"I wouldn't write him off. But Florian Wirtz has to do more"

They were harsh words that Florian Wirtz had to endure. “He needs to be taken out of the team,” said Jamie Carragher, who played for the Reds from 1996 to 2013, after Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat at home to Manchester City.

Steven Gerrard, also a Liverpool legend, has supported German international Florian Wirtz. "I wouldn't write him off yet. I think it's too early for that," he said on Sky show The Overlap. “This boy has great talent, in my opinion,” Gerrard clarified. The now 46-year-old played for Liverpool from 1998 to 2015.

According to the long-time Liverpool player, who spent most of his career with the Reds, Wirtz now needs support. “I think he needs help from the coach, the team around him and the experienced players,” he said after the sobering home defeat last Sunday.

Wirtz, who moved from Bayer Leverkusen to Liverpool in the summer of 2025, was one of the weakest Liverpool professionals in the defeat against City. Coach Andoni Iraola was the first player to take the 23-year-old off the field after 66 minutes after Ryan Gravenberch was shown a yellow-red card.

Gerrard wasn't as clear as his former teammate Jamie Carragher. Carragher had used harsh words (“It doesn’t work with Florian Wirtz”) to demand that Wirtz be taken out of the starting line-up. But Gerrard also said that he might benefit from a few games on the bench.

However, Gerrard agreed with his former teammate Carragher that Wirtz wasn't playing well enough and that we needed to see more of him. "He has to do more. He has to put in a little more effort. He has to become aware of the situation he is in," said the 2005 Champions League winner. The former Leverkusen professional has so far scored seven goals and eleven assists in 56 competitive appearances for Liverpool.

Wirtz's best position was in the attacking midfield on the ten and not on the wing, where he was occasionally used. "I don't think he has the necessary speed for the wing. If you look at his time at Bayer Leverkusen, he prepared and scored goals as a ten-man. And the team was formed around him."

Perhaps Wirtz would thrive if former top players like Sadio Mané, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah were still in the team, Gerrard said: "I think he would work better." Many well-known newcomers from the last two years, such as Bradley Barcola, Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike, have not yet been able to make a strong statement or are missing due to injuries. If everyone is fit, then Wirtz will also feel better, said Gerrard.