Wirtz, Barcola issues at Liverpool spark new Michael Owen theory
Michael Owen believes Mohamed Salah has set unrealistic expectations for big Liverpool signings such as Bradley Barcola and Florian Wirtz, while also admitting there is ‘huge doubt’ over whether the latter will ever be successful at Anfield.
Wirtz was virtually anonymous during Liverpool’s 3-0 home defeat to Manchester City on Sunday, while Barcola lacked the confidence to take on his marker, Matheus Nunes. Surprisingly, it was Victor Munoz and Lewis Koumas who were more threatening in attack for Liverpool, with Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Hugo Ekitike all missing.
Prior to Ryan Gravenberch getting sent off in the 62nd minute, Liverpool exposed City, but Wirtz and Barcola failed them in forward areas.
Wirtz was the clear candidate to be replaced by Trey Nyoni following Gravenberch’s dismissal, while Barcola barely troubled Nunes before being taken off for Federico Chiesa in the 88th minute.
Their performances were very disappointing considering Liverpool agreed a £116million deal for Wirtz and a £123m deal for Barcola.
Owen thinks Barcola and Wirtz will struggle to ‘justify’ their huge price tags due to being compared with Liverpool legend Salah.
READ: Liverpool shamed by creativity table with Wirtz, Barcola and co in bottom three
“It is a problem for Liverpool in terms of the money that they’ve spent on a variety of different players,” Owen said in a new interview (via Goal).
“Obviously, that transfer window where they spent that money, they bought Isak, Ekitike, Wirtz, that money that they’ve spent is not looking value for money at the moment. They say rising tides lift all boats. It always happens where it’s all or nothing.
“I don’t think that they’re necessarily bad players at all. In fact, I think they’re exceptional players. And when they were signed, I was full of hope, anticipation, excitement etc. But obviously, as things have gone, the team aren’t playing very well.
“And then you look towards those players that have cost a lot of money or those players where it’s a case of ‘hang on, the team was really good last year and invested all this money, where’s it gone wrong?’ And your eyes get drawn to the big money signings all the time. I get that. That’s what’s happened.
Barcola won’t ‘get near’ Salah numbers – Michael Owen
“I know Barcola’s only been there for five games, but even that signing you’re thinking that the problem is you need to be hitting Mo Salah numbers to be able to justify a fee of that size.
“If you’re a club, you’re thinking, ‘right, spending this, we need those types of numbers to justify it’. And obviously, nobody’s going to get near to those numbers of Mo Salah. So it is a problem.
“I refuse to believe he’s [Wirtz] not good enough. We’ve seen it in different leagues. We’ve seen it on international duty. But there is no question that he’s underperforming in a Liverpool shirt and has been for over a season.
“And it’s an issue. It’s an issue that Liverpool need to find a way of getting the best out of him because it’s not even a doubt that it’s in there. But getting it out is a huge doubt because it’s been over a year now.”
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