Carragher hits back at Liverpool fans over ‘lucky’ Florian Wirtz goal

Jamie Carragher has defended his assessment of Florian Wirtz’s goal against Crystal Palace after a Liverpool fan account accused him of playing down the club’s players.

The former Liverpool defender exchanged replies with The Anfield Talk on X following Sunday’s 3-1 win at Selhurst Park, arguing that Wirtz had benefited from good fortune with his finish and accusing the account of using his comments to generate engagement.

Wirtz scored Liverpool’s second goal in the 54th minute from Bradley Barcola’s delivery. It was his first Premier League goal of the season, helping Andoni Iraola’s side return to winning ways before the international break.

Why Carragher called Florian Wirtz’s goal lucky

The exchange followed a post from The Anfield Talk accusing Carragher of downplaying Liverpool players. In replies reproduced by Live4Liverpool, the Sky Sports pundit rejected that interpretation.

“Not at all, Wirtz had a bit of luck with his goal & was unlucky a few weeks back,” Carragher wrote.

He also criticised Barcola’s performance before the assist, arguing that the decisive contribution did not change his view of what had come before it.

Carragher then accused the account and other online supporters of presenting his comments to attract a response.

“You & a few other E-reds use my quotes to get yourself engagement,” he wrote. “Give your own opinions. And don’t just play to the gallery for likes & retweets.”

His reply acknowledged that Wirtz had previously been unfortunate, while maintaining that there was an element of luck in the goal at Palace. The disagreement also concerned how the account presented his assessment.

The Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers comparison

The Anfield Talk then asked whether Carragher would apply the same judgement to Chelsea’s Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers, and challenged him to explain what was fortunate about Wirtz’s finish.

Carragher’s explanation was that Wirtz had struck the ball on to his left foot with his right. He maintained that this made the finish fortunate.

He said he would judge Palmer and Rogers in the same way, but criticised the response to his comments about Liverpool.

“It would apply to them yes, but I don’t think they’d have so many cranks bothered about it,” he wrote. “If our 100M men do what they’ve done so far for Chelsea we’d be delighted.”

Carragher has previously called for Florian Wirtz to be dropped

The exchange followed earlier criticism of the Germany international. In Sky Sports’ coverage on 12 October, Carragher argued that Wirtz should come out of Iraola’s starting line-up after a disappointing start to the campaign.

Sunday brought a goal and an away victory, but Carragher maintained his view of the finish when challenged. His posts also widened the discussion to recruitment expectations and the scrutiny applied to players at other clubs.

What Florian Wirtz said about his goal

Wirtz gave his own account of the move in a separate post-match interview with Sky Sports, published by Liverpool. He credited Iraola’s instructions to get more players into scoring positions.

“The manager was talking so much to us to arrive into the box and I think we were with three players in the box,” Wirtz said.

The midfielder explained that the pass into space for Barcola had created the opening, with the ball then reaching him in the penalty area. He also praised Liverpool’s efficiency and defensive work in securing the result.

Our Crystal Palace 1-3 Liverpool report covers the goals and key moments, while our Liverpool and Palace player ratings assess the individual performances.

Alexis Mac Allister had opened the scoring before Wirtz doubled the lead. Alexander Isak added Liverpool’s third late on, with Eddie Nketiah replying from the penalty spot in stoppage time.

Liverpool head into the break fourth with 18 points from 10 league matches. They next host Manchester United at Anfield when their Premier League programme resumes.