Jamie Carragher believes Florian Wirtz will reach his best level at Liverpool if he is used in the same inside position Kevin De Bruyne occupied at Manchester City.
Speaking after Wirtz’s strong display against West Ham on Super Sunday, Carragher described it as one of the Germany international’s best Premier League performances since his big-money move to Anfield. Wirtz started on Liverpool’s left — the side he favoured at Bayer Leverkusen — rather than a deeper central No.10 role.
Carragher compared Wirtz’s influence to De Bruyne, saying the new signing can become a similar type of game-changer in the Premier League: a player who gets on the ball, creates problems for opponents and keeps possession intelligently. He highlighted Wirtz’s composure and forward passing in the game, citing an impressive 42 from 45 successful penetrating passes, and praised his decision-making with the ball.
The key, Carragher argued, is deploying Wirtz where he is best suited. Although Wirtz has been used on the left and has come in from wide areas in some appearances — often when replacing Mohamed Salah — Carragher says the inside-right role is where he should operate regularly. That position, the former defender suggested, allows Wirtz to influence the game more consistently and was why the West Ham match stood out as his best Liverpool showing so far.
Carragher also warned about the wider knock-on effects as Liverpool’s new signings begin to settle. Alexander Isak scored his first Premier League goal in the same game, raising questions about how Wirtz’s ideal position might affect Dominik Szoboszlai — Liverpool’s standout so far this season — and how Isak’s return to form interacts with other forwards such as Ekitike.
He said the squad balance isn’t perfect: without Salah, Liverpool lack a natural right winger, which forces Szoboszlai to drift inside and can limit Joe Gomez’s attacking output. Those positional shifts mean one player’s resurgence can create selection and role questions for others, though Carragher added that such concerns are unlikely to be top of the manager’s mind after a positive performance.
Liverpool’s next fixtures are at home to Sunderland on Wednesday and away to Leeds on Saturday, with both matches shown live on Sky Sports.