Jamie Carragher calls for Liverpool to DROP Florian Wirtz after he offered 'absolutely nothing' in Man City defeat following 'last hope' move from Jurgen Klopp

Jamie Carragher has led the criticism for Liverpool midfielder Florian Wirtz after another drab performance against Manchester City from the £116million man.

Wirtz was one of the biggest movers in the Premier League last season but had a below-par season, with many giving him the benefit of the doubt considering it was his first season in the division.

But he has continued to struggle this term too, and under a new manager, with the German yet to score and picking up just one assist in the six top-flight matches so far this season.

His performances have led to some questioning his place in the Liverpool team, and former Reds defender Carragher is now front and centre of that after Wirtz's showing against Manchester City on Sunday.

'I'm going to go back to Florian Wirtz, because I was critical of him after the last game Liverpool played at Bournemouth,' he began on Sky Sports. 'I was then criticised a little bit by Liverpool supporters for putting a negative slant on it. But what I did say was it could be the last hope if Jurgen Klopp could get his arm around him when he was with Germany.

'He played really well for Germany under Jurgen Klopp. But he has come here today, I'm looking at the game with no Isak and no Gakpo, our two best attackers this season. We need Barcola and we need Wirtz to step up and help Munoz and Koumas at the top of the pitch. Koumas and Munoz were better than the two £100m players.

'That can't be right. It's not right. It wasn't a decision for anyone in the stadium when Liverpool went down to 10 men. And the big bright spark was Gravenberch. He started badly and was taken out the team. There is no way Wirtz should be playing ahead of Gravenberch.

'What Florian Wirtz is doing for Liverpool is not enough right now. He's played 55, 60 games for Liverpool. If we were looking at Barcola, he has played four or five. You would want more but hold your horses. If you were critical of him, it would be over the top, but not the guy that has played 60 games.'

Wirtz has in fact played 56 times for the Reds, picking up seven goals and 11 assists in that time.

He joined a team last summer that had just won the Premier League with Dominik Szoboszlai as their No10, but have now moved the Hungarian into a deeper role.

That, according to Carragher, should not happen going forward. 

'He shouldn't be in the Liverpool team right now,' Carragher added on Wirtz. 'I don't want to hammer Liverpool players. But we're not saying this after five-ten games, we're saying this after 50-60 games.

'Wirtz never looks like scoring a goal. You don't come away thinking he missed chances or he worked the goalkeeper. There was absolutely nothing today where you thought he put someone through, or nearly scored. There's absolutely no goal threat whatsoever.'