Danny Murphy tells Arne Slott who should be left out of Liverpool’s midfield ahead of Sunday’s game against Manchester United.
Florian Wirths was left out of the starting XI as Arsenal moved to the top of the Premier League following last week’s loss to Chelsea, but former Liverpool star Danny Murphy wants the German to return to the squad in place of Alexis Mac Allister.
Wirtz has not contributed to a goal since his assist in the Community Shield after joining Bayer Leverkusen for £100 million in the summer, but Murphy insists he needs to return to the eleven because “the magic will come”.
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Mac Allister has been off the pace this season thanks to Moises Caicedo’s stunning opener for the Blues at Stamford Bridge, and Murphy believes Slott should choose a team with the “athleticism” the Argentina international currently lacks.
“At the moment I think I’ll put Szobozlai and Grafenberch in the middle,” Murphy told the Mirror.
“Two super athletic guys who can cover a lot of ground, and I would put Wirtz ahead of them.
“When Mohamed Salah is up high, Szobozlai can move up to the right and help the full-backs defend, because obviously he’s been given permission not to defend. It was very clear against Chelsea, but I think he could have defended a little more. I think the athleticism of those two guys is what Liverpool need.”
“It’s not that I’m not a fan of Mac Allister. I think he’s a great player. Curtis Jones is great as well. But Mac Allister missing pre-season is affecting him. He’s taking his time. He’s taking his time. He’s taking his time.
“We know physically he’s not at the same level as last season and that’s inevitable when you miss pre-season. It’s really hard to get back to that.”
“That’s my third one at the moment. I’m going to let Wirtz play until the end because I think the magic is going to happen.”
“I would put Szobozlai and Grafenberg behind him because they are the two most athletic midfielders we have.”
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Former Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott is far from convinced by Wertz and believes Liverpool would accept a refund offer at the end of the season.
“I’m not sure,” Lescott said. “If Liverpool can get their money back at the end of the season they will do it.
“Listen, we can’t judge him just by the games he played in, but he must have had an impact in one of those games and for me it was the Burnley game.
“If you are an attacking player, forget about the fee, we need goals. I shouldn’t take you off. You should preferably be a player who creates chances.”
“I think I should have seen something that made me go, ‘Okay, okay, I’ll see you again.’ Like a moment in the game. I wish I had seen it now and knew it was coming. We don’t have enough of those moments yet.”
