Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann blames clash of egos at Liverpool for Florian Wirtz’s struggles

Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann has defended Florian Wirtz and says he is being held back by a clash of egos at Liverpool with a raft of players desperate to be the star.

Wirtz was disappointing again yesterday as Liverpool were beaten 3-0 by Manchester City, making little impact before being taken off with seven minutes to go.

The 22-year-old joined the Merseysiders from Bayer Leverkusen over the summer for a then British record transfer fee of £100million rising to £116m but has struggled to replicate the form he displayed in the Bundesliga.

Wirtz has yet to register a goal or an assist in 11 Premier League games and frequently looked physically overmatched.

Wirtz can focus on international matters

He will get a break from his club problems for the next 10 days as he joins up with Germany ahead of their crucial World Cup qualifying doubleheader against Luxembourg and Slovakia.

Nagelsmann was asked about his mis-firing forward today and believes he is struggling to assert himself in a stacked Anfield attacking arsenal.

He said: “I always speak to Flo, regardless of his situation. It’s a very complex and difficult situation when you look at his club. Last year they won the Premier League and played very attractive football. This year a few players left them, and they invested a lot of money on new players.

“So the entire mix is very complex – each of the five attacking players wants to be the ‘star player’, this situation doesn’t make it easy for Flo – because the entire club is not as stable as they were last season. I watched the game against City and they were the worse team over 90 minutes.

“It’s not easy for Flo to put his mark in such a situation. We can see that a lot of players struggle when they move to another club where there have been many changes. In the end, I can’t influence his performances at Liverpool. I can only influence what he does here. I think he made steps in the right direction in October. We all know what he can do, it’s normal to have a dip in form. We’ll help and support him to keep a clear head.”

Liverpool’s big-hitters failing to fire

Wirtz is just one piece of an expensively assembled strike force at Liverpool.

It is led by Mohamed Salah, who has scored four times in the league this season, with Cody Gakpo (three), Hugo Ekitike (three) and Alexander Isak (zero) also on the club’s books.

Yesterday’s defeat at the Etihad was Liverpool’s fifth in six league games. They are in eighth place in the table, eight points behind leaders Arsenal.

Their next four league fixtures after the international break look a little easier on paper, though, with clashes against three teams in the bottom five – Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Leeds – around a home game with high flying Sunderland.