FLORIAN WIRTZ
Bayer Leverkusen, 2020-
When Florian Wirtz was playing for FC Köln, the Kölner Express newspaper described him as “the best midfielder to come through the club in 30 years”. He was only 16 years old at the time, but in just over four years since that statement, Wirtz has proven it anything but hyperbole.
The pity for Köln is that the proof has come with Wirtz playing in a Bayer Leverkusen shirt. Having starred for Köln’s Under-17 Bundesliga winners in 2019 – at which point he was reportedly coveted by no less than Liverpool and Bayern Munich – he signed for Leverkusen in January 2020. He soon became their youngest Bundesliga debutant, aged 17 years and 16 days old. Then, 18 days later, he became the league’s youngest scorer. A Germany debut followed at the age of 18, and at 18 years and 223 days he became the youngest player to make 50 Bundesliga appearances. So far, so impressive.
Then came his first major setback, when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in March 2022. He returned after 10 months out, to a Leverkusen team on the up, under the management of Xabi Alonso. To say the team and Wirtz benefited from the Spanish coach’s arrival would be an understatement. The 2023/24 campaign has seen Wirtz thrive in a team developed by Alonso into the best in Germany. And with a home Euro 2024 looming, he took his club form on to the international stage, scoring after only seven seconds of a 2-0 win against France.
Wirtz has the potential to become a leading player for club and country for years to come. Here, our UEFA-licensed coaches have analysed his game, including his position and technical capabilities…
Technical and positional analysis
Wirtz is a right-footed attacking midfielder. He has primarily played for Leverkusen as the left-sided number 10 in a 3-4-2-1, or as the sole attacking midfielder in a 3-4-1-2. Additionally, he has the versatility to play on the left or right side of midfield. A technically gifted player, he is able to receive against pressure, with a notable ability to break lines with intricate passes. He has also demonstrated extremely intelligent movement to exploit opposition defences.
Wirtz largely positions himself in the left half-space. He aids progression by receiving between the opposition’s defensive and midfield lines. If allowed, he will receive on the half-turn and play, or travel forward, to build attacks.
One of his most valuable abilities is receiving when opposed. He literally feels pressure while positioning his body to protect the ball, combining quickly into Leverkusen’s deeper midfielders (below). As such, he makes it difficult for defenders to restrict his influence.
For Leverkusen, Wirtz often drops in from a higher attacking midfield position to receive these passes. He has developed a particularly good relationship with Álex Grimaldo to exploit these situations. As opposition teams look to engage aggressively on Wirtz – to restrict him receiving and travelling – it creates space in behind the drawn-out opposition centre-back.
This can be seen below, where Wirtz has dropped to receive a straight pass under pressure. He has pulled the defender out and set into Granit Xhaka, who is the supporting ball-side midfielder. The set into Xhaka is a trigger – Grimaldo has made a third-man run to exploit the space now in behind, creating a dangerous attack.
Creativity
Among Wirtz’s most potent attributes are his creativity and ability to break lines. After 27 matches of the 2023/24 Bundesliga season, he had played the most smart passes (62). These are defined by Wyscout as: “A creative and penetrative pass that attempts to break the opposition’s defensive lines to gain a significant advantage in attack.” He had also made the joint-highest number of key passes (27), further demonstrating his strengths.
The weight and detail on his passes in the final third are particularly impressive. He regularly finds the correct foot of his teammates, ensuring they can undertake their next action without delay or having to adjust. Additionally, he will frequently use disguise on his passes. He has been known to use no-look and outside-of-the-foot passes in exceptional moments of flair, making him particularly dangerous with the final pass in attack. He often uses his eyes, and shapes as if he is going to play wider. This causes the defender to close and unbalance their body position, in anticipation of shifting across. He can then reverse the pass back inside, against the flow, which prevents the defender from intercepting (below).
Wirtz is fluid in attacking areas, such as drifting wider at times. This allows him to play passes back inside. It also gives him more time – compared to being central –to create with quality against low blocks. At times, this has come from a positional rotation with Grimaldo. On other occasions, Grimaldo has also kept wide to create overloads or opportunities to combine with Wirtz.
From these wider areas, Wirtz is able to see more potential passes, particularly to the opposite attacking midfielder. He also regularly looks to pass to, and link off, the central striker (below). Here, he can also use sharp acceleration into the space created by his initial wide movement, to then dribble directly at defenders.
Intelligent movement
In attacking areas, the young German is a constant threat in behind the opposition’s back line, with dynamic movement and acceleration. This is especially the case with his double-movements, once he has drawn defenders out. As a talented technician, he regularly takes numerous touches to draw defenders in and provoke pressure. If defenders overcommit or show their intentions too early, he can manipulate the ball to roll out in any direction and turn quickly to drive into space.
Alternatively, he will wait until defenders are extremely close before quickly laying the ball off to a nearby teammate. He can then run into space created behind the defender, to receive in behind as the defenders step higher (below). His acceleration then helps prevent defenders from tracking him.
From the inside-left position, Wirtz regularly makes runs between the opposition’s defenders (below, against Wolfsburg’s back five). He uses neutral or negative passes (such as Xhaka’s pass across, below) as the trigger to time his run in behind on the blind side. This fixes defenders’ attention on the ball and shift of possession (as with Maxence Lacroix, below), rather than his movements. He can then accelerate and gain an advantage before the defenders are able to recover and prevent him receiving in behind.
Wirtz also tends to make several lateral movements during matches. These movements – across the opposition’s structure – are one of the most disruptive aspects of his game. They are the most difficult to defend, as they are often untracked. Defenders are reluctant to be dragged across and leave distances between them that can be played through.
For the German national team, Wirtz has roamed across from a left-side attacking-midfield position to the right half-space, and made runs in behind once Kai Havertz dropped in. Against the Netherlands in March 2024, when Havertz was followed by the ball-side wide centre-back, Wirtz was able to make third-man runs in behind. There, he received from Joshua Kimmich beyond the Netherlands back line, giving him an opportunity to create.
Out of possession
Off the ball, Wirtz presses with intelligence. For Leverkusen, he generally presses in to out, in order to prevent the opposition from progressing inside. He also recognises to narrow inside when possession is on the opposite side, getting into a position that prevents a switch of play. It also allows him to jump on to the opposition centre-back or goalkeeper, should passes back inside present a pressing trigger.
He can, however, lack aggression in some instances where it would be beneficial when pressing. Despite his intensity to press quickly, he isn’t particularly physical when close to the opposition.
Such areas for improvement are to be expected, however, given his age. Wirtz may have played more than 100 Bundesliga games by the age of 20, but he is still developing as a footballer. That is an exciting prospect for his club and country, and a frightening one for the opposition.
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