Pep Guardiola shines light on Liverpool's Florian Wirtz failure

Pep Guardiola shines light on Liverpool's Florian Wirtz failure

Liverpool haven't got what they wanted out of Florian Wirtz. Quotes from Pep Guardiola highlight why.

Make no mistake about it: Florian Wirtz was the in-demand player last summer. He was the one everyone wanted, from Real Madrid to Bayern Munich to Manchester City.

Liverpool pulled off an incredible coup to get him, breaking their transfer record in the process. The Reds signed a player who could lead their attack for the foreseeable future - a true potential legend of the club.

And yet, the debut season hasn't gone to plan. Even worse, City's alternative option - Rayan Cherki - is getting the headlines for a fantastic debut campaign in England.

The Frenchman was essentially their consolation prize but one who they're now incredibly happy with. His brilliant performance against Chelsea on Sunday had Pep Guardiola raving about him.

"Rayan is an extraordinary talent - the second goal, the pass to Marc [Guehi]," he said. "The problem for Rayan is sometimes he plays in positions too close to Donnarumma, your talent has to be in the final third. Be close to Haaland, close to wingers.

"We will bring the ball to you. It's not necessary to come down [the pitch]."

This is something City do well. Cherki has an incredible 90 touches per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season, leading the league for his position.

This is not the case for Wirtz, who averages just 71 touches. In other words, the German averages 20 fewer opportunities with the ball than his rival.

But this is very much a Liverpool problem. Cherki, for instance, averaged 75 touches for Lyon last season, meaning his move to City have jumped up his involvement significantly.

Wirtz, on the other hand, was averaging 86 for Bayer Leverkusen - a figure that led the Bundesliga for his position. Liverpool simply don't get him as involved, not only as much as Cherki but as much as Wirtz himself is used to.

Guardiola made clear the secret to getting the most from such players: let them operate in attacking areas then bring them the ball. Liverpool fail Wirtz in that regard and that, above all, is why he hasn't found the same level of decisiveness this season.