{"id":298659,"date":"2025-12-04T14:16:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T14:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/298659\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T14:16:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T14:16:08","slug":"van-dijk-urges-wirtz-to-ignore-numbers-game-after-german-denied-first-liverpool-goal-liverpool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/298659\/","title":{"rendered":"Van Dijk urges Wirtz to ignore \u2018numbers game\u2019 after German denied first Liverpool goal | Liverpool"},"content":{"rendered":"

Florian Wirtz should ignore his Premier League numbers and not lose confidence in his world-class ability at Liverpool<\/a>, believes Virgil van Dijk.<\/p>\n

Liverpool\u2019s \u00a3116m summer signing thought he had scored his first goal for the club against Sunderland on Wednesday<\/a> only for the 81st-minute equaliser to be deemed an own goal by defender Nordi Mukiele. The decision means the 22-year-old is still without a goal or an assist in 13 league appearances for the champions. Van Dijk, however, is convinced Wirtz is on the right path at Liverpool and will prove he is an elite level player.<\/p>\n

The Liverpool captain said: \u201cThere\u2019s a very good reason why a club like us bought him: he\u2019s an outstanding, world-class player in my eyes who can only become even better but it will take a bit of time. For him he has to stay level-headed, don\u2019t get too high, don\u2019t get too low. Don\u2019t get dragged into the outside world of when it\u2019s very good or very bad and don\u2019t get dragged into the numbers game.<\/p>\n

\u201cNowadays there are a lot of eyes on if you score goals or have an assist or keep clean sheets but it is also about what you see and the contribution you have for the team, that\u2019s not just shown in the numbers but in what you see and that should sometimes be the focus. He was involved in the equaliser but he did many other good things, in the last game [at West Ham] as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Van Dijk spoke to Wirtz about the pressure that comes with a big-money transfer \u2013 the Netherlands captain cost a then world record sum for a defender when joining Liverpool for \u00a375m in 2018 \u2013 but does not believe that is the issue with the Germany international.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the beginning [we spoke about the fee] but that\u2019s normal,\u201d van Dijk added. \u201cYou can talk about it as much as you want, do whatever you want, but you have to deal with it yourself. You have to experience it and he did. He just has to keep going. He is still such a young, talented boy who came to the club for a lot of money but he didn\u2019t pay that money, he\u2019s part of the bigger picture of trying to be a success here.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about getting going. Start working and just enjoy being part of the biggest club in the world and fight for the badge and show your qualities each and every day. I\u2019m pretty sure it will be fine, but at the moment we are all trying to find consistency on the pitch with our results and we need everyone in their best shape. He needs us in our best shape and we need him in our best shape and that\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to find.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mohamed Salah was dropped for the second game in succession but re-introduced at half-time against Sunderland. Photograph: Chris Brunskill\/Fantasista\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Liverpool were laboured against Sunderland and created little. Mohamed Salah was dropped for the second game in succession but re-introduced at half-time with Arne Slot disappointed by Cody Gakpo\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n

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Van Dijk, whose error led to the visitors\u2019 goal, said: \u201cMo has been like he should be: disappointed. But we need him and he will still be important like he has been. He is a fantastic player and we have to remember there is a reason why he has been so successful at the club and we have to respect that. I need him around as one of the leaders. I\u2019m not worried.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like you have unlimited credit, everyone has to perform. Mo has been doing that but the manager made that decision in the last two games. We all want the best for the club. I am pretty sure Mo will still be a big part of what we are trying to achieve because he is an amazing player and he has shown it consistently. But like I said with Flo, we are all trying to find consistency and he needs us to be in our best shape.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florian Wirtz should ignore his Premier League numbers and not lose confidence in his world-class ability at Liverpool,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298660,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-298659","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/298660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}