Jurgen Klopp has a clear idea of where he wants Florian Wirtz on a football pitch, and it is nowhere near his own penalty area.

Germany’s head coach, appointed in late July on a four-year contract, wants Wirtz high, on the ball, and turned towards goal, the platform the 23-year-old thrived on under Xabi Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen.

The version of that player, so far, has not surfaced at Anfield.

‘Just give him the ball’

Klopp has been publicly explicit about how he wants Wirtz used.

Read also: Jude Bellingham receives surprise World Cup award: ‘Didn’t know it was a thing’

“The most important thing is that we involve him in the game,” Klopp said.

“If you really want Flo Wirtz to get into a rhythm, if you want the place to really be buzzing, then give him the ball, because that’s when he feels completely at home.”

Klopp also warned against turning Wirtz into a deep collector.

“He shouldn’t drop back and get the ball from his own penalty area, and we expect him to start making plays. With his positioning he creates a lot of space for the players next to him, for the full-backs and for everyone who can make runs into those spaces.”

Read also: Zak Brown makes major Max Verstappen U-turn after private talks

He tried, in the same breath, to lower the expectation that Wirtz must decorate every performance.

“We have to move away from the idea that we need to see special moments from him. He is there to help us as a team. You have to be satisfied with a game in which Flo Wirtz gave everything but didn’t have a goal or assist.”

Carragher’s Anfield verdict

Wirtz’s most recent Premier League outing, a scratchy 1-0 win at Bournemouth, drew a hostile verdict from Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports.

“That was really poor. He’s been really poor again,” Carragher said at half-time, noting a passing completion rate of 70% in a game the €125m midfielder had been expected to influence.

Read also: Fabian Ruiz: ‘Why not?’ as Ballon d’Or race heats up

“That’s three times for Wirtz, simple balls into him. I tried to say nothing on the first two, but he’s got to be better on simple passes, simple controls.”

A staggered start under Klopp

Klopp is running his first Germany camp with an unusually broad 44-player pool split into two groups across four Nations League fixtures.

Wirtz has been assigned to the second group and will report late, missing the opener against the Netherlands and the following match against Greece before joining up for the games against Serbia and Greece.

Read also: Jurgen Klopp drops worrying Kai Havertz update after Arsenal star forced off

Read also: Roger Federer names tennis’ best player – and it’s not Alcaraz or Zverev