Making Wirtz Work in Liverpool's Build-Up

A look at why the Wirtz situation may be more about Liverpool’s build-up and transitions than individual form, including touch-volume comparisons, the role of the No.10, and the impact of the striker profile.

Just an opinion, but I think the Wirtz situation (besides personal performances) goes down to how Liverpool integrate him in the build-up and transitions.

When it comes to effort and work rate, there’s nothing to say since he has been one of the best in the team. The problem lies in what he is supposed to do for us in attack and where he fits in the transitions and build-up. Is he supposed to dictate the tempo? Is he supposed to make the final pass or pre-assist? Is he near the box with Isak to associate or finish?

Currently, Dom is the player with the most average touches in the attacking side of our game, specifically 90 per game this season, while he had 83 tpg (25-26) and 43 tpg (24-25). Since Trent left, Dom is where most of our attacking game flows through. Trent left with 70 tpg (24-25) and 83 (23-24) in his last two seasons, but he was our main creative output since Klopp decided to bring him into the team. He lost balls, got intercepted, etc, since that’s part of touching so much of the ball and trying to be creative.

In comparison, Flo has 64 tpg this season, 57 tpg (25-26), while at Leverkusen’s best season he had 75 tpg on a team where he was where the attack flowed through.

I don’t think the #10 position in this 4-2-3-1 system is working how it is supposed to. You end up with one of your double pivot getting more of the ball in attack while also making most of the final passes in the opp half.

This season, 31/90 tpg from Dom are in the opp half, with 2.8 key passes per game, 2.8 shots per game and 0.5 dribbles per game, while Flo has 28/64 tpg with 1.5 key passes, 2.1 shots per game and 1.3 dribbles per game. The thing is, Flo is always being pushed up (don’t know if it’s an Iraola thing or the fact that our other two mids push him up with their movement) and is receiving the ball in tight spaces on his back or with too many players, and has to rely more on dribbling.

I think the difference between Hugo and Isak also makes this more prominent. Hugo is more associative than Isak and that benefits Flo: a #9 that comes down and associates, rather than a #9 that tries to attack the space every time. Dom, while being more vertical, benefits more from someone like Isak, in my opinion.

Also, not having full-backs high up the pitch limits the options for either of the two to find alternatives other than playing forward or taking on a player, so that’s not helping. I like how we are more solid at the back but I think we need to find a balance, and a solid #6 would help to unlock that.

Written by The_thin_white_duke September 20 2026 19:52:04