Andoni Iraola has defended Florian Wirtz amid criticism, insisting the midfielder offers Liverpool more than goals and assists and is still acclimatising to the Premier League.
Wirtz scored his first goal of the season from the bench to help Liverpool beat Villarreal 4-3 in the Champions League at Anfield on Tuesday. He had previously provided assists in the European win at LASK and the Premier League triumph at Brentford.
Iraola's backing for Wirtz
Since his £116million move from Bayer Leverkusen in summer 2025, Wirtz has recorded 21 goal contributions in 59 appearances for Liverpool, having managed 122 in 197 games for his former club.
Iraola, speaking ahead of the Premier League visit of Brighton on Sunday, said: "I'm delighted with Florian. He's coming off three very good performances and I trust this is the start of finding his confidence again."
He added: "He is judged a lot in terms of goals and assists, but he is a player for whom that won't be his strength. He's not a number 10 or a second striker who is going to score 15 goals this year, no. I mean if he can do that, even better. But he's a player who gives us a lot of control over the matches, he has a lot of confidence on the ball."
Body language and acclimatisation
Iraola acknowledged Wirtz's body language has drawn criticism: "He probably has body language that seems a bit cold and doesn't do him any favours because you think he's not there and really, now that I know him better, he loves football, he cares, he's involved."
The coach noted Wirtz is still adapting to English football: "In the Premier League he has to get used to those duels, here duels are really hard to win. He's in that process, it's true he's been here a year but he's still acclimatising to this competition. But in terms of talent I have no doubt about him and in terms of attitude either. He is a player who works a lot."
Ngumoha's new role
Rio Ngumoha, 18, provided two assists in a single game for the first time in his career against Villarreal. Iraola explained the decision to move him to the right flank, having previously played mostly on the left.
"With Rio we don't necessarily have to be careful, but we have to take it stage by stage," said Iraola. "We can't move too fast. We have to be aware there will be very good moments along the way but also slumps and we don't want to burn him out too soon."
He added: "We have four main wingers and all four of them had played much more of the left wing. But all four of them are right-footed too. I prefer natural-footed wingers and Rio can use his left foot well for finishing, so I think we can make that change and it will allow him to play more minutes as we can play him on both sides."
