Florian Wirtz confirms he's NOT the forward Arne Slot thinks he is

Arne Slot has been tinkering with his tactics and starting XI this season, trying to find balance.

Liverpool made a lot of personnel changes in the summer transfer window and everyone has been trying to adjust to the new setup accordingly. The transition hasn't quite gone as smoothly as hoped.

Through 10 games, the Reds have won seven and lost three, although the defeats have all come in succession prior to the international break. As such, this week is quite important for the players to find some form and for the head coach to find a way for the creases to be ironed out in his side.

One possible move was identified by a tactical analyst last week, and it's since become more and more likely that Slot will be forced into shuffling around his forwards to accommodate the change.

Wirtz needs to play at left-wing

The suggestion that Florian Wirtz should move away from the No. 10 role in midfield was made by Umir Irfan at the BBC Sport, who believes that the German is struggling because of where on the pitch he's receiving the ball. Right now, he's having to drop deep, playing as more of a ball-carrier.

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Wirtz needs to be receiving the ball as high up the pitch as possible, and as quickly as possible when we're in transition on the counter-attack. As such, he either needs to have more stability in midfield behind him, with someone on his wave-length feeding him, or he could be positioned as a winger.

Of course, the attacker's start to Liverpool hasn't been anywhere near as bad as many would have you believe. The goals and assists aren't there right now, but everything else is working smoothly.

In addition to the analytical insights, the Reds ought to look at how Julian Nagelsmann utilises Wirtz in the German international set-up. After all, his role in that side is a lot more established than with us.

It will come to no surprise that Germany play him as a left-winger, and in last night's contest against Luxembourg, he excelled in a high-class performance, despite not registering a goal contribution.

Alongside on big chance created, he also made four key passes, took five shots and he hit the post.

His effort at the woodwork came from a short-range free-kick which he wasn't quite able to curve inwards enough, but getting the ball up and over the wall wasn't a problem. His set-piece skills were also on display in the last international break in September, when he scored a brilliant free kick.

What is perhaps more impressive than all of that, is the underlying context behind Wirtz's passing stats last night. According to Sofascore, he was involved in 77 passes with 88% accuracy, and just three of them were made inside his own half. The others were made past the half-way line.

That suggests that he was kept higher up the pitch, where he's most effective. The system in play gets the best out of him, rather than asking him to do something which limits his impact on the ball.

Liverpool should take note. We know that there's more to football than just goals and assists, Wirtz's performance shows that, but even if the Reds aren't able to finish off their chances, there's a way to get the German more involved in games moving forward, allowing him to perform at a higher level.