Jurgen Klopp has again defended Florian Wirtz after being forced to call up the Liverpool playmaker early for Germany duty. The former Reds boss had named two 22-man squads for Die Mannschaft's four Nations League matches during the expanded September/October international break, with Wirtz selected in the latter squad.
Injury crisis prompts early call-up
However, Germany lost Jamal Musiala and Kai Havertz to injury in their opening fixture as they drew 1-1 with the Netherlands, with the Bayern Munich star suffering an issue in the warm-up while the Arsenal forward was forced off with a hamstring injury in the first half.
Consequently, with both players withdrawing from the camp, Klopp turned to Wirtz and Eintracht Frankfurt's Jonathan Burkardt, with the pair now set to feature for Germany in their remaining three games during the break - though they will be on the bench on Sunday.
Klopp's defence of Wirtz
Returning to action at home to Greece, Germany will then host Serbia on Thursday (October 1) before concluding the break with an away trip to Greece next Sunday.
And speaking ahead of his side's first clash with the 2004 European champions, Klopp doubled down on his previous defence of Wirtz as he pointed out he joined Liverpool at a difficult time, following the tragic passing of Diogo Jota, and insisted the 23-year-old has made a positive start to the season.
"When you look at the overall context, Flo joined Liverpool at a very unfortunate time," he said. "It's about the passing of Diogo Jota. He joined a team with the players whose priority was not football at that time, which is very understandable."
"He learned a lot from his first year. Now is a new season under a new coach, he started all games, I think. He's physically doing very well. The team is starting to find itself again. Attacking players always need a functioning team around them."
Wirtz's form and future
"Everyone who loves football can still see what an outstanding player Flo Wirtz is. His footballing ability is beyond any doubt. He is on a good path, but people are never satisfied with how quickly things happen," Klopp added.
"We have to make sure that Flo feels comfortable with us and can fit into what we want from him. With us, hopefully, he can simply be Flo. We can't do more than we're doing here, namely build him up in our team with enough training and playing time."
"Bit by bit, give him certainty, a good feeling, and then send him back to Liverpool. I wish him all the best."
Wirtz has made six appearances for Liverpool so far this season but has failed to score and returned just one assist.
