Liverpool’s 2025/26 campaign has been filled with frustration in all areas.
Off the pitch, fans are unhappy with Arne Slot amid a run of poor results following some questionable performances.
Away from the field, Liverpool have lost out on Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo to Manchester City and are yet to make a senior signing this month.
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Elsewhere, after a £400m-plus summer spend, several of their summer arrivals have struggled to get up to speed.
Earlier in the season, Florian Wirtz was heavily criticised after his big-money move from Bayer Leverkusen.
Wirtz has started to look much better of late, but Micah Richards still doesn’t think he’s reached his best yet.
Micah Richards disappointed in Florian Wirtz
Speaking on the Rest Is Football podcast this week, the former Man City player said he is disappointed in the former Bayer Leverkusen man because he is ‘way better’ than what he’s showing.
He said: “I’m disappointed in Wirtz because he’s way better than he’s showing. I know you said he’s we’ve seen it in the last couple of games, but he’s such a good player.
“He just he needs to find his rhythm, you know, in terms of getting on that ball, making them passes. And you can see it.
“You can see it in spells in games even earlier on in the season, but when he didn’t score for so long and then the added pressure, I think next season it’ll become good.”
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Florian Wirtz better than people think
It’s an interesting take from Richards, which may have held some weight in the opening few months of the season.
However, even before Wirtz started to score and assist for Liverpool, there were clear signs he was showing improvement.
From November, he has looked much brighter, created more chances (even if they weren’t being finished off), and is currently leading the Premier League in one key statistic.
Now, he and Hugo Ekitike have formed a great partnership, but when Alexander Isak returns, it’s going to be interesting to see how Slot fits all three players, as well as Mohamed Salah, into the team without impacting the balance of the squad.
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