A look at Florian Wirtz’s current situation after the Liverpool playmaker scored his second goal for the club in Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Fulham
A dejected Florian Wirtz during the Premier League match between Fulham and Liverpool at Craven Cottage on January 4, 2026(Image: Shaun Brooks – CameraSport via Getty Images)
As Arne Slot scrambled to plug the leaks in a Liverpool team that had lost nine of their last 12 at the end of November, Florian Wirtz was removed from his central area and deployed as a wide forward.
The plan for Slot was two-fold. Taking Wirtz out of the centre of the pitch allowed him to name a more muscular engine room who would afford an overworked and embattled backline more protection than it had been receiving for some time.
It would also keep Wirtz in the side, allowing him to use all his attacking gifts in the final third without compromising the coverage in the middle of the park and the Germany international turned in his best Liverpool performance at the time as West Ham United were put to the sword 2-0 at the London Stadium.
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Over a month on, the game is perhaps best remembered for Alexander Isak’s first Liverpool goal in the Premier League but those in the capital that day will recall that Wirtz was the best performer. Encouraged to drift from that wide left role throughout, the security of having more midfielders behind him meant he could simply focus on creating.
“After a very positive performance from Florian, I can acknowledge that but I also want to emphasize the team performance was much better,” was Slot’s understated praise at the time. We tried to create an extra midfielder and he was very important for us to find every time that extra midfielder.
“He was good when he made a dribble, he was good with his one-touch passes, he played one ball to Cody which then doesn’t lead to a shot but we had many of those moments and he was part of many of them.”
Since then, it’s been a productive period for Wirtz, who enjoyed his best month as a Liverpool player in December before continuing that run of form with an equaliser in Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Fulham.
The strike that earned a point at home to Sunderland might officially have been credited as a Nordi Mukiele own goal but it was a decisive intervention from the Liverpool playmaker at the time, with them trailing at Anfield.
His second-half introduction at Inter saw Liverpool begin to get the upper hand and it was he who won the penalty kick in the closing stages when he was dragged back by Alessandro Bastoni.
The through ball to Isak that resulted in the opening goal at Tottenham – and, sadly, a broken leg for the goalscorer – was the sort of combination Liverpool had broken the bank to forge and the strike Wirtz registered in the recent win over Wolves was clearly a huge moment that lifted a weight off his shoulders.
After being maligned, unfairly or otherwise, about a lack of productivity, Wirtz now has six assists and two goals, according to figures from the influential website Transfermarkt, who give full credit to the Inter penalty and Sunderland own goal. Whisper it quietly, but the £116m man is starting to showcase exactly what he is all about.
“Of course [he’s growing in confidence], but that is absolutely normal,” says Virgil van Dijk. “Every human being who plays with more confidence, that will help their performances. It is the same with him. Hopefully it will continue and he keeps progressing.
“Second half, he was good – I agree with that. He has to be important and he wants to be important so he needs to keep on going and stay fit. He sees how intense it is and what the demands are every three or four days. That is something he needs to focus on: his own recovery and being ready to deal with the intensity that he puts in.”
A hamstring scare, which can likely be traced to the first campaign without the aid of a winter break, undoubtedly impacted the output against Leeds United on New Year’s Day but more generally, Wirtz is in form, stepping up at a time when Isak, Mohamed Salah and most recently Hugo Ekitike have been sidelined.
“I think again we are in a bit of a difficult situation now because we drew two times – first at home and now today [against Fulham],” was the No.7’s assessment from Craven Cottage. “That’s not what we want – we want more. We have to get better but it’s still a process and hopefully [in the] next game we are there again.”
As he continues to adapt, adjust and improve, the idea of a fully functioning Wirtz on song when the likes of Salah and Isak return is a mouth-watering one, particularly at a time when the Premier League champions have generally found it difficult to create good-quality chances as regularly as they would have liked of late.
Slot’s remit at the end of November was to tighten up and build from the ground up. Having achieved that with a nine-game unbeaten run, now is the time to rediscover some attacking joie de vivre. Whether on the left or through the middle on the pitch, Wirtz will have to be central to that.
