Martin Rafelt:

The Wirtz-situation is a train wreck. It’s a mixture of wrong expectations, incorrect role and playstyle, resulting confidence issues.

And, tragically, it looks as if his teammates don’t want to play with him.

None of these are mega bad, but they’re adding up.

Point 1, Expectations & Role: Wirtz is no 150M-player as an INDIVIDUAL creator. He is not an elite athlete. He is nimble, quick and can run, but he is not going to demolish PL-defenders in open space.

He is absolutely astonishing as a team player. He has an unusual profile.

He can create from literally anywhere. And he is amazing in picking when to appear where. At Leverkusen he moved from wing to wing, FB, DMF, half-spaces, attacking center.

Pin him to a definitive position and you lose a big deal of what makes him special. Let him float.

He is amazing in finding advantages on the pitch, but he also NEEDS advantages. Put him in a strict position within a non- or semi-functional team and he needs to create from neutral, balanced and predictable situations. He will be okay doing that, but far away from 150M.

I feel like this is the case for many players in today’s game. Wirtz just happened to be a player who was afforded those opportunities to float when he played for Bayer Leverkusen.

Although he is not as creative as Wirtz, this makes you appreciate what Phil Foden has been able to accomplish in the Premier League. Maybe he would be as creative if he was used to floating. He is also a very unusual profile, but a very moldable player. Wirtz doesn’t seem to be as moldable.

What I mean by moldable is that if you asked Foden ‘in order to progress the ball forward, you have to perform one rainbow flick per posession.’ I feel like Foden would be able to do it, and do it quickly. I don’t think Wirtz would be able to do that. And he doesn’t have to be worth the money.