21 Aug 2026 12:50:39
Iraola would not have bought Wirtz who is an Edwards fantasy football signing. Edwards threw the toys out of the pram when he realised that a new coach with a new style was going to be joining, making his fantasy football signings and Vision for the team potentially defunct.
I can’t see Wirtz finding the physical consistency in this league, sadly.
21 Aug 2026 13:12:24
The same Wirtz that Manchester City wanted. Sorry, but this is nonsense - I can't wait for Wirtz to shine under a decent manager. He's got the work rate, and the magic in his boots. I trust Klopp's judgment of "generational talent".
21 Aug 2026 13:12:45
Whatever you say, Whatever you say. ?
21 Aug 2026 13:14:00
This post will age well when he gets a goal and an assist against Newcastle this weekend.
21 Aug 2026 13:35:18
In the final two friendlies, Mac Allister and Wirtz played as the no.10 in each game. I think they will be Iraola's choices in that position and they'll be made to compete/rotate.
He clearly prefers more mobility in the deeper areas. Szoboszlai, McConnell, Gravenberch and Nyoni have all been his preferred players in midfield.
Even Endo was played at CB in pre-season.
It's questionable whether McConnell and Nyoni are ready for as many minutes as it currently looks like they may get. But at 19 and 21 years old, why not. ??♂️
21 Aug 2026 13:43:33
Personally, I'll judge all last year signings at the end of this year. I shouldn't, but I'm giving all players a pass for last season. Everyone was pretty much terrible.
21 Aug 2026 13:55:12
Sky have released an interview with Iraola and he's confirmed "We'll definitely sign players, yes."
"I hope more than one. The thing is, me as a coach selfishly, I want the players for the first day of preseason, so everyone is ready to go, but also I understand how this works.
Some days you have to wait until the end. The important picture is the one we have on the September 1 and I hope, because it's true that we are still quite thin, that we can have more help from here until the end of the market.
21 Aug 2026 13:56:09
Wirtz has a knack of finding the right space to receive and seems to have more time than most on the ball, but has been wasteful with the final ball too often. If he adds a clinical edge to his game in the final third, we have some player.
21 Aug 2026 14:03:27
Any manager in the world would take Wirtz. Players like him are cut from a different cloth.
A truly world class manager would make a player of that calibre fit.
21 Aug 2026 14:10:24
I will judge Wirtz at the end of the game on Sunday, because I'm a judgmental git! He was a big disappointment last season and he needs to step up and justify the huge sum of money which was spent on him.
21 Aug 2026 14:50:46
Generational Talent is the most overhyped. He is not.
We all wait for him to light up his regular talent.
21 Aug 2026 15:08:08
Honestly can't believe the actual s*** fans are giving Wirtz. Last season, even how poor we all were, he would have had loads of assists if we had finishers, because he put a lot on a plate for players to spoon their chances.
A quicker style will suit him down to the ground, and honestly I can see him ending the season one of the players of the season. You can see his pattern of play, once he gets going he won't stop.
21 Aug 2026 15:18:08
I think I'll trust Klopp on this one.
He rates Wirtz a generational talent worth building the whole team around.
This season he's visibly bulked up and I for one can wait to see what he can do.
21 Aug 2026 15:19:59
I must've been watching different games to you, Adamevy.
21 Aug 2026 15:25:34
Fully agree with all that, Rome. He needs a big season. I hope he has it.
21 Aug 2026 15:51:20
Wirtz and Isak to be our players of the season.
21 Aug 2026 16:07:19
Wirtz is class and people need to be patient with a young player moving from a different league and county.
21 Aug 2026 16:24:03
Love how posters know a player better than Klopp.
Know who I am trusting more.
21 Aug 2026 16:18:57
Some thoughts on issues in this thread. Particularly Wirtz and the midfield. I should probably talk to a therapist about these matters as they really, really grind my gears. despite my sleepless nights my wife has firmly informed me that she doesn't care, so you lot will have to do.
I watched quite a bit of Wirtz when he was brilliant at Leverkusen. He played off the left, combining with an overlapping Alex Grimaldo to deadly effect. He was brilliant and his arrival softened the blow of Diaz leaving. We paid a fortune for him and all looked rosy.
Then, for some ridiculous reason Slot played him in central midfield positions, on the right and as what he called a "No. 10" - which Wirtz apparently wants to be - ripping up a title winning formation to do so. The rare occasions Wirtz started on the left he looked more comfortable - but was hamstrung by Slot's insistence that fullbacks stay deep and do not overlap (I will not miss his anti-football).
I'll be clear. Maybe Perhaps Wirtz can be a No. 10. Perhaps he personally thinks he'd be a great No. 10 - but there is zero evidence of that. Zero. It has never, even been a reality.
We signed the best young left-sided inside forward in world football for £120+, then seemingly promised him that he'd be a "No. 10" - in a title winning side that didn't play with a No. 10. The stupidity was/is staggering. Now we're expected to splurge on Barcola for the same position!
This is the level of thought I expect from the FIFA playing Football Manager crowd. These (fun) games get details many wrong, such as, for example, making Wirtz a "No. 10" in FM, or rating Ibrahima Konate as a brilliant defender in FIFA. The kind of people who rate players based on watching YouTube highlight reels.
Szoboszlai is another example. He is technically brilliant, yes, and works hard. The YouTube highlights crowd seem to rate him as an incredible midfielder - he's like Gerrard, apparently
For me, Clive, Szoboszlai has poor positional sense, particularly defensively. He is slow in possession and makes poor decisions regularly. As such, he needs cover behind him to thrive - or we will be ripped apart with regularly - again. Our midfield is terribly unbalanced if we play with a No. 10.
We need a DM No. 6 - such as Gravenberch on his title winning form - and we also need a quality backup player in the same position. We knew this a year ago.
Gravenberch is utterly clueless in the centre of midfield. Despite this, Slot had him push forward from DM into central midfield at every poorly conceived opportunity - abandoning the job that saw him recognized as PFA Young Footballer of the Season in 2024/5, named in the PFA Team of the Year, and catching the eye of Real Madrid. Likewise, Mac Allister - a wonderful footballer (despite some of the juvenile opinions here) is lost in a double-pivot - yet this seems to be the plan.
We abandoned a title winning 433 formula last year (one with no god-forsaken talk about "No 10's") - which Arsenal happily stuck with and won the title - and we're seemingly determined to double-down on it.
Clearly, I have my concerns about the system that will be implemented, but whatever happens at least Konate is gone and fullbacks will consider passing the ball forward and overlapping - maybe even putting a cross in!! So it should be guaranteed to be more fun than last season.