Jamie Carragher said on Monday Night Football that potentially the relationship between Liverpool and Florian Wirtz may be a marriage not built for success.
Dominik Szoboszlai managed to salvage a 2-2 draw against Newcastle United on Sunday with a stoppage-time penalty, with the Reds struggling to make a cohesive impact against the Magpies at all.
The midfield of Ryan Gravenberch, Szoboszlai and Wirtz was evidently the area of the most imbalance for Liverpool, with Carragher also pointing to boss Andoni Iraola’s tactical set-up as equally as culpable for the poor performance.
No place for Wirtz
Carragher suggested Liverpool should look into bringing another holding midfielder to play alongside Gravenberch, opening up more space for Szoboszlai to operate in.
But, that by extension will leave no place for Wirtz in Liverpool’s starting 11.
“This thing that it takes people a year to settle in the Premier League, I think is a bit of a myth,” Carragher said on MNF.
“I don’t think there’s too many examples where it does.
“I’ve always seen this coming. When people are saying [Wirtz] has got to go to No 10, that means Szoboszlai’s got to be in the team and he’s not a central midfield player.
“I thought this would come up in six weeks, I think it’s coming up right now. I don’t see where he fits in at all, really.
READ MORE: Premier League news: Manchester United fall to Hull City aerial onslaught
Relationship not working
“What’s Iraola going to do with Wirtz? You can’t keep going with it, it’s not working,” Carragher added.
“I’m not sure where he fits. I almost thought you could put him in a pocket from the left, where he plays for Germany, but Iraola loves wingers, he wants players who’ve got energy up and down the flank.
“I don’t think we’re seeing a massive underperformance and I think what we’ve seen for a year is probably what he is, which is a neat and tidy footballer.
“Not a player who should be worth £110m, someone who probably should be £50m-60m, something like that.
“Neat and tidy, lovely touch. I’m not sure what people are expecting.”
READ NEXT: Premier League news: Brentford intensity punishes sloppy Tottenham
