Florian Wirtz booed as media slam Liverpool star’s Germany display – ‘didn’t succeed with anything’

Florian Wirtz failed to conjure up a goal or an assist once again as Germany recorded a 1-0 win over Northern Ireland in World Cup qualifying, with the Liverpool star’s antics also angering the Windsor Park crowd in Belfast.

The playmaker has endured a pretty miserable time of things after arriving at Anfield in a then club-record £116m move from Bayer Leverkusen in June. While his Liverpool career started well, with an assist for Hugo Ekitike in the Community Shield, Wirtz has not been able to contribute a goal or assist in his new colours since and is now nine games and 650 minutes since.

Indeed, such have been his struggles for the Reds in recent matches, our transfer insider Dean Jones rightly called that Liverpool boss Arne Slot was ready to axe Wirtz from his side ahead of their last game – the 2-1 defeat at Chelsea.

The chance to go join up with his international colleagues could, therefore, have been seen as a chance for the 22-year-old to pick up some much-needed form.

However, despite playing 180 minutes of two Germany World Cup qualifying victories – Monday’s 1-0 win in Belfast followed the 4-0 victory over Luxembourg on Friday – the Liverpool man was once again unable to make a significant contribution, going through both games without a goal or assist.

Wirtz was also roundly booed by the partizan Windsor Park crowd, who were frustrated by the costly playmaker’s theatrics after throwing himself to the floor on two occasions. The first incident was waved away by the official, before he won what appeared to be a soft free-kick with a second.

Wirtz, who started on the left wing of Julian Nagelsmann’s line-up, then also had a wayward shot which almost cleared the stand.

In the second half, more theatrics saw Wirtz hit the deck in the penalty area, and with no penalty given, the crowd made their feelings towards the Liverpool man clear.

Awarding Wirtz a 6 out of 10 for his performance, Bulinews said of the player: ‘Had his moments, but didn’t succeed with everything.

‘Occasionally caused problems with his dribbling and showed good vision and creativity, though he could have been more goal-oriented.

‘Provided a perfect throughball to Adeyemi early in the second half, which the winger should have converted, but saw less of the ball towards the end.’

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What next for Wirtz as Northern Ireland boss outlines frustrations

Further analysing his performance, Welt stated: “His technically fine moves weren’t capitalised on by his teammates. He now has to work hard for his footballing fortunes at Liverpool.”

Bild added: “The new Liverpool player, who is under fire in the UK, seemed to be putting in a lot of effort, as he did against Luxembourg, but he continues to be a concern in the German national team kit and isn’t a decisive factor. He was booed by the opposing fans after a slight fall. He didn’t have a compelling moment in the first half. He sent Adeyemi through, but he missed.”

Sport.de continued: “He was intensely harassed by his opponents and, as a Premier League player, drew boos from the crowd. In a disjointed match, he was effectively robbed of his strengths for long stretches. While he occasionally resolved situations in tight spaces well, he almost never posed a threat.”

Feeling somewhat aggrieved at the defeat and having seen a 14th-minute Paddy McNair strike chalked off by VAR, Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill couldn’t help but feel frustrated by what he had seen.

Asked if the referee’s performance had frustrated him, he replied: “It did, very much so. Over fussy and I felt that to give two minutes at the end of the game is incredible really with the amount of substitutions alone and stoppages.

“I thought Germany were over dramatic when they went down as well, and a lot of time wasting and that side of things.

“I’m not going to go into it, but we weren’t happy with the referee’s performance on the night, let’s be honest. I thought he was overfussy.

“We are disappointed with the performance of the officials.”

Wirtz vs Northern Ireland 🎬pic.twitter.com/OL6bLngNsM

— FlorianFlicks (@FlorianFocus) October 13, 2025

Wirtz had gone into the game having been given a strong defence by Germany coach Nagelsmann, who insists he will soon hit top form at Anfield.

“Even though he hasn’t scored any goals, he is still the player who creates the most chances in the Premier League,” Nagelsmann told Sport 1 on Friday.

“It’s not his fault if his teammates don’t convert them, and the statistics don’t even tell the whole story.

“Wirtz needs to get used to the league. I saw him playing with total freedom. He knows what he’s capable of and how things work.

“He hasn’t always had it easy – he’ll have to work hard now too.”

Indeed, according to Opta, no player has created more chances (21) than Wirtz in the Premier League this season, meaning his current stats don’t necessarily paint a true picture.

Former Reds boss Jurgen Klopp is also adamant he will succeed, commenting: “His quality is so outstanding.

“The discussions are a bit exaggerated.

“Liverpool just lost three games in a row, which is unusual. But that’s also normal in life. And that’s why such things are discussed there.

“[Wirtz is] a once-in-a-century talent, and at some point he’ll show that in every game again, just as he did at Leverkusen.”

However, whether that will be enough to earn Wirtz a recall to the Liverpool side for this weekend’s clash against Manchester United at Anfield remains to be seen.

His performance off the bench at Chelsea showed, though, that Wirtz can be effective and there is a feeling at Anfield that the goals and assists will start rolling in for the player and for now, the messages coming out of Anfield, are not ones of panic.

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Meanwhile, Sweden’s latest World Cup qualifying humiliation has left Alexander Isak at the centre of a media storm after a 1-0 loss to Kosovo on Monday night, with one salty journalist in particular absolutely roasting the Liverpool striker for forcing a summer exit from Newcastle.

On the transfer front, sources are at odds over the chances of Michael Olise signing for Liverpool next summer amid claims Bayern Munich chiefs are poised to launch a cunning counterattack plan over the France star.

Elsewhere, TEAMtalk has learned whether any of Crystal Palace’s star trio are likely to move in January and with Liverpool named as primary suitors for two of those much-heralded Eagles talents.

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