Slot has found perfect solution to Liverpool's Wirtz problem

Florian Wirtz's left-wing role against Real Madrid looks like the answer to a number of problems Arne Slot has faced this season.

Photo: IMAGO | Anfield Index

For those who judge Florian Wirtz’s Liverpool performances solely through the prism of goals and assists, Tuesday’s win over Real Madrid will no doubt be heralded as further proof that he is destined to fail at Anfield.

Yet anyone who actually watched what was an engrossing Champions League encounter will know that, even without a goal contribution to show for it, this was the German’s best performance in a red shirt.

And what was most interesting about it was that it came from a left-sided position many have called for the midfielder to occupy for weeks now.

Clearly, this was not the role Arne Slot sold to Wirtz during the lengthy discussions that prompted him to snub Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City in favour of a move to Anfield over the summer.

At that point, the midfielder believed he was heading to Merseyside to be Liverpool’s new No.10, the jewel in the crown of a much-changed team.

But, as the saying goes, everyone has a plan until they’re punched in the mouth, and the blows received by the Reds in the early part of this season have forced a rethink.

It has become apparent that it was unwise to ask a 22-year-old adapting to the most intense league in the world to try and dominate the smallest space on the pitch while dealing with opponents of a physicality he had not encountered before.

Meanwhile, the resulting break-up of a title-winning midfield of Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch served to destabilise the team as a whole.

But there was always a handy - and some would say obvious - solution that allowed for that trio to be reassembled without leaving Wirtz as the odd man out: playing him off the left.

That this workaround was staring Slot in the face is perhaps underlined by this Wirtz heatmap from his Champions League outings for Bayer Leverkusen last season, when he was played as one of two No.10s.

Wirtz heatmap Champions League 24-25

Compare that to last night when he was, in theory, deployed as a left winger, but also given the freedom to roam into the central areas from which he can do the most damage. The similarities are clear.