Andoni Iraola confirms which position is Florian Wirtz's best at Liverpool

When a manager makes a step up to a gigantic club for the very first time, as Andoni Iraola has done this summer, one of the aspects the coach often finds challenging is dealing with intense media scrutiny. Well, the 44 year old's approach, deliberate or otherwise, it to be completely honest and open when answering ever question he has been asked.

Speaking in front of the assembled press at Liverpool's base, Chicago Fire Endeavor Health Performance Center, on Thursday morning, Iraola was asked what he believes Florian Wirtz's best position to be. Well, he gave a clear answer:

"I see him in a position behind a striker, we are going to start working with him in that position. He is quite complete as a player. We want to add more things to what he already has which is very good. He is in a good place mentally."

Andoni Iraola on Florian Wirtz

Iraola added that the German international "suits our game model" and that he "especially" needs a "good version of Florian". This is all to say that the the 23 year old is central to the new head coach's plans, so will we see a new and improved version of Wirtz next season?

Is Florian Wirtz's best position central?

Across his senior career so far, both at Bayer Leverkusen and after arriving at Liverpool last summer, Wirtz has been deployed in a wide-variety of different roles. Nevertheless, he has primarily been deployed centrally.

Florian Wirtz senior club appearances by position

• Left wing: 23 apps. Right wing: 10 apps. Attacking midfielder: 204 apps.

While with die Schwarzroten, he averaged over 0.65 goals or assists per match when deployed either as the attacking midfielder or at centre-forward, a figure that almost halved when used out-wide. Similarly, at Liverpool last season, five of his seven goals for the Reds came from a central role. Thus, this is clearly the right assessment from Iraola, when it comes to getting the best out of Wirtz, but how does this impact the rest of the Liverpool squad?

How the Liverpool team looks around Florian Wirtz as a number ten

One of the most settled aspects of Liverpool's team appeared to be their midfield. Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai looks like one of the strongest midfield trios in world football, the Hungarian international having recently signed a new contract. However, Iraola clearly does not plan to deploy them as a trio if Wirtz is going to be "behind a striker", namely Alexander Isak, in a 4-2-3-1.

So, who would be left out? Well, at the very start of the season, that is likely to be Mac Allister. Having been a key figure in Argentina's run to the World Cup Final, accumulating 749 minutes out of a possible 810, he is enjoying a well-earned holiday. Thus, the 27 year old will only return for pre-season a week before their Premier League opener at Newcastle, so is unlikely to be up to speed. Nevertheless, in the long run, it'll be interesting to see how Iraola constructs a midfield, looking ahead towards October's clash with Manchester City at the Etihad as an example.

Turning out attention to the forward line, if Iraola does not plan to use Wirtz out-wide, there is still a gigantic question mark on the right-hand-side of the Reds' attack. Soon to be new signing Bradley Barcola favours playing on the left, as does Cody Gakpo, teenaged star Rio Ngumoha and fellow new recruit Víctor Muñoz.

Who the new head coach plans to deploy on the right wing remains a mystery. If not Wirtz, is the plan to switch Muñoz over there, or use Harvey Elliott there? Ideally, they'd make a new signing, but who that would be, we have no idea. In short though, for Liverpool to challenge for the Premier League and Champions League this season, they need their £116 million recruit Wirtz to be at his best.

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