Florian Wirtz has made clear he prefers operating centrally as Liverpool attempt to settle a troubled start to the season. The Germany international has yet to record a goal or assist in nine competitive appearances this term, and his role under Arne Slot has become a recurring question.<\/p>\n
Slot has alternated Wirtz between an attacking midfield berth and a left-wing role, but neither deployment has produced the expected returns. Liverpool have struggled to integrate Wirtz\u2019s attacking instincts without sacrificing defensive stability, and the side have lost their last three matches while performing below the standards of the previous campaign.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Sky Sports, Wirtz credited the youth coaches who shaped his game at FC K\u00f6ln and explained the position that best suits him. \u201c [Heck] was just always there for us, motivated us, especially for me,\u201d said Wirtz. \u201cHe gave me the freedom on the pitch. He put me in the position where I have to be, like behind the striker on the No.10 and just gave me the freedom.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarkus was the same. There I was even captain in the second year in the Under-17s. They were coaches that gave me the confidence that I need, that I can just play my own game and be the best version of myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 22-year-old has most often been used as an attacking midfielder through his early career, and that central No.10 role looks the most natural fit for him at Liverpool. The club\u2019s forward options suggest playing Wirtz behind Hugo Ekitik\u00e9 or Alexander Isak could prove productive in the long term, but doing so will require Slot to find a balance that restores defensive cohesion and organisation.<\/p>\n
For now, the conversation around Wirtz is twofold: where he is most effective on the pitch and how Liverpool can accommodate his style without compounding their current defensive issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Florian Wirtz prefers the No.10 role; Liverpool still adjusting after three successive losses. still.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3689,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175],"tags":[299,1019,1100],"class_list":["post-3690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liverpool","tag-arne-slot","tag-creative-players","tag-defence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}