Jamie Carragher believes Florian Wirtz must be dropped for Liverpool’s clash with Manchester City after the international break, claiming his performance against Bournemouth was “the worst I’ve seen him in a Liverpool shirt”.
Liverpool beat Bournemouth 1-0, thanks to Alexander Isak’s second-half goal and Andoni Illaura making a triumphant return to the Vitality Stadium.
Iraura is the first manager since Joe Fagan in September 1983 to remain unbeaten in Liverpool’s first five league games (W2 D3).
However, Wirtz was criticized for his performances on the south coast as he struggled to make an impact.
He finished the game with a team-low 70.3% passing accuracy (26 completions of 37 attempts), touching the ball 53 times with only 2 shots deflected, but he did create a game-high 3 chances.
Only Ronald Araujo (24) has conceded more goals than the German (16).
Carragher was not happy with Wirtz’s performance and claimed that Illaura needed to consider leaving him out if they were to improve their results.
“This is one of the poorest Liverpool players I’ve ever seen,” Carragher said on The Bonus Podcast with Jamie Carragher.
“I’ve been critical of him for not getting the numbers. But usually when you watch Wirtz, you see he’s clean; he keeps possession. There’s something about it that you like. He gets out of tight situations where you normally think your players will lose the ball.
“But the reason I’m worried is this: I don’t think Wirtz has been in bad form since he came to Liverpool. In fact I think that’s what we’ve seen from him.
“I was worried about Wirtz about 12 months ago. Maybe it’s a little early to say that, but I didn’t say it out loud. It was just in my head.”
“I commented on Liverpool’s away game against Burnley, which Liverpool won thanks to Salah’s late penalty. When I watched that game, that’s what I’ve seen over the last 12 months: I don’t know how he can hurt you.
“It’s clean and tidy. At some point, a player of this type should be worth half what Liverpool paid.”
“Wiltz’s concern now is that his performance so far, or the performance he has brought to Liverpool, is too low. We had expected him to lead Liverpool to another league title and lead Liverpool to the Champions League.”
“The gap he has to reach is almost enough to justify the expectations, which I almost think are too big. You can’t get there. Even if he improves a bit and gets there, it’s still not what Liverpool thought they were getting.
“It’s not just Wirtz’s problem, there’s a knock-on effect. So when he plays as a 10, it means Dominik Szoboszlai has to play in midfield. I don’t think Szoboszlai is a midfielder; I don’t think so.
“I think going forward Iola needs to make a decision here. Wirtz is not going to join my Liverpool team.
“Wiltz will not join my Liverpool team. Manchester City are at home; for me he cannot join the team.”
work done on the road pic.twitter.com/bUYAgBNxwe
— Liverpool Football Club (@LFC) September 20, 2026
Wirtz has been called up to Jurgen Klopp’s Germany squad for the upcoming Nations League campaign.
Former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has named both squads, with Wirtz rested ahead of the final two games of the international break against Serbia and Greece.
Carragher added: “Liverpool fans’ only hope now is for Jurgen Klopp to become Germany manager.”
“Wiltz was away with Germany for three weeks and he was clearly one of the best players in Germany; that’s how they saw him. Can Jurgen Klopp sprinkle a little stardust on his position?
“Jurgen is one of the greatest coaches in the world; we know that. Because of his personality, he probably gets more out of his players than most coaches and fingers crossed something can happen for him.”
“There is a scenario where Jurgen Klopp has a good international window with Germany and he gets loads of goals, assists and comes back in great form. Manchester City are the next game; he affects that and all is forgotten and all is forgiven. There is a potential turnaround there.”
“I hope it happens. I hope he can be a match-winner against Manchester City.”
Liverpool started the season unbeaten and ranked sixth in the Premier League standings with 9 points. They will return to the Premier League on October 11 to face leader Manchester City.