to those around him, no doubt boosted by the natural qualities of Alexander Isak, starting for the first time up front.
He created five chances – the most of any player on the pitch and only three fewer than he had managed in the previous four Premier League fixtures – and also had the most touches in the opponent’s penalty area with eight.
Wirtz should have come away with at least one assist, too, with Mohamed Salah‘s effort cannoning off the post in the second half after a lightning break led by the No. 7.
But even without that clinical return, there was a poise and confidence about the way he moved between the lines and linked play that proved this is not a player struggling with the expectation.
Slot did, however, make a valuable point in assessing Wirtz’s early performances when speaking after Wednesday’s victory.
Wirtz’s adjustment
“We all know how much quality he has, but sometimes people forget that he’s a 22-year-old that comes for the first time abroad,” the head coach told reporters.
“Last year I came when I was 46 and it was my first time that I started working abroad, the first two or three months your whole life is changing.
“All the things which are normal to you are not normal anymore, because the roads here are different, everything is different. That sometimes costs energy as well.
“Combine that with going to a new club, new playing style. In Leverkusen they played 3-4-3, we play 4-3-3, so we ask a bit more from him off the ball defensively maybe as well.”
It is certainly easy to gloss over the off-field issues that players will face regardless of their profile or the transfer fee they command; even with the scale of support provided by a club the size of Liverpool, taking a new job abroad months after turning 22 will bring its unique challenges.
There is no sign that Wirtz is struggling away from the pitch, of course, not least in his performances on it, which are largely in line with those of a player adjusting to a new system.
But as much as there will be an adaptation process for Wirtz after moving from Leverkusen to Liverpool, the same can be applied to Slot and his staff as they work with not only a much-changed squad, but a tweaked setup.
Finding the right balance
Having broken the British transfer record to sign a natural No. 10, the emphasis is on building the system around his unique qualities.
That has meant a shift from a more orthodox 4-3-3, reliant on Dominik Szoboszlai‘s relentless energy as the most advanced midfielder, to a formation closer to a 4-2-3-1.
It has clearly had an impact on Salah, who has been less involved than in that remarkable campaign just gone, with the tendency for both Wirtz and Ekitike to drift to the left ensuring a heavier focus on that flank.
Other factors have not helped, not least the delay in signing and then integrating Isak as well as injuries to both Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley meaning Szoboszlai had to fill in at right-back.
But Slot looked to have struck a better balance against Atletico, boosted by a return to the starting lineup for Frimpong.
With Szoboszlai moving back to midfield to partner Ryan Gravenberch in the double pivot, Wirtz was given more freedom to push into the final third as an additional attacker.
The combination of Gravenberch’s composed physicality and Szoboszlai’s total ubiquity allowed Liverpool to dominate in midfield.
No player won more tackles than Szoboszlai (four) and no player won more duels than Gravenberch (seven), while they were both among the four most-involved players in terms of touches – Szoboszlai with the most of any player (107).
There was a sense of assurance with two six-foot-plus stallions in the double pivot which seemed to complement Wirtz more than with previous combinations of Gravenberch or Szoboszlai and one of Curtis Jones or Alexis Mac Allister.
More changes and challenges to come
Clearly that is not to diminish either of those players as Slot will continue to rotate between his five regular midfield options in a busy campaign to come.
A change could come as soon as Saturday’s Merseyside derby, with there a convincing argument that Wirtz should in fact drop out for Mac Allister after so far clocking the sixth-most minutes of any Liverpool outfielder and by far the most of the new signings.
But it was surely no coincidence that what many consider his breakout performance came as part of a trio that had not started any of the previous five games together.
The next challenge will be replicating that in the Premier League, with its unparalleled intensity, but as his long-time teammate Frimpong put it on Wednesday night: “He’s just getting started.”
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