Arne Slot insists Liverpool star being targeted by opponents as attacking problem addressed

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All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook pageAnd Slot accepts the 23-year-old is having to adapt to rival teams deliberately making life difficult for him in the engine room."I think it's clear to everyone that Ryan is really comfortable on the ball, and that he can drive the ball through the midfield," said the Reds boss."What could be an answer to that is making sure the distances are so small that he doesn't have a lot of space in between the lines."It's not so complicated to see what our quality is in terms of our team. And we almost see every game what the answer to our quality is."One of the ways to respond to that is scoring from set-pieces.

If it's hard to generate chances from open play then you have to score from set-pieces, which didn't go particularly well against Wolves although our biggest chance again came from a set-piece (when Curtis Jones was accidentally denied by team-mate Cody Gakpo). We have to try as much as we can to generate more from open play.

And explaining the decision to replace the Holland international with Jones during the interval, Slot said: "I took him off because he got a yellow for a foul that wasn't a foul."And then afterwards he was doing a bit of holding and that player fell down again, and I saw the referee doubting, doubting, doubting, so I thought, maybe it's smart to take him off."He did not play his best first half but I think there are not many players in the world that, if the team plays at this (gestures low) level, that an individual plays at this (gestures high) level."I fully believe in the fact that an individual performance always comes from a good team performance, and the better we play, the better the individuals will play as well."And players usually look better when you win games, because if he makes the same actions in a game where we lose or he makes the same actions in a game where we win, you're hyped when you win."Jones will be pressing hard for a midfield starting role when Liverpool travel again to Wolves on Friday evening for their FA Cup fifth round clash.With rotation limited by lack of options, Slot could nevertheless also turn to Andy Robertson, Joe Gomez, Federico Chiesa and 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha for the second trip to Molineux inside three days.Wirtz could return on the bench having missed the last three games with back problem, with Slot detailing how the absence of the Germany international was keenly felt in midweek after being a major influence in a run of just two defeats in 21 games up until the latest setback."Not only Florian, but in a certain moment we had something going," said the Liverpool head coach. "He was definitely a key part."In some games, you miss a certain profile more than in other games, and if you have 66% ball possession then it's always nice to have a player that's really special in ball possession and that can create something out of nowhere, or find a pass someone else doesn't see, or being able to outplay someone in the one v one.