Slot admits he has sympathy for Wirtz this season: Your life is a bit upside down!

Posted Thursday, January 01, 2026 by tribalfootball

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has revealed that he understands why summer signing Florian Wirtz has struggled.

Wirtz has registered his first Premier League assist and goal in the last two matches as he begins to show why the champions splashed the cash on him in the summer transfer window.

The 22-year-old’s influence feels like it is growing by the game, but it hasn’t been easy for the German international, who was often mocked at the start of the season for his lack of goal contributions.

Slot, speaking in his latest press conference, has sympathized with the former Bayer Leverkusen star who he says is only human and like anyone needs time to adapt to his new surroundings.

“I can only answer from my experience being an old man or at least much older than him, and the first few months in a different country, because it was also my first experience of going abroad, it’s different.

“Your life is a bit upside down, and that for a manager is not the biggest problem because I don’t have to perform on the pitch.

“But I can fully understand that some individuals need a bit of time to adapt off the pitch as well.

“The biggest adaptation if you come from abroad is this league and how intense it is.

“(Against Wolves) I didn’t take Florian out because he played badly, I took him out because he was hardly able to keep on running anymore.

“That tells you about the new players we have brought in and how big a step it is to adjust to these intensity levels.”

Wirtz will feature once more against Leeds United on New Years Day as Liverpool aim to catch up to 3rd place Aston Villa who were picked apart by Arsenal in a 4-1 loss on Tuesday evening.