Speaking at a conference in Munich (via Bild), Bayern Munich’s Uli Hoeneß has commented on Liverpool and Florian Wirtz’s start to life together.
Bayern were strongly interested in Wirtz in the summer, but ultimately the former Bayer Leverkusen player opted to join Liverpool, the reigning Premier League champions.
The Köln native was part of a large spending from the Reds, which saw them spend €482m, €125m of which was invested in Wirtz, while another €145m was spent on Aleksander Isak.
However, Liverpool have endured a tough start to the season, losing nine of their last 13 games.
“They spent €500 million and are having a disastrous season. In my opinion, that’s because they only have superstars. They only have ‘chiefs’ and no ‘workers’. I always say that Liverpool will soon have to play with five balls because the stars won’t let go of the ball. Poor Florian Wirtz, he doesn’t even get a ball because Salah and Szoboszlai and all the others want to play with their own.”
Hoeneß on Wirtz’s move to Liverpool:
It is well known that Hoeneß wanted Wirtz to move to Bayern, even saying he had ‘a dream’ of the 22-year-old moving to the Allianz Arena.
On Wirtz’s move, Hoeneß later added:
“Apparently, Slot promised him something that he’s now clearly not keeping. He promised him he’d get the number 10 shirt and that he’d build a new team around him. That was rubbish. He got the number 7 shirt, and the new team is clearly not playing around Florian Wirtz. I feel terribly sorry for him. Everything went through him in Leverkusen. In Liverpool, he gets five passes in a half – and if he loses the ball twice, he gets a bad rating”
The timing of Hoeneß’s quotes could not have been at a worse time, as just beforehand, the reigning German footballer of the year had one of his best games so far with Liverpool in a 2-0 win against West Ham in the Premier League, where he provided the ‘pre-assist or hockey assist’ for the opening goal.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
