Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has revealed that Florian Wirtz has been on a weight-gain programme to better cope with the physical demands of the Premier League. Slot expressed satisfaction with the German international’s recent performances as Liverpool aim to extend their unbeaten run to six games against Tottenham this weekend.
Although Wirtz is yet to officially score in the league, he played a significant role in Nordi Mukiele’s own goal during the recent 1-1 draw with Sunderland, with his shot deflecting off the defender and into the net. The 22-year-old, who moved from Bayer Leverkusen for a record-breaking £116 million in June, also shone in the 2-0 victories over West Ham and Brighton.
Wirtz’s recent form marks a positive shift from his early days at Liverpool, where he initially struggled with the intensity of the top flight. However, the creative midfielder, who has reportedly gained over 2.5 kilograms of muscle through the programme, is beginning to find his stride in England, according to Slot.
Slot explained: “To come back to your question, I hope I made it clear that I am talking not just about the new players (who have needed to adapt) but players in general, Florian has improved a lot. I am not talking about his ability on the ball because we could see from the start that that was top.”
“But I saw in one moment against Brighton where he took the ball off Dom (Szoboszlai), he dribbled and a player came to him and he pushed him away and kept on dribbling. Then he provided a cut back cross for Hugo (Ekitike) who shot over the bar.
“Later he won the duel with (Brighton’s) Jan Paul van Hecke that led to the counter-attack with the shot from Mo (Salah). In those moments you see it gets easier for him.
“It takes a lot, a lot, a lot of effort for him to play in this intensity but he is getting used to it. That is my take.
“Both (fitness and weight work). A lot of them have grown in kilograms, in muscle. That’s one thing.
“And secondly, if you are only in the gym you cannot be prepared for 90 minutes of Premier League football. It is about playing those games, I would say training but we hardly ever do that, so it’s playing, playing, playing.
“The only way to make these players better is by playing them. I have played players during the season when you would usually take pre-season for that.
“The only way to get Florian stronger, Macca (Alexis Mac Allister), Conor Bradley, Joe Gomez, is to play games.
“So yeah, it’s a combination of things but definitely also about the gym work where they all get stronger.”