Florian Wirtz is “too good to fail” at Liverpool, according to Germany’s 2014 World Cup winner Benedikt Howedes, despite the £100m signing’s difficult start at Anfield. The 21-year-old has failed to score in 21 appearances since his club-record move from Bayer Leverkusen, managing only two Champions League assists and one in the Community Shield, with no Premier League goal involvements.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot has left Wirtz out of the starting XI for key matches against Everton, Chelsea, Manchester United, Aston Villa, and Inter Milan. However, Howedes, a former Schalke and Juventus defender, is confident the attacking midfielder will come good. “He has so much quality, his mentality is so good and he will show how good he can be,” Howedes said. “I am pretty sure he will show this in Liverpool in the second part of the season because he is too good to fail.”
Wirtz was named Bundesliga Player of the Year in 2023-24 after leading Leverkusen to their first German title. Howedes noted the challenges of adapting to a new country and club. “He doesn’t have his family or his friends around to give him full support, he doesn’t have the players who know what he is fully capable of and maybe he doesn’t feel the full trust from everyone,” he said. “Everyone fully trusted him at Leverkusen and now he has to improve himself step by step at Liverpool.”
Howedes remains optimistic about Wirtz’s future, both for Liverpool and Germany ahead of the World Cup. “I am pretty sure he will show a better performance in the second half of the season,” he added. “When you see it for the national team, we need to get him back in his best performances to create something special in the World Cup.”
