Gary Neville points finger at Liverpool star who ‘looked like a little boy’ against Man City

Manchester City completely outplayed Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium and won 3-0 in Pep Guardiola’s 1000th game as a manager.

The win moved City to second place in the league, four points behind Arsenal while Liverpool dropped down to eighth position in the league, even behind their fierce rivals Manchester United.

Guardiola’s team could have won with a bigger margin against Liverpool at the Etihad, that is how impressive they were against Arne Slot’s team.

The problems are mounting for Slot and his players who have now suffered five defeats in the Premier League this season.

They only lost four Premier League games last season but after 11 matches this season, they have been beaten five times already.

Football pundit Gary Neville pointed finger at Florian Wirtz who ‘looked like a little boy’ against Man City.

The Germany international midfielder joined Liverpool in a big money move in the summer but he has so far failed to live up to expectations.

Neville said on The Gary Neville Podcast: “Wirtz is a problem.

“Let’s just call it as it is. It’s an issue. He’s £100m+, 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.”

Neville 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 £120, 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 continued: “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.

“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.”

Slot is confident that Wirtz is going to prove himself in the Premier League and regain the form that he once showed for Bayer Leverkusen.

The question remains, when is Wirtz going to do that? The Reds are already eight points behind Arsenal in the Premier League.

In the Champions League, they have not looked convincing despite beating Real Madrid recently.

Wirtz has struggled to come to terms with the pace and the physicality of the English game.

While he has made up for his lack of goals and assists with his work rate but that is not why Liverpool paid a record fee for a midfielder.

Jamie Carragher has also criticised how Wirtz has performed this season. He looks completely lost on the pitch and it appears like he has lost his creative instinct.

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