Florian Wirtz "looked like a little boy" in Liverpool's 3-0 defeat to Manchester City, according to Gary Neville, who delivered a no-nonsense verdict of the German international after Sunday's final whistle.
Despite a promising showing in their Champions League win over Real Madrid on Tuesday night, Wirtz failed to build on that performance as Liverpool lost more ground in this season's title race.
The 22-year-old attacking midfielder, a £116 million summer signing from Bayer Leverkusen, has yet to record a single goal contribution in 11 top-flight games.
And after another below-par performance on Sunday, Sky pundit Gary Neville suggested patience is running thin after the wider footballing world "tiptoed around him" in his opening months as a Liverpool player.
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"Wirtz is a problem," he said on the Gary Neville Podcast. "Let's just call it as it is. It's an issue. He's £100m plus, and to be fair, I said a few weeks ago [Milos] Kerkez looked like a little boy out there. Today I thought Wirtz looked like a little boy. That can't be the case."
He added: "We've been tiptoeing around him for a few months, around the fact that he's young, he's coming to a new country, but he's £100m+, you're going to have to stand up soon.
"He's obviously got something, he's a really good player, he's technically fantastic, but he's been mauled out there today by Matheus Nunes and by others. He's been chucked around the pitch, and didn't deliver on the quality side of things as well, so his performance was a real worry."
Neville believes Liverpool must find a way of getting the best out of Wirtz, who impressed against Madrid on the left of a front three but once again struggled against Premier League opposition.
"He's a Germany international of great standing, and he looks well short in respect of what you'd expect in a top physical Premier League match," added Neville.
"They've got to get him up to speed, they've got to get that little bit of tenacity into him, and that little bit of something that means he'll start to get into form, because what they have to do is stick with him and persist."
Gary Neville rips into Liverpool's performance against Manchester City
In all honesty, Arne Slot's side looked a shell of the team that won last season's Premier League as goals from Erling Haaland, Nico Gonzalez and Jeremy Doku sealed a deserved win for City.
Neville described Liverpool's performance as a "really, really" poor one. "It was one of the worst that I've seen from a Liverpool team for a long time," added Neville, who was on commentary duty for Sunday's game.
"It was a bit like they didn't know what to do. I think it was a worry."
He added: "They need to basically go and have a good look at themselves, because they've hit high standards, and they're a group of players who know how to win things, and they'll know that they're nowhere near at the moment."
Thoughts on Florian Wirtz's start to life at Liverpool? What needs to change? Let us know in the comments.
Topics: Liverpool, Man City, Premier League, Gary Neville, Florian Wirtz
Jack Kenmare