Florian Wirtz had Liverpool pair ‘going mad’ as Neville and Carragher unimpressed

Florian Wirtz had a pair of Liverpool team-mates “going mad at him” in the loss to Manchester City, while commentators Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher were far from impressed.

The Reds were beaten 3-0 by Premier League leaders City after going down to 10 men. Ryan Gravenberch was shown a red card in the 62nd minute, and 16 minutes later, the Citizens had scored three goals.

Liverpool evidently struggled to adapt to having a man less, while some players were already struggling by that point.

Wirtz found himself in promising positions at various points during the game, and while it was felt he should have shot from the edge of the box once, when he did so later on, Neville suggested he’d made the wrong call.

He said on commentary: “The one time you think he should pass it… [Milos] Kerkez and [Bradley] Barcola are going mad at him.

“The lads in the studio at half-time said maybe he should just get it out his feet and hit it and I actually agree with that.

“I just thought it was so obvious to play to Barcola, with Kerkez coming forward.

“[If] he gives it to Barcola, he’s got Kerkez on the run, it’s a far better chance and he hits it from distance.”

Carragher later suggested that Wirtz should have been taken off set-pieces, noting that Wirtz often struggles to gain power and hits his corners to the near post.

After Gravenberch’s red card, asked what Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola should do, Carragher said: “He’s got to bring Wirtz off.”

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Florian Wirtz stats v Man City

Of Liverpool’s attacking players, only Lewis Koumas was rated worse than Wirtz on FotMob, with the German given a 6.5.

The sole time Wirtz let off a shot that wasn’t blocked, it was off target, he made only two crosses out of eight attempted, and one of three long balls were accurate.

He won only half of his ground duels and committed three fouls.

It’s now been four matches at club level in which Wirtz has failed to have a hand in a goal.