Florian Wirtz will be out for Liverpool FC longer than originally thought. Ahead of this week’s two almost identical competitive matches, coach Arne Slot also spoke about a league trend – one that has recently helped him himself.
Last Sunday, Florian Wirtz was supposed to play as usual when Liverpool FC visited Nottingham. However, back problems during warm-up meant that this plan had to be scrapped at short notice. Coach Arne Slot had given the all-clear and predicted a quick comeback – but he has since been proven wrong.
Wirtz was again absent from Saturday’s 5-2 home win against West Ham United, and it appears that the national team player, who has been in such good form recently, will miss two more competitive games. As Slot announced on Monday, Tuesday’s league match against bottom-of-the-table Wolverhampton (9:15 p.m.) is “probably too soon,” and the same may be true for the FA Cup round of 16 match three days later at the same venue against the same opponent (9 p.m.).
“Let’s see how it turns out,” said the coach. “But we hope to have him back at some point next week.” Then on Tuesday, the Champions League round of 16 first leg against Galatasaray Istanbul is on the schedule. Wirtz’s availability would certainly be even more important there than against the Wolves.
Liverpool’s radical turnaround after set pieces
But even without the 22-year-old playmaker, the Reds recently continued their small run of four competitive wins in a row – partly due to a rediscovered strength: against West Ham, three corners led to goals. Until the turn of the year, the defending champions were bottom of the Premier League in terms of set pieces (excluding penalties), but since then, no one has made better use of them.
On Saturday, his professionals repeatedly blocked Hammers keeper Mads Hermansen, as we have come to expect from leaders Arsenal for months. Slot also critically questions the Premier League trend of set pieces becoming increasingly important and increasingly being taken on the edge of legality.
“Most games in the Premier League are no longer a joy for me”
“This is especially true here in the Premier League. That’s the new reality. When I look at other leagues, I don’t think as much emphasis is placed on set pieces. When I watch a game in the Eredivisie, I see goals being disallowed and fouls being called on goalkeepers. Here, on the other hand, you can almost punch a goalkeeper in the face and the referee still says, ‘Just keep playing,’“ Slot marvels.
”Do I like that? My soccer heart doesn’t like it. If you ask me what I understand by soccer, I think of the Barcelona team from 10 to 15 years ago. Today, most of the games I see in the Premier League are no longer a joy for me,“ admitted the Dutchman, not without adding reassuringly: ”But it’s always interesting because it’s so competitive, and that’s what makes this league so great.”
