The great paradox in the recent Liverpool crisis was that the Wirtz is yet to come.
Through those six defeats in seven games which mercifully ended any Quadruple chat long before it could begin and significantly complicated hopes of a first successful title defence in four decades, one of the main sources of frustration was the continued struggles endured by their most important addition of a historically opulent summer.
Arne Slot said this week that his £100m signing had “brought exactly what we expected”. But it is difficult to envisage that part of the pitch Liverpool presented to Wirtz included him not starting the Merseyside derby or games against Chelsea and Manchester United while failing to score in his first three months.
Missing Real Madrid at home, the team he “definitely would” have signed for, managed by the coach who developed him into such a ludicrous talent, would have been unthinkable.
It was ostensibly another game without a goal or an assist. But it was also the evening when the penny rather than Wirtz himself was dropped.
“I think just after we scored,” said Andy Robertson after the game, “I think Florian was maybe down on the ground, and the noise they made…the lads were kind of looking around and thought, ‘Yeah, this is where you want to play, these are the games you want to be a part of’.”
It would have been a well-earned rest. Wirtz ran two things: at least 0.76km further than any other player; and the show. No-one completed more passes leading to a shot or passes into the penalty area, while only Ibrahima Konate and Conor Bradley made more ball recoveries.
Stationed ahead of Robertson on the left wing but given licence to roam, Wirtz revelled in the space and had comfortably his best Liverpool game.
The new blueprint for Slot looks remarkably like the old one which excelled last season. This is the shape and structure Liverpool need, with diligent full-backs, an energetic and disciplined midfield spine with the insatiable Dominik Szoboszlai at the tip, and forwards eager to dovetail, interweave and combine instead of operating individually. The Wirtz and Ekitike connection seems particularly bountiful.
It represents a sort of betrayal in the eyes of Arsene Wenger, who purports to be surprisingly well-informed on both the transfer negotiations conducted this summer, and the private tactical discussions between Slot and Wirtz.
“Wirtz had the choice between going to Bayern Munich or to Liverpool,” Wenger told beIN Sports before the Real game. “He said to Liverpool, ‘I’ll come to you if I play number 10 – I do not want to play wide.’
“Liverpool, to get him, they say ‘OK’. So they destroyed their midfield, because their midfield was Gravenberch, Mac Allister and Szoboszlai.
“To play Wirtz, they took Szoboszlai out, and then what did they do against Aston Villa? They went back to their normal midfield of last year. And tonight, they play Wirtz but I’m sure that Wirtz will play on the side, because the manager has said, ‘if you want to play a game, you have to play wide, because I do not want to disturb the midfield.’ That will be interesting to see.”
A successful experiment requires one inevitable sacrifice in the form of Cody Gakpo, a player only Mo Salah can beat for appearances and goals for Liverpool under Slot. But if it provides the platform for Wirtz – with Gakpo a potent threat off the bench – it is one the Reds must make.
This was the first real, sustained glimpse of the coup Liverpool thought they had made, the player the rest of the world wanted.
It even allowed his critics to maintain a desperate grasp on the stick with which they can continue to habitually beat him; Szoboszlai specifically apologised for not finishing one of the gilt-edged opportunities Wirtz laid on for him, while Slot noted that “he has been so unlucky throughout his career here at Liverpool because even today he created so many chances for the team, but the goal we scored wasn’t an assist or a goal from him”.
That won’t ultimately matter as long as Wirtz brings enough to the team on and off the ball, with the framework established going forward.
As Szoboszlai said, the German “just kept on running, kept on winning the balls, running back”. There was certainly an element of Adam Lallana collapsing into the arms of Jurgen Klopp during his first game as Liverpool manager as Wirtz made his way over to Slot for one final tactical debrief after coming off to an Anfield ovation.
Wirtz was exhausted but exalted, a blurry and confused picture having belatedly become clear. Liverpool have been ready to go with the Flo for a while; now they finally know how.
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