Clinton Morrison praised Florian Wirtz’s first-half performance for Liverpool against West Ham.
The Germany international was labelled ‘lively’, with the visitors looking much improved in all departments on Sunday afternoon.
Arne Slot’s men went into the half-time break with the score level despite having largely dominated proceedings in London.
Florian Wirtz impressed against West Ham
(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Morrison couldn’t take his eyes off the former Bayer Leverkusen playmaker.
“Wirtz is the one now I’m looking at now – he’s picked up good positions and looks lively for Liverpool this afternoon,” the pundit told BBC Radio 5 Live (via BBC Sport).
That’s far from surprising, given how central Wirtz was to everything good Liverpool did from an offensive perspective.
The 22-year-old found pockets of space and helped knit play together in and around the final third. He even came close to beating Alphonso Areola in the first 45 after a well-worked pullback from Cody Gakpo.
What do the stats say about Wirtz’s first-half performance?
Slot will have few complaints about his record summer signing’s latest display in the capital (barring that reasonable chance around the 40-minute mark).
Florian Wirtz picked up a 6.7/10 rating from Sofascore from 47 minutes of action. A bit of harsh score, we have to say, considering the German’s impact on the tie.
* Florian Wirtz first-half stats vs West Ham in the Premier League (Sofascore)
Wirtz showing signs of adapting to the Premier League
(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Even for those coming from a relatively similar intensity level in the Bundesliga, it remains clear that the jump to the Premier League is very much that.
Wirtz’s quality, of course, remains abundantly clear for all to see, even despite the midfielder’s struggles in adapting to the physicality of English top-flight football.
But we know the footballer’s working with Liverpool to address that main concern away from competitive action.
According to The Times, he’s already put on 2.5k of lean muscle, and his work ethic in training and the gym is understood to be exemplary.
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