Florian Wirtz: The Rise of Leverkusen’s Young Game Accelerator And Bayern Munich’s Potential Future Star

Florian Wirtz is still young. And so young that he didn’t even notice what happened to Bayer Leverkusen in 2002 and gave them their eternal reputation as “Vicekusen”. The 20-year-old first had to have this phrase, which has long been common and widespread in the Bundesliga, explained to him.

{
“placeholderType”: “MREC”
}

Back then, and this is a striking parallel to the current season, the Werkself undoubtedly produced wonderful football. Maybe even the most beautiful at the time. It was all the more disappointing that the team was unable to reward itself for an outstanding season in the end. Runner-up, lost the final of the DFB Cup and then lost out in the Champions League final – Leverkusen came close each time. But this time everything will be different.

There are now enough arguments in favor of it, the Werkself have distinguished themselves through so many strengths in these months: winning mentality, composure, the self-confidence of perceived invincibility and an incredible number of players who embody the required mentality. Above all, Wirtz, the man for extraordinary things. The 20-year-old has been freeing himself from the final after-effects of his cruciate ligament tear for a while now.

Wirtz is Bayer’s game accelerator

The fact that the Rhinelanders are currently rushing from victory to victory is not least due to Wirtz’s impressive performances. The same applies almost every weekend: Leverkusen plays their opponents tired, wearing them down with seemingly endless series of passes until they simply can’t keep up. This is a common principle for large teams – with large players having particular importance.

{
“placeholderType”: “MREC”
}

At Bayer, Wirtz has this special role. The German international acts as an accelerator of the offensive game, is certainly a goal threat, but has to fulfill his most important tasks in depth. There he uses clever, almost unique positioning, almost always correct timing and quick dribbling to regularly completely unsettle the opponent’s defensive lines, even though they appear to be well organized just seconds before.

This primarily helps when games are on a knife’s edge and Leverkusen constantly has to run against dense defensive bulwarks. Wirtz’s great technique, which gives him space in tight spaces and can add lightning speed to attacks, is crucial. Most recently seen in Darmstadt (2:0) and in the cup thriller against Stuttgart (3:2), when Wirtz initiated a total of four goals. Xabi Alonso explained at the beginning of 2023: “With Flo we are a better team – and I am also a better coach.”

Alonso calls Wirtz a genius

It is also noticeable that Wirtz, who Alonso called a genius, has not only developed further technically. “He has become more stable in duels, more mature in his style of play when it comes to making decisions: he is better able to balance between playing risky and giving the team the rhythm,” Bayer’s managing director Simon Rolfes recently recognized. Because he succeeded so brilliantly, Leverkusen now actually has the first championship in the club’s history.

Even a quick look at the current situation reveals: The Rhinelanders are still undefeated leaders, are having a record season – and are two points ahead of the stubborn FC Bayern. On Saturday the two title contenders will meet in a direct duel. The focus will again be on Wirtz, who will also meet the second jewel in German football: Jamal Musiala. There are rumors circulating that both will one day play together in the record champions’ jersey, but at the moment these are just background noises.

{
“placeholderType”: “MREC”
}

After all, groundbreaking points are at stake in the championship fight, a huge stage for the two youngsters. Wirtz, an absolute fixture in Leverkusen, the always playable driver, perhaps has an even more central role. Musiala completed a rather unremarkable season in Munich for his standards. The Stuttgart native was also slowed down by some injuries. So, at least at club level, Wirtz seems to be half a step further.

“Discussion about Jamal and Flo strange”

Where the greatest hopes of German football can still test whether they can harmonize together and exploit their full potential is in the national team circle. However, a few months before the start of the home European Championship, some fans and observers are asking themselves: Is there a system that is tailored to both or is there only room for one?

National coach Julian Nagelsmann tried to block such debates on the American tour in October. “I always found the discussion about Jamal and Flo strange because it would be the only team in the world in which two outstanding footballers could not play together,” the 36-year-old emphasized emphatically. While Musiala and Wirtz were only on the pitch together once under Hansi Flick, Nagelsmann promptly put the highly gifted duo together as a ten in the games against the USA (3:1) and Mexico (2:2).

Julian Nagelsmann praises Florian Wirtz, BUT “he can be a little cheekier”

But while Musiala continues to thrive in the DFB uniform, Wirtz is not yet able to set the decisive tone there. Whether Nagelsmann finds a quick solution to what actually sounds a simple problem will not only be of great importance for the football-interested country, but also for Bayern to monitor closely. Lothar Matthäus now presented a possible approach – at least as far as the club is concerned.

Wirtz? “Moving to Bayern would be a possibility”

“A move to Bayern would be an option for Wirtz. If he would come a little more over the half-left, left side. Plus Jamal in the center and Sané on the right. “That would be an offensive that is unparalleled in the world in terms of genius and speed,” said Matthäus at Sport Bild. Thoughts like these are still a thing of the future, as Wirtz’s agreement with Leverkusen is in place. The young top performer has a contract until 2027 and is expected to stay until at least 2025.

And on Saturday, Wirtz wants to tackle the next task in his maturation process and use his clever actions to help keep Bayern at a distance. After all, Musiala has one thing ahead of the Leverkusen player: proof of being a man for really big moments. When Bayern threatened to gamble away the title on the final matchday of the dramatic preseason, he decided the game with the score at 1-1 in Cologne – just four minutes after coming on as a substitute.

2024-02-08 23:07:09
#Bundesliga #Wirtz #Musiala #Leverkusen #star #shines #ahead #duel #Bayern