Arne Slot addresses Florian Wirtz best Liverpool role as Steven Gerrard point made

Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from Echo or go back to LFC Live.

The playmaker impressed as he was utilised as a left-winger with Cody Gakpo dropping to the bench against the La Liga giants as a result.Wirtz, who is yet to return a goal contribution in the Premier League since joining Liverpool in a deal worth up to £116m from Bayer Leverkusen in June, has been benched himself for recent top-flight clashes with Everton, Chelsea, Manchester United and Aston Villa.Meanwhile, the majority of his game-time since joining the Reds has come in his favoured number 10 position.READ MORE: Arne Slot gives major Alexander Isak and Alisson Becker Liverpool injury updateREAD MORE: Arne Slot addresses Andy Robertson form and Liverpool contract question - 'It's been a while'However, two of his best performances, against Eintracht Frankfurt and Real Madrid, have come when selected on the flanks.But Slot played down the importance of Wirtz’s exact starting position as he pointed out the German’s versatility, instead insisting it matters more that Liverpool get the midfielder on the ball in the final third.“Florian can play in more than one position,” Slot said. I think it’s more about getting him in the positions where he is good at than we should be so focused on 'is he a 10, is he an 11 or is he an eight?’.“I think we would like to have him in and around the 18-yard box centrally, or a bit more off the left or a bit more off the right, for him to create the amount of chances he’s already created for us.”The Reds returned to winning ways against Aston Villa and Real Madrid following a dreadful run of form after restoring Dominik Szoboszlai to his number 10 position.And after it was put to Slot that the Hungarian’s performance against Madrid was one even club legend Steven Gerrard would have been proud of, the Dutchman admitted Szoboszlai has exceeded his own standards this season.“That’s probably the best compliment he can get!” Slot said.

“I think he has been outstanding throughout the whole season, but these two games brought even more out of the team and out for him.“I don’t know if the focus should be that much about these three midfielders. That’s why I needed Dominik in different positions.

And it helps if the team plays more and more together, that’s one thing.“I think Dominik has a lot of qualities but one of them is also his work without the ball. I like his work without the ball every single game but in the last two games, that was probably even above his own standards.”