Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola has offered strong backing of Florian Wirtz and highlighted what has impressed him about Rio Ngumoha

Andoni Iraola has outlined what he wants from Florian Wirtz at Liverpool as he offered a rousing backing of the attacking midfielder.

But the Reds boss believes the Germany international is being harshly judged due to his body language on the field and has yet to fully acclimatise to the English game.

Wirtz stepped off the bench to score his first goal of the season to help Liverpool complete a fightback to beat Villarreal 4-3 in the Champions League at Anfield on Tuesday evening.

If followed two impressive performances with assists in both the European win at LASK the previous Wednesday and the Premier League triumph at Brentford three days later.

Wirtz has managed 21 goal contributions in 59 outings for Liverpool since his £116million move in the summer of 2025 from Bayer Leverkusen, for whom he managed 122 such contributions in 197 appearances.

Iraola, though, has claimed the 23-year-old - who is expected to return to the starting line-up for the Premier League visit of Brighton on Sunday - offers the Reds more than just raw numbers and is only going to improve this season.

"I'm delighted with Florian," said the Liverpool head coach. "He's coming off three very good performances and I trust this is the start of finding his confidence again.

"We believe him in a lot. He is judged a lot in terms of goals and assists, but he is a player for whom that won't be his strength.

"He's not a number 10 or a second striker who is going to score 15 goals this year, no. I mean if he can do that, even better. But he's a player who gives us a lot of control over the matches, he has a lot of confidence on the ball.

"Ultimately we have to make him feel comfortable but he's probably feeling more comfortable in Champions League matches.

"In the Premier League he has to get used to those duels, here duels are really hard to win. He's in that process, it's true he's been here a year but he's still acclimatising to this competition.

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"But in terms of talent I have no doubt about him and in terms of attitude either. He is a player who works a lot."

Wirtz attracted criticism during the opening weeks of the season as he struggled to make an impact in several games.

And Iraola added: "He probably has body language that seems a bit cold and doesn't do him any favours because you think he's not there and really, now that I know him better, he loves football, he cares, he's involved.

"But on the outside he doesn't convey it like someone else who has different body language that you might identify with more. I think that maybe doesn't do him any favours."

Another Liverpool player in form is Rio Ngumoha, who provided two assists in a single game for the first time in his fledgling career against Villarreal.

The 18-year-old has operated primarily on the right flank this season under Iraola, who speaking to Spanish outlet El Boro has explained the reasoning behind the change.

"With Rio we don't necessarily have to be careful, but we have to take it stage by stage," said the Liverpool boss. "We can't move too fast.

"We have to be aware there will be very good moments along the way but also slumps and we don't want to burn him out too soon.

"In the squad in the summer I spoke mainly with the wingers. We have four main wingers and all four of them had played much more of the left wing. But all four of them are right-footed too."

Iraola added: "We discussed among ourselves that someone is going to have to play on the right. With Rio we have gone through the process of changing him a bit, telling him he is very comfortable on the left.

"But I prefer natural-footed wingers and Rio can use his left foot well for finishing, so I think we can make that change and it will allow him to play more minutes as we can play him on both sides.

"The ability to go on the outside and the inside, that's what is valuable. In terms of attitude, I really like how he faced it as a challenge and saying he wants to become better and wanting to grow. If he wants to get to where we want him to go, he is going to need more."