Written by Han Bing With Liverpool's all-time champion and the title of the first "Mr. 100 million", the pressure on Wirtz can be imagined. As the saying goes, "if you want to wear the crown, you must bear the weight", Wirtz is destined to be a leader for Liverpool, but it also means that he will have to bear the responsibility, pressure and challenge to match the historical title, and hand over the outstanding performances and statistics to match.

For new Premier League champions Liverpool and manager Slot, the title defence season will be the hardest. The impact of last season's Premier League title rivals' extensive injuries and controversial penalties will be difficult to replicate at the same time. Slot's tactics are gradually being figured out by their opponents, and Liverpool's hopes of defending the Premier League title and the Champions League in the new season largely depend on whether Wirtz can bring the planned tactical upgrade to the team.

Wirtz was key to the tactical upgrade

Before the end of last season, Liverpool completed the contract extension of the two core players of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk. However, it is still unclear whether the duo who are over 30 years old can still deliver top-level consistent performances and not suffer from injuries. In addition, the departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold has left Liverpool without the sharpest attacking and defensive workforce on the wing, and Nunez has been abandoned in the central striker position due to the delay in achieving the ideal form. If Liverpool are to continue to compete for the title in the Premier League and Champions League in the new season, the offensive tactical upgrade brought by Wirtz is the key.

Wirtz in the Leverkusen era has delivered an astonishing "double 15+" of goals and assists for two consecutive seasons, and Wirtz, who has a comprehensive ability, has become the hope for Slott to improve his offensive creativity and attacking power. Wirtz can play as a No. 10 with ammunition to the attacking trident, as well as a false No. 9 up front, and can even pull wide to open up the offensive width for the team. On top of that, among Liverpool's attacking players, Wirtz is second only to Mohamed Salah in his prime, and can largely compensate for the lack of attacking power from the centre-forward and attacking midfielder.

Wirtz can form a new midfield triangle with McAllister and Hrafenberg in midfield, and can play to his advantage of being good at organising attacks and shooting. Such a configuration can make Liverpool's midfield strength enough to maintain stability in the top ranks of the Premier League. Wirtz was the decisive piece of the puzzle for Liverpool's technical midfield combination after the start of the Slotter era. More specially, Wirtz's tactical flexibility can also provide more options for Liverpool's attacking routine, and can also substantially share the pressure for Salah.

Slott inherited Jurgen Klopp's high-pressing tactics last season, while incorporating his own concept of possession with the ability to control the rhythm of the ball, creating a new tactic that combines a variable pace with high possession. The addition of Wirtz will strengthen the direct threat to the opposition goal in attack, while also maintaining a dominant possession rate and attacking tempo change through more threatening passes and assists, which will be the key for Slot to break the "second year curse". Szoboszlai's final pass was still lacking, McAllister also had to take care of the defense, and Wirtz's ability to break, pass and shoot was the key to Liverpool's comprehensive attack in the new season. In addition, his pressing and defensive contributions up front are outstanding. Wirtz's versatility allows him to change his tactical position at any time, making the team's offense more unpredictable.

Integration and injuries are hidden dangers?

Although Wirtz's stats in the Bundesliga and the German national team are outstanding, the British media are worried about whether he can quickly integrate into Slot's tactical system and the high-intensity rhythm of the Premier League. Wirtz, who is only 1.77 meters tall, is relatively weak in physical fitness, and whether he can fully exert his ability in the fierce physical confrontation of the Premier League still needs to be observed. Although he averaged 87% pass completion rate and 2.3 key passes per game at Bayer Leverkusen, and was able to maintain a consistent passing quality in a high-pressure environment, the confrontation and rhythm of the Bundesliga are still far behind those of the Premier League.

Fortunately, Liverpool do not need to play in the Club World Cup and can have a full pre-season preparation period, which can allow Slote to help Wirtz integrate into his tactical system as soon as possible. Wirtz's habit of dropping back to a two-man midfield at Bayer Leverkusen and then opening up space through vertical breaks or diagonal balls is a perfect fit for Slot's desire to upgrade his attacking tactics. Liverpool's scouting department has maintained a constant focus on Wirtz for many years and has enough confidence in the technical characteristics, individual ability and "ball quotient" of the German rising star. Moreover, Wirtz has more than 100 Bundesliga and Champions League games under his belt, which greatly reduces the risk factor of integration into Liverpool. Liverpool brought in his Bayer Leverkusen teammate Frimpong, also hoping to bring the tacit understanding between the two at Bayer Leverkusen to Liverpool, and at the same time allow the two to integrate into the Liverpool dressing room without the problem of adapting to an unfamiliar environment alone.

Because he has suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury, the British media and Liverpool fans are also worried about Wirtz's injury concern. After all, the Premier League is different from the Bundesliga, and the intensity and fast pace of the game are a major test for the reduction of the player's knee joint. However, the Liverpool Echo also pointed out that with the big data analysis system brought by modern sports medicine and wearable devices, it can comprehensively assess and predict the possibility of ligament and muscle fiber injuries in players, and in addition to preventing major injuries, the recovery time of serious ligament and muscle fiber injuries has also been greatly shortened.

Wirtz has played 92 per cent of Bayer Leverkusen's games in the last two seasons and fitness reports show that his muscle tolerance and cruciate ligament in his knee are in good condition, which is a prerequisite for Liverpool to decide to buy him. What's more, Liverpool's modern training center is enough to provide better health protection for Wirtz.

Naturally, the shrewd Liverpool management will not let the biggest investment in the team's history fail easily, from the manager's tactical positioning to the personalised sports medical plan, and even the "settlement" of the German talent in Liverpool, all of which are designed to allow Wirtz to integrate into Liverpool and the Premier League in the most relaxed and comfortable environment possible.