Football legend has made current Liverpool player the butt of his joke with brutal dig

Time for Florian Wirtz to find new gear at Liverpool

Wirtz’s time at Liverpool has been far from disastrous, but after feeling his way into the Premier League for a year, now is the time when he has to go up a level.

Worryingly, nothing seems to have changed for him from last season, despite Andoni Iraola replacing Arne Slot, and he needs to show more character in games, taking control of them and showing why he is seen as one of Europe’s best attacking players.

It can be that some footballers simply don’t suit the English game, but it would be a huge shame if that proved to be the case with Wirtz, especially as plenty of diminutive creative forces have excelled in it in the past, from Gianfranco Zola to David Silva.

Wirtz has to become Liverpool’s talisman in the final third, starting with Sunday’s trip to Bournemouth, which is the type of match he has been ineffective in far too often.