FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Florian Wirtz says he can do "much, much more” for Liverpool after his two assists helped the team end its four-game losing streak with a 5-1 demolition of Eintracht Frankfurt.
Wirtz's lack of goals and assists since joining Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen had prompted criticism, especially given the cost of his transfer, worth up to 116 million pounds ($155 million).
Against Frankfurt in the Champions League on Wednesday, he set up goals for Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai and was in a good position to score in the 90th minute when Mohamed Salah opted to shoot instead of pass.
“In the first half I made it hard for myself getting into good spaces and then I was unfortunate to lose the ball before we conceded, but on the whole it was OK," Wirtz said.
"I know that I can do much, much more. I think the second half was really good, and from everyone else too, and so I’m satisfied that we’ve won today and that I finally have a goal involvement.”
Wirtz played in Gakpo for Liverpool’s fourth goal on a counterattack in the 66th minute and four minutes later passed for Szoboszlai to add the fifth with a low shot from the edge of the penalty area.
Wirtz had not scored or assisted a goal until then for Liverpool in either the Champions League or Premier League. His only previous involvement in a goal since joining the club came in his debut game against Crystal Palace in the Community Shield.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot said before kickoff that those statistics didn’t tell the full story of Wirtz’s contribution.
“In football, people always judge players on assists and goals. And he’s been very unlucky in that he could have been on three, four, five, six assists,” Slot told DAZN.
“Even last game (against Manchester United), it wasn’t an assist or a goal from him but maybe the most vital part of the goal came from him. The pre-assist, if you want to call it like this. So Florian’s had a good start at Liverpool but if you only look at goals and assists then you might get a different opinion. But that’s not my opinion.”
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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