Florian Wirtz defended as Liverpool £116m man 'missing' one thing

Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from Echo or go back to LFC Live.

SportFootballLiverpool FCLiverpool attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz has been criticised in Germany for his performances at the World CupGermany boss Julian Nagelsmann has defended Florian Wirtz after the Liverpool attacking midfielder was criticised for his World Cup performances.Wirtz started all three group games and laid on assists in both the 7-1 win over Curacao and the surprise 2-1 loss to Ecuador on Thursday evening.That, though, hasn't been sufficient for pundits back in Germany who have been unhappy with the standard of performances from both Wirtz and fellow creative force Jamal Musiala.Germany face Paraguay on Monday evening in their round of 32 tie with victory setting up a last 16 clash against either tournament favourites France or Sweden.And Nagelsmann is convinced Wirtz - who had a testing first season at Liverpool following his £116million move from Bayer Leverkusen last summer - just needs a goal to get up and running in the tournament."Flo was very committed and gave it his all," said the Germany head coach. "He's lacking luck."He had two or three top-notch dribbles in the penalty area.

He's missing the goal."(Musiala) has been out for a year. We all know what he's capable of.

The breakthrough (for Musiala and Wirtz) will definitely come on Monday."Nagelsmann was heavily scrutinised after the manner of Germany's loss to Ecuador having gone ahead early on through Leroy Sane."It's important that we learn from our experiences," he said. "I would have made different substitutions if we still needed a win."On Monday, it's about giving it our all and reaching the next round.