Honestly, I don't care that Liverpool lost 3-0 to City on Sunday. It was level at half time, Gravenberch got a second yellow on 62 minutes and the whole thing fell apart. What annoys me is Wirtz again. He was taken off on 66, and most of the papers had him between 3 and 4 out of 10. NBC gave him a 6.5 and had him joint top for expected assists, so not everyone agrees, but most did.

Now look at what he did for Germany this year. Three assists in four World Cup games. Two goals and two assists in a 4-3 win over Switzerland, which he called probably his best game for Germany. Literally the same player, completely different output. For me that's a top 3 football mystery, right behind whoever decided the handball rule made sense.

“The Prem is too tough for him”

I don't buy it, but I'll give the premtards a fair hearing first. He went 22 appearances without scoring. He struggled with the physicality and needed a tailored strength programme to cope. His first goal involvement in the league came in game 16, the assist for Isak at Spurs in December. His first season finished with 5 league goals and 3 assists, around 7 goals and 10 assists in all competitions. For £100m plus add-ons, that's thin.

Here's where the “too tough” story starts to fall apart. From 20 December to late January he had 4 goals and 2 assists in all competitions, and the Premier League's own analysis pointed out nobody in the league had more direct involvements in that stretch. Same league, same bruising, same Wirtz. By then he had created the most open play chances at Liverpool (34) and completed the most dribbles (30). His passes per 90 went from 45.6 to 73.8 and his touches in the opposition box from 5.0 to 7.9. That's not a player the league is bullying. That's a player who was finally getting the ball!

And remember who this guy was. 57 goals and 65 assists in 197 games for Leverkusen, an unbeaten title and Bundesliga Player of the Season. That doesn't just evaporate on a plane to Merseyside.

The tactics

This is where I think most of it lives. In the league he has been played at 10, out on the left, as a false nine against Arsenal and on the right. In his first 15 league games, 37% of his touches were in the crowded middle. When he started drifting wide and higher, with Mac Allister or Jones sitting at 10 behind him, he took off. It also happened while Salah was away at AFCON, so he was suddenly the main man.

Iraola said in pre-season that he sees him behind the striker, and Šmicer said Liverpool spent the whole of last season trying to find his best position. Sunday didn't help. Isak and Gakpo were out and Szoboszlai was missing, so Wirtz was asked to create with no one around him.

I'll be honest though, the tactics theory has a hole in it. Salah has gone now, and he's still not clicking and on the pod I picked him to kick on this season.

What about living in Liverpool?

I wanted this to be the answer. It's the easy story: young lad, new country, miles from family. But when I looked at what he's actually said, nothing backs it up. He admitted the decision took him longer because of family and friends, saying it was “not an easy step.” But he also told UEFA Liverpool is a cool city with really friendly people, and he came with his Leverkusen teammate Frimpong. I can't stand it up as a reason.

So what is it?

I still don't buy that the Prem is too tough for him, maybe I'm just being stubborn. A player who produces like that for six weeks in the same league isn't being broken by it. But it's getting harder to defend, because the Dec/Jan stretch proves he can do it and also makes the current drought harder to explain. Either the system is wrong, the confidence is gone, or it's both.

Mystery for now. What's your take?