'I don't want to hear it!' - Florian Wirtz speaks out on slow Liverpool start amid Jurgen Klopp's 'give him time' message

While Liverpool have stormed out of the gates with a perfect start to the campaign, Wirtz himself has yet to light up the scoreboard with either a goal or an assist in the Premier League. Klopp urged both fans and his compatriot to keep calm, reminding everyone that adaptation to the Premier League takes time. Yet Wirtz isn’t buying into that narrative.

Speaking to Sky Germany, Wirtz was blunt: "Yes, of course I would have liked to have scored a goal or collected a few points. But no matter what anyone says, I’m staying cool. I know what I’m capable of and I also know that I’ll really bring it onto the pitch at some point, so I’m just staying cool. That’s a good reminder. I don’t want to hear it all the time, 'give him time, give him time.' Instead, I just try to do better each time than before."

Wirtz admitted that this is unfamiliar territory, a run of games without a tangible end product. "Sometimes there are just phases where things might not go your way; I haven’t had that very often in my career," he added. "Once I’ve got through it, that’s perhaps harsh, because I’m not playing badly, I just haven’t got the scoring points yet, it will come at some point, and then everything will be fine. It’s no secret that I’d like to have more so far, but I’m patient, and as I just said, I know full well that I can play good football. Sooner or later, I’m sure that things will return to normal."

Arne Slot has been praised for Liverpool’s blistering start across all competitions, but the question remains: how do you get the best out of Wirtz? At Leverkusen last season, he thrived in an advanced creative role, racking up 12 goals and 22 assists. At Anfield, he has been shuffled around as Slot tinkers with his system, and the fine margins of Premier League football have kept him quiet.

Wirtz was benched for the Merseyside derby against Everton, only coming on as a substitute in Liverpool’s 2-1 win. But with competition fierce and the Reds already firing, he’ll need to seize his chance soon to become more than just the expensive passenger in a flying machine. The German ace has his next opportunity to silence doubters on Tuesday night when Liverpool host Southampton in the Carabao Cup.