Paul Merson says special Liverpool player only needs one thing to ‘destroy teams’

Paul Merson says Florian Wirtz is capable of destroying opposing teams if he gets ‘space’.

The German international registered his first competitive goal for Liverpool in a 2-1 win over Wolves in the Premier League at the weekend.

It takes the attacking midfielder’s tally to three goal contributions (including two assists) in the English top-flight this term.

* Florian Wirtz’s stats for Liverpool (in all competitions) in the 2025/26 season (Transfermarkt)

Florian Wirtz can ‘destroy teams’ for Liverpool

Merson suggested that Liverpool’s confidence levels will have improved even further after Wirtz grabbed his first goal in the famous red shirt.

“This is a difficult game for Liverpool but they will be buoyed by Florian Wirtz finally scoring his first goal for the club,” the former Arsenal star wrote in his column for Sportskeeda.

“You don’t pay that amount of money for someone who can’t play football!

“He needs space, and if he gets it, he can destroy teams. The cream always rises to the top and we’re seeing it with Wirtz in recent weeks!”

The ex-Bayer Leverkusen prodigy had a particularly stellar first half against relegation-threatened Wolves.

Of course, there can be few complaints with an overall display that yielded a 9.1/10 rating from Sofascore on the day.

Arne Slot must fulfil his promise to Wirtz

It’s very needs must at the moment for Florian Wirtz with Cody Gakpo out injured and Liverpool lacking senior options available to step in on the left.

Alexander Isak’s likewise unfortunately timed leg fracture means Arne Slot simply can’t afford to experiment with Hugo Ekitike out on the wide flank.

Of course, this does all mean that our £100m (excluding add-ons) signing has been pushed out wide as opposed to starting in his preferred central position.

As Wirtz’s latest heatmap would confirm, the 22-year-old spent much of the encounter against Wolves glued to the left flank.

Can Liverpool still make this work with Hugo Ekitike and Milos Kerkez

There’s a great example of Liverpool bringing the German into central positions in a threatening manner.

We executed an almost perfectly choreographed move against Wolves (blemished only slightly by Hugo Ekitike and Milos Kerkez’s near-collision).

Milos Kerkez plays a pass to Hugo Ekitike, who has drifted out wide left, with Florian Wirtz Liverpool’s most advanced player in the central position.

Milos Kerkez underlaps Hugo Ekitike and offers an option out wide left.

Hugo Ekitike plays in an unmarked Florian Wirtz for a one-on-one with Jose Sa.

So, even assuming Florian Wirtz starts wide left for Liverpool, there are combinations available to, in Paul Merson’s words, ‘destroy teams’ in space.

That said, it’s hard to imagine better defences leaving quite as wide a gap for our playmaker to exploit!

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