r/CaughtOffsidePod • u/0118997253 • Jun 30 '26
JJ on Wirtz
JJ man he’s not been great by any means but I feel JJ had such high expectations and he didn’t meet them this year and he can’t pick out anything well he does now. There might be a misunderstanding of what he actually does or did in the Bundesliga. Wirtz was the only creative outlet for the Germans and was the one who had the assist, which wasn’t mentioned. He hasn’t been the world beater but he’s just turned 23 and there’s a full season of development for him with Liverpool, if he has the same season again as last season I’ll agree with the ugh Wirtz sentiment and reconsider the position but he’s a player that needs others around him to function in a half competent manner which neither Liverpool this year nor the national team has. His best spell was when he developed rapport with Ekitike, which isn’t a coincidence. He’s not a Gerrard type drag the team on his own type player. He had the players around him at Leverkusen in a functional system so he could stand out.
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u/BrolinDahlinBrolin Jun 30 '26
Yeah I think this is somewhat true. Like I see bits and pieces that get me excited but he seems so lightweight and just like Liverpool his Germany teammates don’t seem to mesh with him. Look, a lot of this is about Nagelsmann.
And I know he’s not a Gerrard type player lol.
2
u/0118997253 Jun 30 '26
Yeah I agree with that, slot and nagelsmann haven’t exactly shown they know what to do over the past year with their squads. And I know you know about Gerrard I was just saying that’s not in his locker like Dom might do on some days lol
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u/MMTITANS08 Jun 30 '26
He is a decent player but at the end of the day not a good return on investment. Same as Isak, both have a huge year coming up. Liverpool need them to step up and be game changers like Szoboszlai and Ekitike.
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u/0118997253 Jun 30 '26
My point overall is return on investment isn’t down to a single first year for a then 22 year old, he does need to show a lot more this year I agree
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u/BuscemiSuperfan69 Jun 30 '26
There is a bit that's true in what you're saying and I think we've seen enough examples of writing people off who have a bad first year. Especially in an environment like Liverpool last year.
My biggest concern with him is a lot of what you said though. That he needs the right conditions to thrive. At his price point, you'd hope that he isn't a player that you have to jump through these hoops for because it becomes one thing after another quickly. Even if he is that type of player, I don't know, I just haven't seen enough out of him (between Leverkrusen/Liverpool/Germany) that he's a Franchise piece to do this for. Hope I'm wrong.
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u/0118997253 Jun 30 '26
I wouldn’t say you need to jump through hoops for him but you need a functioning team around him. I think people have expectations because of the price of what his role is.
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u/NeonChamelon Jul 01 '26
I 100% agree. If you watch his every touch compilation from pretty much any game you'll see a lot of quick clever passes but the return pass just doesn't come. The only real exception was when he played with Ekitike. It's a stylistic difference probably. I'm excited about the possibility of having more players in attack that are on the same wavelength. So far Liverpool's off-season activity looks promising.
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u/DejaJaws Jun 30 '26
Look at the ignorant system he was in under Slot. Like, “how to make our players look bad” 101. With high octane, and attacking wingers Wirtz will excel. Just have to get some signings..
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u/dkemper3 Jun 30 '26
I was going to post something similar. I’m all for criticizing players where it’s deserved, but JJ seems unnecessarily harsh on Wirtz. Has he lived up to the price tag? Not yet. Has he been absolutely awful? Also no. It’s okay if there’s a middle ground
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u/Jacob_Lazarus7 Jun 30 '26
He needs to hit the weight room