£116m Florian Wirtz offers tantalising glimpse of what's coming

Germany suffered a shocking defeat in FIFA World Cup qualifying on Thursday night.

Julian Nagelsmann’s side went down to an unexpected 2-0 loss away at Slovakia. It was the first time in 91 YEARS that the Nationalmannschaft lost a qualifier away from home.

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And it was only the fourth time the Germans have ever lost a World Cup qualification match. They will be hoping for better in their next match against Northern Ireland in Cologne next week - and much once again will depend on Florian Wirtz.

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The Liverpool playmaker became the most expensive British transfer in history when he swapped Bayer Leverkusen for Anfield last summer.

Expectations high on £116m Wirtz

Overall, the deal for the 22-year-old could reach £116m if all add-ons are met. Given the price tag, there has been a lot of scrutiny on the playmaker so far this season.

He was admittedly underwhelming in his Premier League outings against Bournemouth, Newcastle and Arsenal - although he showed promising signs in the second half against the Gunners last week.

There are gradual signs that he is getting up to speed with the Premier League and that his teammates will soon be on his wavelength.

Expectations are sky high and there is a tendency to over-analyse everything he does.

Germany's disaster result

The scale of Germany’s defeat has predictably brought criticism Wirtz’s way but this time it’s unfounded.

This was perhaps his best outing of the season so far - for club or country - and the signs are extremely positive for Liverpool.

It was due to a lack of quality around him that Wirtz didn’t register an assist in the game against Slovakia - with colleagues like £70m Nick Woltemade messing up the chances he created.

But there was plenty of clever combination play in the final third - with Wirtz being lined up from a position on the left of the attack.

In truth he gets more or less a free role for the national team - picking the ball up in pockets of space or even coming deep to ask for possession.

Wirtz impressive for Germany

He is the one who consistently gets the Germans going through the attacking phases, going for one-twos or else dribbling clear himself.

Wirtz indeed was unlucky not to score off one such chance - but the burden of creativity is far too high on him alone in this Germany team.

Granted we cannot ignore Wirtz losing the ball in the lead-up to Slovakia’s opener - but Germany had plenty of chances to stop that counter before it reached Oliver Baumann’s goal.

The good news is when he returns to Liverpool he will have a lot better standard of teammate to work with.

The signs are promising for Wirtz

Instead of Serge Gnabry it’ll be Mo Salah. Instead of Leon Goretzka it will be Dominik Szoboszlai. And instead of Woltemade it’ll be Alexander Isak or Hugo Ekitike.

Those players will be recipients of Wirtz’s good work - ensuring it won’t go to waste. Wirtz should take this game as a confidence boost; of all the players on te pitch for one of Germany’s most humiliating nights, he can hold his head up high.

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