Liverpool manager Arne Slot has left his £116 million summer signing Florian Wirtz on the bench for Saturday's crunch Premier League clash with Chelsea. The new arrival has made a slow start to life at Anfield following his move from Bayer Leverkusen, which has brought plenty of criticism, and he has now been taken out of the starting XI by his manager.
Liverpool team named for Chelsea match
Slot has named his team to face the Blues and there's no place for Wirtz. The Reds boss has instead named Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominic Szoboszlai in his team, along with attackers Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak for the game at Stamford Bridge.
AdvertisementIMAGO / XinhuaWirtz benched after criticism for a slow start at Liverpool
Big things were expected of Wirtz after Liverpool invested heavily to bring him to Anfield, but he is yet to produce a single goal or assist in nine appearances in all competitions for his new employers. His lack of end-product has brought plenty of scrutiny and criticism on the new arrival. Former Liverpool star Jamie Carragher feels the Reds have lost intensity since Wirtz arrived.
"It sounds odd to say it, but Wirtz was signed to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold – a No 10 to provide the passing range and creativity of a unique full-back. He is yet to add what Liverpool are missing without Alexander-Arnold, while at the same time the team has lost the intensity which made them so difficult to play against. It means Slot has a dilemma as he tries to defend the title going through a transitional phase that might take longer than many thought. He must decide whether to regroup and temporarily revert to the strategy of last season, accommodating Wirtz in a different role or leaving him out entirely until he is up to speed with English football," he told .
"Or he might persist with his vision believing more short-term pain might be necessary until it clicks. The latter would be dangerous because even with all the credit in the bank from his title win, there is immense pressure to keep winning, especially when you have spent a combined £230m on two players who are supposed to be ready-made to take a championship-winning side to the next level. Slot excelled by moulding Klopp’s signings into a better team. Now he has to repeat the trick with his own recruits."
Slot says Liverpool needed Wirtz
Slot has defended his new signing and told reporters Liverpool needed a player with his profile. He said: "We were very happy winning the league. But we didn’t shut our eyes for the second part of the season to how many times we needed a set piece [to win]. That is not something bad because Arsenal and Chelsea are needing a set piece almost every single game at the moment. We’ve brought in a very different midfielder than we had last season [Florian Wirtz], which we think we needed because there was a big, big difference between the amount of goals we found from open play in the first part of last season and the second part of last season.”
Chelsea team to face Liverpool
Enzo Maresca has also raised a few eyebrows with his selection. Teenager Josh Acheampong is named in the starting XI, while academy defender Landon Emenalo is on the bench.
