Fleet Foot Florian
Trying saying that after a few drinks. Florian Wirtz's dribbling is underrated. It was missed by Liverpool at the City Ground.
With 95 minutes on the clock at the City Ground, possession is pinballing in the vicinity of the centre-circle. Alexis Mac Allister gets a toe to the ball, with Rio Ngumoha able to recover it.
He dribbles past Ibrahim Sangaré, then Dilane Bakwa. The youngster completes infinitely more take-ons in that one moment than Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah combined in their 77 minutes, as neither of them even attempted one.
Ngumoha finds Andy Robertson in space on the left. His first time cross is cleared, the ball eventually going out for a throw on the opposite flank. It starts a sequence that goes from Joe Gomez to Dominik Szoboszlai to Virgil van Dijk to a save to Mac Allister to bedlam.
The completed dribbles across the centre of the pitch were not integral to the goal. The events were far too far apart for that. Ngumoha’s take-ons were evidence of how ball carrying can briefly unsettle an opposing team though. They distort their shape, creating space in which attackers can thrive.
This ability can be crucial for a team. Jürgen Klopp once used it as justification for surprisingly selecting Naby Keïta to face Real Madrid. “We need dribblers, you need boys who like these kinds of situations where they can turn,” he said. “When they get a little advantage, they can make the next situation a big advantage.”
Arne Slot will have been disappointed to lose Florian Wirtz ahead of kick-off at the City Ground for many reasons. He’s the joint-second top creator of open play chances in the 2025/26 Premier League, for one thing. But Wirtz is also one of the leading dribblers in the division, hitting a mark that no Liverpool player met in any of the previous three seasons.
