Wirtz given brutal verdict as Liverpool target fails to respond after latest bid
Florian Wirtz is expected to join Liverpool this summer, with the Reds set to lodge a fourth bid for the Bayer Leverkusen star while he is away on international duty with Germany
Florian Wirtz has come in for criticism over his performance in Germany's 2-0 defeat to France in their third place play-off match in the Nations League. Goals from Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise earned France the victory, with Wirtz failing to make much of an impact.
The 22-year-old is expected to make a big money move to Liverpool this summer, with the Reds set to make a fourth and final offer worth around £118million for Wirtz. And against the backdrop of Liverpool's ongoing negotiations with Bayer Leverkusen, Wirtz was not at his best against France.
The playmaker failed in all of his attempts to dribble past Chelsea defender Malo Gusto and missed an opportunity to equalise in the first-half when his effort hit the post. German newspaper Bild gave Wirtz a four in their player ratings.
"Another performance with both highlights and shadows from the Leverkusen player," they wrote. "A weak free kick into the wall.
"Missed the chance to make it 1-0 after 36 minutes because his shot hit the post. Not the magician, not the leader he's often been in Leverkusen recently."
Reflecting on the game, Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann said: "I think it was more our team than on Wednesday [against Portugal] - ball possession, counter movements, counter pressing. I think it was OK today.
"We created a lot of chances, but we have to be honest as well, it's football. [Scoring] goals is the most important topic, and we missed a lot of chances today.
"Normally, when you create such good chances like we did in the first half, you have to get the lead, but not only one goal. Three or four could [have been] possible in the first half.
"It was similar to the feeling we had [against] Spain [in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals]. The feeling [ahead] of the qualification games is a lot better than it was on Wednesday. So, we keep on going."
Germany defender Jonathan Tah added: "It's a different feeling [to Wednesday] because I think we played a pretty good game today, especially in the first half. [We] deserved to score at least three goals and it hurts at this moment, because I think we deserved more at the end of this game.
"We need to have this determination and we had that in the past. It's not the problem of two years, it's what's just in this game today. At the end, we played a really good team that used counterattacks, and they're good at this. That's how they scored. But as I said, we deserved more."
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