Sports
Klopp defends Wirtz: ‘Once-in-a-century talent’
Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann and former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp both defended Florian Wirtz’s underwhelming start to Premier League life.
Wirtz joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen in a then-club record £116 million ($154m) deal in the summer.
Since moving to Anfield, Wirtz has struggled to command games in the same way he did at Leverkusen, where he starred during an unbeaten Bundesliga-winning season under Xabi Alonso.
The German midfielder was dropped to the bench by Arne Slot for Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Chelsea before the international break.
Despite his difficult start to life at Anfield, Wirtz has remained a mainstay in Nagelsmann’s Germany squad and scored a stunning free-kick in the win over Northern Ireland in September, as well as full 90 minutes in the 4-0 win over Luxembourg.
Nagelsmann told Sport 1: “Even though he hasn’t scored any goals, he is still the player who creates the most chances in the Premier League.
“It’s not his fault if his team-mates don’t convert them, and the statistics don’t even tell the whole story.
“Wirtz needs to get used to the league. I saw him playing with total freedom. He knows what he’s capable of and how things work.
“He hasn’t always had it easy — he’ll have to work hard now too.”
– Nagelsmann: No intention to disrespect Northern Ireland
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Klopp, who managed Liverpool between 2015 and 2024, also leapt to Wirtz’s defence.
Liverpool headed into the international break off the back of three consecutive defeats — to Crystal Palace and Chelsea in the Premier League and to Galatasaray in the Champions League.
Klopp believes it is those defeats that have amplified the scrutiny on Wirtz and that everything will work out in the end.
He told n-tv: “His quality is so outstanding, the discussions are a bit exaggerated.
“Liverpool just lost three games in a row, which is unusual.
“But that’s also normal in life and that’s why such things are discussed there.
“[Wirtz is] a once-in-a-century talent, and at some point he’ll show that in every game again — just as he did at Leverkusen.”
Liverpool resume Premier League action against Manchester United on Sunday afternoon, in a game Wirtz will be desperate to prove Nagelsmann and Klopp right and light up the Premier League stage.
After wrapping up its inaugural season, the Athletes Unlimited Softball League is expanding from its original four teams to six. That expansion kicks off on Dec. 1, with an expansion draft for players already in the AUSL, followed by an allocation draft for new players.
The two new expansion teams — Cascade and Oklahoma City Spark — will pick from a pool of unprotected players from the other four teams. Each team will select five players to start. After that, there may be up to three additional rounds, and original teams can add a player to their protected lists before each round. Any unselected players will go back to their original teams.
The allocation draft will follow and will feature all six teams selecting players not currently on an AUSL roster.
The draft will be broadcast on ESPNU (7 p.m. ET) and on the AUSL streaming hub. Check out the picks and some highlights below.
Expansion draft picks
No. 1: Spark — Utility Maya Brady
the moment Maya Brady became the first EVER draft pick of the Oklahoma City Spark in AUSL history! 💙#BeTheSpark pic.twitter.com/WT89vK28xX
— Oklahoma City Spark | AUSL (@ausl_spark) December 2, 2025
No. 2: Cascade — Pitcher Sam Landry
Let’s make some history ✨ pic.twitter.com/ycVUaHBtRX
— Cascade | AUSL (@AUSL_Cascade) December 2, 2025
No. 3: Cascade — Pitcher Carley Hoover
No. 4: Spark — Utility Sydney McKinney
No. 5: Spark — Sydney Romero
No. 6: Cascade — OF Sierra Sacco
No. 7: Cascade — P Payton Gottshall
No. 8: Spark — 3B Jessi Warren
No. 9: Spark — P Alana Vawter
No. 10: Cascade — OF Korbe Otis
No. 11: Cascade — INF Tori Vidales
No. 12: Spark — Utility Bubba Nickles-Camarena
No. 13: Spark — INF Delanie Wisz
Allocation draft picks
Round 1
No. 1: Cascade — P Kelly Maxwell
No. 2: Spark — C Kinzie Hansen
No. 3: Talons — OF Jayda Coleman
No. 4: Bandits — P Kat Sandercock
No. 5: Blaze — INF Alyssa Brito
No. 6: Volts — P Ally Carda
Round 2
No. 7: Spark — P Maddie Penta
No. 8: Cascade — C Mia Davidson
No. 9: Talons — OF Jadelyn Allchin
No. 10: Bandits — INF Jocelyn Alo
IT’S HAPPENINGGGGGG 🤩
Jocelyn Alo is a Bandit 🤠 pic.twitter.com/z6jD7ZORQJ
— Bandits | Athletes Unlimited Softball League (@AUSL_Bandits) December 2, 2025
No. 11: Blaze — INF Jenna Laird
No. 12: Volts — P Alyssa Denham
Round 3
No. 13. Cascade — INF Sis Bates
No. 14. Spark — P Jailyn Ford
No. 15. Talons — INF Rachel Becker
No. 16. Bandits — OF Jessica Clements
No. 17. Blaze — P Jala Wright
No. 18. Volts — OF Rylie Boone
Round 4
No. 19. Spark — INF Billie Andrews
No. 20. Cascade — INF Paige Sinicki
No. 21. Talons — INF Maddie Moore
No. 22. Bandits — INF Sami Williams
No. 23. Blaze — Utility Valerie Cagle
No. 24. Volts — P Aliyah Binford
Round 5
No. 25. Cascade — Utility Ali Newland
No. 26. Spark — INF Sydney Sherrill
No. 27. Talons — OF Aliyah Andrews
No. 28. Bandits — P Emiley Kennedy
No. 29. Blaze — Pass
Round 6
No. 30. Spark — C Haley Lee
No. 31. Cascade — OF Kendra Falby
No. 32. Talons — Pass
No. 33. Bandits — Pass
Round 7
No. 34. Spark — Pass
No. 35. Cascade — Pass
Teams will fill their remaining roster spots at the AUSL College Draft this spring.
After benefiting from good fortune in 2024, Washington is among the NFL’s unluckiest teams in 2025, according to metrics compiled by an NFL data scientist.
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