Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez AND Florian Wirtz! Liverpool’s summer business is kicking off with a huge bang, Frimpong and Kerkez look set to be the new full-back partnership. Then you are looking at the biggest Premier League signing of the decade, Florian Wirtz potentially joining the Reds, adding world-class talent and Balon D’or potential, to an already stacked Liverpool attack.
Wirtz Makes Choice and the Coutinho Comparison
Florian Wirtz is a German youngster not playing for Bayern Munich; it is usually a formality for Bayern to be able to snatch this type of player off of a rival from the Bundesliga. However, this time, Arne Slot has sold Wirtz the dream of his vision for the German and his Liverpool side. The 22-year-old will likely cost Liverpool over $100 million easily becoming the club’s record signing, a similar cost to what Liverpool sold Phillipe Coutinho for in 2018. That’s where the many similarities begin for these two players.
Style and Positioning
When looking at Florian Wirtz’s past two seasons we see an elite player, like how Coutinho was playing in the 17/18 season when he made his dream move to Barcelona.
Coutinho’s deeper role in his Liverpool team, allowed for him to pick up the ball earlier and impact the game more, he was seen as the main attacking force in that terrifying front four Liverpool had in the first half of the season. Wirtz, on the other hand has been used in a front three in Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen side, playing on the left of a narrow attack, still being able to roam but placing himself higher on the pitch.
Goalscoring
Florian Wirtz has established himself as a goalscoring midfielder, a player who has the composure and ability to produce a plethora of different finishes. In both of his last two seasons, Wirtz has scored over 10 goals, while Coutinho produced 15 in the 17/18 season. Wirtz offers a huge goal threat and is efficient with this threat, his 74 shots from this season are 17 less than the 91 Coutinho took on, and with the less shots taken he placed nearly as much on target, with 35 of his 74 being on target giving him a 47% Shot on target rate, 7% higher than Coutinho’s.
Alongside his higher efficiency, Wirtz also has a much more sustainable xG. The 9.4 xG he has from this season was just 2 goals behind his actual tally from this year. When compared to Coutinho’s 7.1 xG in a season he scored 15, it paints a very clear picture that Wirtz’s goals and chances are much more repetitional.
Creativity
The two of them had similar numbers when it comes to the playmaking side of their games, Wirtz had 12 assists, to Coutinho’s 11. Looking at the assists deeper, Wirtz had 26 Goal Creating Actions (GCA). These are the two offensive actions that directly lead to a goal, these can be passes, take-ons or fouls won, the actions can also be done by the shot taker. Coutinho’s GCA was 24, again very similar. Away from Coutinho, Wirtz’s numbers are unreal, the 26 GCA he had was higher than Musiala’s, 9, and Olise’s 25. Back to Coutinho, in seasons where the two players played in an almost identical amount of minutes, their numbers being this close shows the similarities.
Away from just the assists and looking at the broader range of creativity from these two, we see Wirtz producing 148 shot creating actions, just seven lower than Coutinho.
Dribbling
This is the first sign of a disparity in the two players. Wirtz is an avid dribbler: he attempted 167 take-ons this season compared to Coutinho’s 137, showing the freedom Wirtz is allowed but also the willingness to take his man on, something the game in the modern day needs more of. Of the 167 take-ons, Wirtz completed 82 of them, or 49% of them, completing nearly half of his take-ons is seriously impressive, but when looking at the 85 Coutinho completed or the 62% od take-ons he completed it more shows the quality Coutinho had with the ball at his feet and the ability to take it past his marker more than a shade on Wirtz’s ability.
Wirtz Has Unique Potential
Florian Wirtz is a player that can be like a Phil Foden or Paul Gascoigne, a maverick dribbler and finisher, but he also has the attributes and ability to see the bigger picture, more like a Kevin De Bruyne, this type of player is what Liverpool have not had since Phillipe Coutinho left the club in 2018.
Slot’s Vision for Wirtz
From what we know, Arne Slot has been key to the decision Wirtz has made, the vision he has given to Wirtz has given him the belief that this is the right move. There are many ways Slot may look to use the German Wonderkid, a more traditional use of him in the attacking midfield role, closest to Dominik Szoboszlai’s position for the Reds. Another way to use him is similar to how Xabi Alonso did at Leverkusen, a inside forward of the left allowing for potentially Kerkez to provide the width and give Wirtz that freedom in the inside left areas that he has thrived in for Leverkusen.
A more obscure yet familiar role to Liverpool fans, is that Slot may have a dream to create an even better version of Roberto Firmino. Using Wirtz as a false nine to link up and finish of play, allowing for Mo Salah to re-adopt the role that proved so successful for him under Klopp and also freeing up the other winger, whoever that may be.
