Florian Wirtz's Liverpool career is on a knife-edge, and Manchester City at Anfield on 11 October is the game that can turn it. Some of us are still defending him. That defence can't go on forever.
I actually thought the international break came at a good time for him. He didn't play well against Bournemouth. Jamie Carragher called it one of the poorest he's seen him in a Liverpool shirt, and I've already written about that. But I also wrote that he didn't shy away from the ball, which is a very good sign. The first half was poor, but he still went looking for it. That showed courage. He could easily have hidden. Every footballer has bad games.
Some of the criticism has been over the top. Carragher says he's worth half of the £116m Liverpool paid and can't be in the team against City. I sit somewhere in the middle. He's a six or seven out of ten most weeks, in my opinion. Really, he should be getting towards an eight, given the money and the talent he's clearly got. He's Germany's most talented player.
But the output still isn't there. No goals and one assist in six appearances this season. He has got to do more. I just don't agree with people who have already decided he's not going to make it at Liverpool.
We saw something against Serbia. Wirtz was brilliant in Germany's 2-0 win. He hit the post for Tom Bischof's opener and scored the second himself. Klopp, who is now Germany's manager, was delighted. He said Germany's style suits Wirtz, and that everyone in Liverpool should be happy. "I don't know what he has to do to make everyone happy," he said.
Here's the fair objection. Germany's style suits him, Serbia are ranked 40th in the world, and playing well in a white shirt proves nothing about a red one. I get that. But I don't think Wirtz needs excuses made for him. He needs performances. He's yet to have a truly stand-out game for Liverpool, and there isn't a better one to do it in.
With City found guilty this week of breaking the Premier League's financial rules, and appealing, it was already a big game. Now it feels massive. Anfield is probably the last place City will want to be going.
A lot of Liverpool supporters have already made up their minds about him. A lot don't think he's ever going to make the grade. So the pressure is already there. Klopp praising him doesn't create it. This is probably the biggest game Wirtz has played for Liverpool so far.
Supporters want to see an aggressive, attacking performance against City. We're desperate to win this match. If Wirtz goes out and produces a man-of-the-match performance at Anfield, his Liverpool career could really take off from there. If he doesn't, that defence gets a lot harder to make.