What Florian Wirtz has been conjuring up on the pitch for weeks is fascinating. The 20-year-old Bayer professional is playing a key role in his club’s current success. And Wirtz is raising the hopes of German fans for a successful European Championship in 2024 in their own country.
“When he’s there and plays well, our game reaches a new level.” There is no better way to express Florian Wirtz’s class in simple words than Leverkusen’s coach Xabi Alonso. The Bayer professional, who is still only twenty years old, has been showing for weeks how a single player can direct an entire team, pull them along and push them to their performance limits. It’s fascinating to watch the man with the number 10 on his shirt kicking. With him and because of him, the anticipation for the 2024 European Championships in our own country is growing again. Finally there is another national player to fall in love with.
When Florian Wirtz returned to the football stage in the spring after tearing his cruciate ligament, his teammate and national team colleague Jonathan Tah said: “We are happy that he is back. We all know that he can help us a lot. He is brutally important.” At that time, however, no one could have imagined what a fantastic performance the Bayer team would show since the start of this season. Xabi Alonso’s team is currently celebrating football from another planet. And the Pullheim native is playing a key role in this new successful football.
Florian Wirtz always seems to be open to his teammates these days. He is always on the move, running freely, opening up spaces and running and running and running. He has already completed over 300 sprints this season, with an average of twelve kilometers run per game. Even if the statistics don’t quite show it: his presence is reminiscent of his current coach. They once called Xabi Alonso a “ball magnet” because he had an incredible 206 touches of the ball in Bayern’s game against 1. FC Köln in September 2014. In this encounter, the ball landed every 26 seconds at the then midfielder of the record champions.
The difference between Alonso yesterday and Wirtz today: With the Leverkusen midfield strategist, the actions take place a little further forward – and often create situations that directly lead to goals. And so it’s no coincidence that national coach Julian Nagelsmann praises: “Wirtz has the extreme talent of getting the ball into the half-spaces in front of the chain, dribbling towards the goal at speed and using other players.” If Florian Wirtz wants and is allowed to, he is increasingly the famous difference player who can significantly influence and decide games with his presence and his skills. However, his coach at Bayer Leverkusen does not hide the fact that there are weaknesses here and there in Florian Wirtz’s game, which Xabi Alonso describes as “will”. And so the Spaniard says: “Wirtz has this level and we have to help push him to play like that. Sometimes it’s a little less, but we have a lot of fun with him.”
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Julian Nagelsmann would also like to have fun with Wirtz in the future. And the national coach even favors a solution about which he himself says: “I read a few months ago that the two can’t play together, but I think it’s a very good idea.” This refers to the duo Jamal Musiala and Wirtz. And it’s exactly this idea that excites the Bayern superstar. Musiala says about his interaction with Wirtz: “We combine well and look for each other. We both just have fun playing football together.” Musiala is unfortunately injured at the moment and will be out of the next two international matches, but this young successful team at the DFB offers a lot of hope for the future.
And who knows? Maybe the two will even play together at FC Bayern Munich from next season. Together with Leroy Sané, the three could then form an outstanding dream trio. But first, Florian Wirtz will do everything he can to be as successful as possible with Bayer Leverkusen and the national team. And what happens next is probably less in his hands than the Bayer game is in his feet these days.