Liverpool legend John Barnes has defended Florian Wirtz, insisting the loud voices criticizing the German international needed to be silenced before he was sent off.
Werts became Liverpool’s first £100m signing when he completed his move from Bayer Leverkusen last summer, but inevitably there were high expectations surrounding the 22-year-old as he was hailed as a key piece of Arne Slott’s nascent Dream Team.
So far, Werts has failed to live up to expectations in his first few months at Anfield, with Slott struggling to find a role that gets the best out of the talented playmaker.
Burns, who won two league titles with Liverpool in the late 1980s and is widely hailed as one of the club’s best ever players, suggests that problems with the reshuffle have affected his adaptation at Anfield and insists Werts will improve.
Wirtz came under fire for his ineffective display during Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester City in the final Premier League game, but Burns dismissed concerns that the German was not cut out for English football.
“When a team has a bad day, it’s not just about Florian Wirtz,” Burns told Football365 in an exclusive interview with Video Gamer.
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“As always in football, it has to be a collective thing and the manager has to find a way to put Wirtz in the right position to have an impact on the game.
“Wurtz probably had his worst performance so far in the last game against Manchester City, but I think he played very well in the games before that.
“For me, Liverpool’s big problem this season has been how they have played without the ball and Wirtz has been a part of that. The balance is not there yet, but it’s not all the fault of one player.”
“The team hasn’t been very good a lot this season and you can look at Wirtz and say he’s part of the problem, but I feel his creativity is good and that’s something we need to see more of.”
Liverpool manager Slott was hailed as a tactical master as he led the team he took over from Jurgen Klopp to become Premier League champions last season, but the Dutchman faces his biggest test after a difficult start to the campaign.
With Liverpool’s title defense already in jeopardy with more than two-thirds of the season remaining, Barnes dismissed suggestions that pressure could be on the Reds manager if a solution is not found soon.
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“It’s not like Slott’s job is under threat, but like any coach, he’s under pressure to win football games,” Burns said.
“The idea that he’s under pressure to keep working, especially when you’re at a big club like Liverpool and you’ve just won the league, no, I don’t think so.
“It would be silly to say he is under pressure a few months after winning the league last season, but he needs to win football games, that’s for sure.”
Barnes went on to suggest that Arsenal deserve to be tagged as favorites after their strong start to the season, but warned that Mikel Arteta’s Gunners still have their biggest test ahead of them.
“Arsenal are the team to beat at the moment, but we’re in November and we’ll see where we are in March and April,” he added.
“Manchester City are currently only four points behind them and are in good form, but Arsenal have a lot of what they need to win the title.
“They have been very strong defensively and while it’s not quite a return to the old George Graham days and the old chants of ‘one goal to Arsenal’, they are keeping clean sheets and finding other ways to win.
“Arsenal are very strong at set pieces, have a solid midfield and protect the back four very well. They are probably the most balanced team this season, but let’s see what happens with a few injuries and whether we can still get the results we’ve been able to do even with the loss of key players.”
