Owen’s remarks came in the aftermath of Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday, a game in which neither Wirtz nor Barcola produced an attacking moment of note.
“I refuse to believe he’s not good enough,” the former Liverpool striker said of Wirtz.
Owen’s issue is not with the player, it is with the yardstick.
“The problem is you need to be hitting Mo Salah numbers to be able to justify a fee of that size,” he told TeamTalk.
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“Nobody’s going to get near to those numbers of Mo Salah. So it is a problem.”
Wirtz and Barcola’s slow starts
Wirtz is in his second Premier League season at Anfield. He has no goals and one assist in the top flight so far this term. Owen said the German has been underperforming “for over a season”.
Barcola, who moved from Paris Saint-Germain this summer, has yet to score or assist for Liverpool. Against City he had a one-on-one with space to attack and was easily thwarted; it was another game in which he played the bulk of the match without producing anything decisive.
How the Anfield collapse unfolded
Liverpool had the better of the first hour on Sunday, forcing City into their own half, before Ryan Gravenberch was shown a second yellow card just after the hour mark. Two minutes later Erling Haaland had opened the scoring, with Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki adding two more inside a 16-minute spell.
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Barcola on the Premier League step up
Barcola himself has not hidden what the step up has felt like. He told Sky Sports that the running demands of the Premier League are different from anything he faced in Ligue 1.
“Here, it’s more physical in the running you have to do. Matches go from one goal to the other, it’s less tactical compared to L1,” he said.
“You have to run a lot, which is why I had cramps in my first few games, the intensity is very high.”
Owen refuses to write Wirtz off
Owen’s wider point is not that Liverpool bought the wrong footballers.
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“I don’t think that they’re necessarily bad players at all. In fact, I think they’re exceptional players,” he told TeamTalk.
“Getting it out is a huge doubt because it’s been over a year now.”
Barcola, for his part, is still asking for patience.
“I came here for this, it’s a new challenge. I hope I will manage to adapt well.”
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