Arne Slot has a fresh problem on his hands and it’s a £116m headache.
Florian Wirtz is set to miss ANOTHER game when Liverpool travel to Wolves on Tuesday, leaving his manager scrambling for answers to a question that just won’t go away: what’s the plan when the German genius isn’t available?
The 22 year old has been Liverpool’s most influential player since the turn of the year. Against Sunderland, even Mohamed Salah the man who’s spent a decade as the main event, was looking for him at every opportunity . Everything good goes through Wirtz.
Except when it doesn’t. And right now, it doesn’t.
THE INJURY WORRY
Wirtz suffered a back problem during the warm up before the Nottingham Forest game last week . He was ruled out last minute, and Liverpool were absolutely terrible despite winning 1-0.
Slot hoped he’d be back for West Ham on Saturday. He wasn’t . Now Wolves away looks like coming too soon as well .
“I honestly don’t know,” Slot admitted when asked about a return date. “It’s definitely a shame… indeed a disappointment for him, but also for us because he played really, really well lately” .
THE WEST HAM SMOKESCREEN
Here’s the worrying bit. Liverpool scored FIVE against West Ham. Won comfortably. But Slot wasn’t fooled.
“I was just standing around your colleagues, and people said, ‘Well played, well played’. I said, ‘In my opinion, we’ve played better this season’,” he admitted .
“We played OK to good, so, we were OK to good, but it wasn’t the best game of the season. We’ve played better when we’ve lost, we’ve played better when we conceded set pieces.”
Translation: the set piece goals masked the problem. Three from corners, not much from open play. Without those dead ball moments, it’s a different conversation.
THE WINGER PROBLEM
Without Wirtz, Slot needed his wide men to step up. Cody Gakpo and Mo Salah? Neither really took the game by the scruff of the neck .
Salah’s deliveries from set pieces were excellent. Open play? Not so much. Gakpo’s goal took a hefty deflection, his overall performance was patchy .
That’s the issue. When Wirtz plays, he’s the connector. He links everything. Without him, Liverpool have stability at the back and threat from corners, but that creative spark from open play? Missing.
THE OPTIONS
Against Forest, Slot tried Curtis Jones as the No.10. It failed spectacularly, Liverpool got overrun in midfield . Against West Ham, he pushed Alexis Mac Allister further forward, with Dominik Szoboszlai sitting deeper.
Mac Allister scored the winner. But creative flow? Still not right.
The Szoboszlai option is there, he’s played the Wirtz role before but there’s a catch. Liverpool miss him in midfield when he’s pushed forward. His energy and legs are crucial in that deeper role .
WHAT NOW?
Wolves away is never easy. They’ve won two of their last five, kept three clean sheets in six home games, and Rob Edwards has them organised at the back . They’re bottom of the league but fighting for their lives.
Slot’s predicted lineup? Alisson in goal; Gomez, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez at the back; Gravenberch and Mac Allister in midfield; Salah, Szoboszlai, Gakpo behind Ekitike up top .
But the system only works if the attackers click. And without Wirtz, that’s the million pound question.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Liverpool have spent the season playing whack a mole with problems. First they conceded from every attack. Then they shored it up and became boring. Now they’ve found set piece threat just as their main creator gets crocked .
Wirtz won’t play every minute of every game, even when he’s fit. Slot needs a Plan B that doesn’t rely on corners and deflection goals.
Against Wolves is the first chance to show it. If Liverpool leave Molineux with three points and a performance to match, maybe the panic subsides. If not? That Wirtz shaped hole just got a whole lot bigger.
