- Ballack backs Wirtz to show his quality
- 德國 ace yet to score for 利物浦
- Wirtz joined Liverpool from Leverkusen in summer
Wirtz is still looking for his first goal or assist for the Reds following his £100 million (€116m/$136m) move from 勒沃庫森 in the summer. The 22-year-old featured in his new side’s opening three 英超聯賽 fixtures against Bournemouth, Newcastle United and 兵工廠 as Arne Slot’s men collected maximum points before the international break.
However Ballack fully expects Wirtz to soon find his feet at Liverpool, with the former 拜仁慕尼黑 和 切爾西 man putting his compatriot’s early-season form down to him adjusting to being one of a number of stars at Anfield after previously being Leverkusen’s main man.
In an interview with German publication BILD, Ballack said: “There’s a lot of competition within the Liverpool team, and expectations of Florian Wirtz have increased from the outside. Or rather the expectations he has of himself. And at the beginning, it won’t be like it was in Leverkusen, where everyone plays for him and he gets almost every ball.
“That’s why it’s legitimate that he still needs to find his way around a bit. But he’s such an exceptional footballer, so I’m not worried about him. For him and his development, the move to England wasn’t a bad move.”
Wirtz did manage to find the back of the net in Germany’s 3-1 victory over Northern 愛爾蘭 in World Cup qualifying on Sunday. Julian Nagelsmann’s side got their qualification campaign back on track having suffered a shock 2-0 defeat against Slovakia on September 4.
Wirtz is expected to start when Liverpool return to Premier League action with a trip to newly-promoted Burnley on Sunday. The Merseysiders will then get their 冠軍聯賽 campaign up and running when they entertain 馬德里競技 on September 17.
