Arne Slot has dismissed Arsène Wenger’s claims that Florian Wirtz “destroyed” his title-winning midfield, insisting he has no reason to abandon the formula that brought Liverpool success last season.
Wirtz, Liverpool’s £115 million summer signing from Bayer Leverkusen, began the campaign in an advanced midfield role but struggled to make an impact in the early weeks.
However, he impressed in a more fluid, wide attacking position during the 1–0 win over Real Madrid.
Speaking on beIn Sports, Wenger, the former Arsenal manager, said: “When Wirtz had the choice between going to Bayern Munich or Liverpool, he said to Liverpool, ‘I come to you if I play No 10, I do not want to play wide’.
“Liverpool, to get him, they say ‘OK’. So they start him [in the No 10 position], but they destroy their midfield.
“To play Wirtz, they took Szoboszlai out [of the No 10 position]. Against Aston Villa they come back to their normal midfield of last year.
“[Against Real Madrid] they play Wirtz on the side [left], because the manager has said if you want to play a game, you have to play wide, because I do not want to destroy the midfield.”
Responding to Wenger’s comments, Slot defended his decision-making and backed Wirtz to prove his worth in midfield, explaining that early changes to Liverpool’s central trio were due to injuries and availability rather than a deliberate tactical overhaul.
“With Florian, he needs time to adapt to his team-mates, team-mates need time to adapt to him. Now he has played off the left, but I can tell you if it is not this season, it is the other season, or if it is not now it is tomorrow, he will have great performances as a midfielder for Liverpool as well,” Slot said.
“Everyone has a right to his own opinion. That is the nice thing about football that everyone has his opinion about it.
“If I need open-heart surgery, I am not going to tell the surgeon what he needs to do but about football everyone is telling you what the best thing is to do.
“I think we have five or six very good midfielders who can all play together, but they need to play more together to get the best out of every single player.”
“He definitely has the talent for it, but it’s not only about one player,” the Dutchman added.
“It’s also about the team you are playing in. Do they find you when you are in the pocket in the right timing, where you can then show your quality?
“There has been a lot of focus on him individually, and I’m more focused on team performance.
“What I can say about Florian is that since Xabi Alonso came in [as manager of Bayer Leverkusen] he was mainly used in a 3-4-3 system as an inverted winger where before that he mainly played as a 10.
“In the national team he plays as an inverted winger as well.
“For me the only challenge I have is making sure he gets in those positions as an inverted winger or as a 10, in those positions in and around the 18-yard box where his team-mates need to find him in the right timing, because then he will always produce special things.
“He does this for the national team, he did it for Leverkusen and he’s already done that for us as well.”
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