Andoni Iraola Defends Florian Wirtz Against Statistical Criticism

Andoni Iraola refuses to let Florian Wirtz be reduced to a spreadsheet.

The Liverpool manager knows the numbers: one assist, no Premier League goals, a £116m price tag and a growing chorus pointing to how often the Germany international surrenders possession. He also knows what he saw on Wednesday night against Atlético Madrid – and what he keeps seeing in Europe, where Wirtz has quietly produced some of his most complete performances in a red shirt.

For Iraola, the verdict is clear. The 23-year-old is not a problem to fix. He is a pillar to build around.

‘You cannot just play because of the numbers’

Wirtz’s start to the domestic campaign has been framed, almost exclusively, through statistics. The goals column is empty. The assist tally barely registers. In an era when forwards are judged in screenshots and heatmaps, that can be a brutal spotlight.

Iraola is pushing back.

“Flo played very well against Atlético Madrid and I also think he has been unlucky,” he said, pointing straight to the moments that never made it into the numbers. The disallowed “goal” against Nottingham Forest, given in real time and then scrubbed by VAR. The chances he has carved out that teammates failed to finish. The fine margins that turn a narrative.

“That is why you cannot just play because of the numbers,” Iraola insisted. The question for him is more fundamental: does Wirtz make Liverpool play better?

The answer, in his mind, is yes. Emphatically so.

A creator in a changing frontline

The Atlético win offered a snapshot of the version of Wirtz Iraola wants the public to see. Drifting into half-spaces, taking the ball under pressure, threading passes that bend defensive lines out of shape. One of those passes released Bradley Barcola for a gilt‑edged chance, the kind of move that underlines why the manager sees Wirtz as “key for us” in a new‑look attack.

Liverpool’s frontline has been quietly rebuilt. The wingers, Iraola admits, are the area of greatest churn. Barcola has arrived. Victor Muñoz too. With them come fresh angles, different runs, new preferences for where and how they want the ball.

“There is an argument to make that the wingers have changed more than anywhere else,” Iraola said. “Now we have new weapons we can use with Bradley and Victor.”

That shift places even more responsibility on Wirtz. He is the connector, the player expected to knit together a forward line still learning each other’s movements. Iraola is convinced that understanding will come quickly – and that when it does, the output everyone is obsessing over will follow almost as a byproduct.

“He will quickly learn where Victor prefers the ball or where Bradley prefers the ball,” Iraola said. The early signs are already there. Barcola, in only his second game, looked on the same wavelength as Wirtz, combining neatly and attacking space with confidence.

Collective over credit

Iraola’s stance on Wirtz is rooted in a broader belief about how to judge attacking players. The obsession with goals and assists, he argues, misses the point of how a team actually functions.

“Whether a striker scores a lot of goals or he doesn’t, you have to look at the performances,” he said. “Does he help us to play well? Yes. Well, someone will score the goals and someone will give the assists.”

He is not interested in divvying up credit. He is interested in Liverpool playing at a level where the goals become inevitable.

“I am not too focused on numbers,” he said. “Nowadays everything is about numbers, everyone tells players you have to assist, you have to score goals. For me, you have to help us play well. Someone will score the goals and I don’t care if it is the midfielders like it was the other day. Someone will score the goals if we are doing well collectively.”

In that vision, Wirtz is less a misfiring star and more the metronome around which the attack can be tuned. The turnovers, the raw statistics, are framed as growing pains in a side still adjusting to new patterns and personnel.

Patience for the £116m man

There is pressure, of course. A £116m fee brings its own soundtrack, and a goal drought only turns the volume up. The criticism of Wirtz’s ball losses this season has not gone unnoticed.

Iraola, though, is choosing patience over panic. He sees a player already influencing big Champions League nights, already creating chances at domestic level, and now working to build relationships with Barcola and Muñoz that should sharpen Liverpool’s edge in the final third.

“I am not very worried,” he said, twice, as if to close the subject.

The numbers will come or they will fall to someone else. What matters to Iraola is that when Liverpool click, Wirtz is at the heart of it.