{"id":144974,"date":"2025-09-15T13:04:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T13:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/144974\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T13:04:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T13:04:09","slug":"hasnt-done-it-steve-nicol-calls-for-slot-to-bench-liverpool-player-whos-disappointed-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/144974\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHasn\u2019t done it\u201d \u2013 Steve Nicol calls for Slot to bench Liverpool player who\u2019s \u201cdisappointed\u201d him"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steve Nicol has claimed that Arne Slot ought to consider dropping one player in particular from his starting XI at Liverpool.<\/p>\n

The Reds maintained their 100% start to the Premier League season with a 1-0 win over Burnley on Sunday, but it took a 95th-minute Mo Salah penalty to break the deadlock in a largely forgettable contest.<\/p>\n

Nicol calls for Slot to consider benching Wirtz<\/p>\n

Nicol has been underwhelmed by he\u2019s seen from the 22-year-old so far and has called for Slot to consider redeploying him on the left flank or even dropping him altogether.<\/p>\n

The ex-Liverpool defender said on ESPN FC<\/a>: \u201cIf we were going to talk about one player who is disappointed the most, I think we\u2019d have to say, if ever a player was brought in to break down a game, this was it today\u2026 that, I\u2019m afraid, is Florian Wirtz\u2019s job.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what he was brought in to do. Today, again, he couldn\u2019t do it, and he hasn\u2019t done it yet since he\u2019s come to the club now.<\/p>\n

\"Article<\/p>\n

(Photo by Matt McNulty\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that Liverpool win again probably means that Arne Slot can keep pushing Florian Wirtz in the starting XI and keep giving him time, hoping that his true form is going to come out. There has to be a point where you do bench them. You could try and play him on the left.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has to come a point where Arne Slot has to decide whether Florian has to sit (on the bench)\u2026 If that\u2019s the best thing for the team, then again that\u2019s why Slot gets paid the big bucks.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to make tough decisions regardless of whether you paid \u00a3112m for somebody or not, if they\u2019re not producing. Then you have to make a decision, and that can\u2019t be that far away, quite honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s way too soon to drop the axe on Wirtz \u2013 he\u2019ll come good<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not inconceivable that Nicol\u2019s words could be heeded \u2013 Slot showed his ruthless streak yesterday when substituting Milos Kerkez, who was already on a yellow card and running the risk of receiving another, after just 38 minutes.<\/p>\n

With Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong both now fit, it\u2019s plausible that either of them could be selected at right-back and Dominik Szoboszlai could revert to the advanced midfield role in which Wirtz has been playing.<\/p>\n

No player at Liverpool should consider themselves truly undroppable, but we wouldn\u2019t agree with axing the 22-year-old from the starting XI just yet.<\/p>\n

To spend \u00a3100m+ on a player and consign him to the bench after only five games would seem excessively radical, and it\u2019d be lunacy to write off Wirtz so early into his Anfield career. Remember, he\u2019s still integrating into Slot\u2019s tactical setup and forming relationships on the pitch with his teammates.<\/p>\n

Would we like to see more from the German than what we\u2019ve witnessed so far? Absolutely, but we\u2019re fully convinced that it\u2019ll come, and the best way for that to happen is if the head coach keeps faith in him and affords him the opportunity to repay his significant transfer fee.<\/p>\n

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