According to former national player Ilkay Gündogan, a crucial mistake is being made in the critical assessment of Florian Wirtz.
The former ManCity star Ilkay Gündogan has defended the heavily criticized Premier League newcomer Florian Wirtz. In an interview with kicker , the former captain of the German national team explained that criticism based on the lack of goal contributions so far for Liverpool FC is particularly misguided.
Regarding Wirtz being sharply criticized based on his statistics, Gündogan said: “They can be misleading. I’ve played with so many great footballers who maybe only scored two to five goals by the end of the season. Perhaps added two or three assists, but were so important for the team throughout the entire season. For the performance, for the success.”
Florian Wirtz and Ilkay Gündogan faced each other in the Champions League
Gündogan didn’t exclude himself from this. “I would probably count myself in one or another season too. And as a teammate, you completely don’t care who scores the goals, how many goals someone makes. I want teammates who give everything for the team so that it is successful. If I have that, then I personally don’t care who gets celebrated to the heavens or who gets ignored,” the 34-year-old elaborated.
Meanwhile, he understands that the high transfer fee of up to 135 million euros puts pressure on the offensive star: “Yes, I think so. In his case, it increases the pressure. A player is naturally aware when he transfers for an extreme amount of money and that expectations rise accordingly. That’s human.”
The Galatasaray star transferred to the Premier League in 2016 for a comparatively low 27 million euros. Regardless of the transfer fee, the midfielder emphasizes that the German youngster needs a certain adjustment period.
He doesn’t understand the harsh criticism of Wirtz, especially given his performances: “When we played against Liverpool, Flo was their best player. I don’t see everything as negatively as it’s being portrayed right now.”