Florian Wirtz's evening began in just about the worst place: on the bench. Apparently rested to manage his workload rather than dropped as punishment, he watched Liverpool stumble towards defeat against Villarreal in the Champions League.
Yet Wirtz helped the Reds emerge as winners after 90 minutes. He had faced frequent criticism recently, but earned plenty of praise after coming on and scoring his first goal for Liverpool since April.
Head coach Andoni Iraola praised Wirtz after Tuesday evening's 4-3 (2-2) win over Villarreal on the third matchday of the Champions League league phase. "I think Florian has now played at a very high level for the third time in a row," he stressed. "Today, his goal meant we were able to control the game for the most part."
Florian Wirtz earns praise from Premier League's record goalscorer
At the start of the second half, Iraola brought on the Germany international. Liverpool had already recovered from a 2-0 deficit by then. Alexis Mac Allister made it 3-2 (65), and Wirtz added the fourth (68), finding space in the penalty area before placing a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner. "Another positive step, and he takes the ball with a little movement, from his right foot onto his left, and simply slides it past the goalkeeper. A great shot," former England striker and Premier League record goalscorer Alan Shearer said on Prime Video.
Wirtz had last scored in the league against Crystal Palace at the end of April. His celebration after ending the wait against Villarreal seemed to show relief rather than pure joy. Iraola, however, does not judge the 23-year-old solely on goals and assists. "There have also been games in which he played very well without directly standing out for goals or assists," the Spaniard said.
Despite that assessment, Wirtz had faced repeated criticism over his low scoring rate. Former Liverpool player Jamie Carragher recently said on an episode of "Hamann & Stankovic – Der Fußball Podcast": "I have said myself that, in my opinion, he does not belong in the team, but Liverpool have no replacement for him."
Iraola took a different view after Wirtz's performance against Villarreal. "He is a very dynamic player, both with and without the ball," the 44-year-old explained. "It is difficult to mark him and get him under control. He finds the spaces where he can hurt the opposition and is gradually improving his numbers, too."
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