Wirtz ‘the poorest I’ve ever seen him in a Liverpool shirt’ against Bournemouth, claims Carragher

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Jamie Carragher believes Florian Wirtz must be dropped for Liverpool’s clash with Manchester City after the international break, claiming his performance against Bournemouth was the “poorest I’ve ever seen him in a Liverpool shirt”.

Liverpool edged to a 1-0 victory over Bournemouth, giving Andoni Iraola a winning return to Vitality Stadium thanks to Alexander Isak’s second-half goal.

Iraola is the first manager to remain unbeaten in his first five league games in charge of Liverpool (W2 D3) since Joe Fagan in September 1983.

However, Wirtz came under fire for his performance on the south coast as he struggled to make an impact.

He finished the match with a team-low 70.3% passing accuracy (completing 26 of 37 passes), had 53 touches, and just two off-target shots, though he did create a joint-game-high three chances.

Only Ronald Araujo (24) lost possession more often than the German (16).

And Carragher was far from impressed by Wirtz’s showing, claiming that Iraola needs to think about leaving him out of the side if they want to improve their results.

“That was one of the poorest I’ve ever seen him in a Liverpool shirt,” said Carragher on the bonus Jamie Carragher Podcast.

“I’ve been critical of the fact that he hasn’t got the numbers. But normally when you watch Wirtz, he’s neat and tidy; he keeps possession. There’s things that you like. He gets out of a tight situation where you’re normally expecting your player to lose the ball.

“But the reason I worry is: I don’t think Wirtz is in poor form since he came to Liverpool. I actually think what we’re seeing is what he is.

“And I was worried for Wirtz probably 12 months ago. And maybe that was a little bit early to say that, but I didn’t say it. It was just in the back of my head.

“I commentated on Liverpool away at Burnley, and Liverpool won with a late penalty from Mo Salah. And when I was watching that game, it was what I’ve seen for the last 12 months: I don’t see how he’s going to hurt you.

“It’s just neat and tidy. And in some way, the price tag for that type of player should be half of what Liverpool have paid.

“The worry for Wirtz now is that his performances so far, or what he’s given Liverpool, is so low. Where we were expecting him was to take Liverpool to another league title, to take Liverpool to a Champions League.

“The gap he’s got to get to almost justify what people were expecting, I almost think is too big. You can’t get there. Even if he improves a bit and gets there, it’s still not what Liverpool thought they were getting.

“And it’s not just Wirtz, it’s the knock-on effect. So when he plays at No. 10, it means Dominik Szoboszlai has to play central midfield. I don’t think Szoboszlai is a central-midfield player; I don’t.

“I think going forward, Iraola’s got a decision to make here. Wirtz would not be in my Liverpool team.

“Wirtz wouldn’t be in my Liverpool team. Manchester City at home; for me, he can’t be in the team.”

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) September 20, 2026

Wirtz has been called up in Jurgen Klopp’s Germany squad for the upcoming Nations League.

Klopp – the former Liverpool manager – has named two squads, with Wirtz getting a rest before being in contention for their final two games of the international break against Serbia and Greece.

“The one hope for Liverpool supporters now is Jurgen Klopp is the Germany manager,” Carragher added.

“Wirtz goes away with the Germany team for three weeks, and he’s obviously one of the best players in Germany; that’s how they see him. Can Jurgen Klopp sprinkle a bit of stardust on him in that position?

“Jurgen is one of the greatest managers in the world; we know that. And what he gets out of players is probably more than most managers because of the nature of his personality, and fingers crossed something can happen for him.

“There’s a scenario there that Jurgen Klopp and Germany have a great international window, he gets loads of goals, assists and comes back on a high. Manchester City’s the next game; he impacts that, all is forgotten, all is forgiven. There’s a potential turnaround there.

“I would love that to happen. I’d love him to be the match-winner against Manchester City.”

Liverpool, who sit sixth in the Premier League table on nine points after an unbeaten start, return to action on October 11 against leaders Manchester City.

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