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Florian Wirtz played a starring role as Liverpool returned to winning ways in the Premier League at Brentford on Saturday, but does the German playmaker remain manager Andoni Iraola's biggest tactical dilemma?
Wirtz has come under fire for struggling to replicate the form that prompted Liverpool to pay Bayer Leverkusen a then-club record £116m in June 2025. Reds legend Steven Gerrard even suggested this week that the 23-year-old might benefit from being taken out of the team to rebuild what the former Liverpool captain described as a lack of confidence.
Iraola's central conundrum was once again on display in west London. Liverpool bounced back from their first league defeat of the season against Manchester City last weekend, scoring twice in the second half against a Brentford side reduced to 10 men before the break.
The visitors fashioned a host of chances, particularly after the interval, making the most of their numerical advantage to fire 14 of their 21 total attempts on goal.
Wirtz was right at the heart of Liverpool's attacking endeavours in the final third.
The Germany international created nine open-play chances—more than any other player in a single Premier League fixture over the past six seasons. The last player to manage as many in a top-flight match was Sadio Mane for Liverpool against Burnley in January 2021, when he also racked up nine.
In an away match, no player had achieved that feat in over 15 years, stretching back to August 2011 when Samir Nasri created 10 chances for Manchester City against Tottenham. Yet despite silencing his critics with those remarkable numbers, the impact of his style on the side's overall balance remains under the microscope.
BBC Sport analyst and former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy believes a midfield deploying Wirtz as a number 10 continues to be problematic, leaving Iraola's side far too vulnerable and easy to play through.
"They got the job done. First and foremost, it's another away win, which is always positive," Murphy said of Liverpool's performance. "But for me, they were too easy to play against. The spaces are too big. They play with two wingers and Wirtz as a 10, so they ask so much of those two central midfielders to cover vast areas. It was far too easy for Brentford to play through them and get into spaces behind. That's my main concern from today."
Wirtz's strengths are obvious. Following his latest display, no player has created more chances in the Premier League this season, with the German tied at the top alongside Brighton's Pascal Gross on 18. Wirtz set up Munoz to spark Liverpool's comeback, marking the first time since joining the club that he has registered assists in back-to-back matches across all competitions. However, that was still only his second direct goal involvement in seven league outings this term.
He was the focal point of Liverpool's attacking play, registering a game-high 12 final-third entries and completing 37 passes in that area. At the same time, only Milos Kerkez (20) lost possession more times than Wirtz (19), while the German won just one of his nine duels.
"They don't look solid and they don't look well set up positionally," Murphy added. "Rather than playing with a 10, where Wirtz is struggling to really impact games consistently, they need to go to a midfield three. You've always got to get the fundamentals right—defending, being solid, and being hard to beat. Everything else comes after that. Right now, they just look too open. Against better sides, you get hurt."
The victory lifted Liverpool up to fifth in the table, giving them three wins from their opening seven league games under Iraola, who replaced Arne Slot in the summer. Under the Spaniard, the Reds secured their first away league win from behind since December 2023, snapping a 19-game winless run on the road when conceding the opening goal.
While striker Alexander Isak made his return from injury, Iraola was handed fresh setbacks on Saturday as Dominik Szoboszlai and Jeremie Frimpong both picked up knocks.
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