Former Liverpool centre-back Jamie Carragher appears to have changed his tune on Florian Wirtz, hailing his “extra special” assist against Brentford.

The Reds legend has been one of Wirtz’s most vocal critics this season, even calling for the German to be left out of the team because of his uninspiring form.

But speaking on Monday Night Football on Sky Sports, with quotes provided by TEAMtalk, Carragher lauded the 23-year-old’s assist in the 2-1 win at Brentford last Saturday, but not for the pass to Victor Munoz:

“[Wirtz] gets his assist here, and the assist is fantastic, not because of the pass, it’s from what comes before it. They have a situation where they’ve got a 4v3 in a really tight area, so don’t forget they’re a man down. If you don’t win [the ball] there you’re going to have a major problem, and the problem is in the centre of the pitch.

“So when Liverpool get out through [Rio] Ngumoha who was fantastic when he came on. But you’ve got Kristoffer Ajer and he’s thinking normally what Brentford would do is jump in there (to close Wirtz down), but no, you’re a man down.

“Fantastic touch [from Wirtz], but that is fantastic from Victor Munoz, absolutely superb from him and gets Liverpool back in the game. But now I want to look at this from Wirtz’s point of view. We’ve highlighted already on this show about Youri Tielemans looking over his left shoulder.

“He’s now aware where Ajer is and he’s got the space. What makes this even more special and much better than Tielemans is lots of players can scan, it’s a big part of the game, but you can scan before the ball is on it’s way to you.

“What makes this extra special now is the ball is passed, he checks his right shoulder, checks his left shoulder, and the ball is on him, and that first touch… the scanning and the first touch is the assist.

“Not so much the pass, because that’s a simple pass for Wirtz. So the scanning, understanding the space he had, the left-foot touch was actually why he deserved the assist.”

Is it time to stop talking about Florian Wirtz?

Wirtz feels like a daily talking point at the moment, with some huge admirers of the Germany star, and others calling him one of the biggest transfer flops in Premier League history.

As with most things in the modern world, there is no middle ground with him, and it is time to let him focus on his football rather than keep talking about him.

Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola is clearly of that opinion, saying this during his pre-Villarreal press conference on Monday: “You ask me basically every day about him and we analyse and over scrutinise everything about him but when he does well also, it is fair to say.”

Wirtz needs to do more to succeed at Anfield, but there’s still plenty to like about him, with no player creating more chances in the Premier League so far this season.

The talent is clear, and it’s now a case of finding consistency across all competitions and ensuring he handles the pace and power of English football a little better.