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Arne Slot does not think the return to last season's trusted midfield trio is the sole reason behind the team's return to form in recent days, despite securing back-to-back wins and ending its torrid run of form.
Liverpool lined up with Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai in midfield against Aston Villa and Real Madrid, and the team won both games, keeping a clean sheet in each. Gravenberch, Mac Allister and Szoboszlai was Liverpool's first-choice midfield as the team won the Premier League last season, but Slot played down the importance of reverting to that trio.
“I don't think focus should be on our three midfielders," Slot said. "True I couldn't play them together all the time because of injuries and other reasons.
"It helps if team plays more and more together. I can come up with all kinds of argument that leads to this performance, but that's boring. People will say I'm using the reasons as excuses for the losses.
"I liked our performance against United more than against Villa but the result I liked more against Villa. We created more from open play.”
Szoboszlai and Gravenberch were already having good individual seasons, but Liverpool needed Mac Allister to return to form, and he has done exactly that, scoring the winning goal against Real Madrid after assisting Gravenberch against Villa, and generally playing well.
Selecting Gravenberch, Mac Allister and Szoboszlai together meant Florian Wirtz had to be wedged in on the left side of Liverpool's attack, as Cody Gakpo dropped to the bench.
Slot didn't want to get bogged down in a debate over Florian Wirtz's best position, as he said it is more important for the German to arrive in the right areas of the field at the right times for him to influence games.
"Florian can play in more than just one position," Slot said in a press conference on Friday. "He can play off the left which he did almost all the time in a 3-4-3 under Xabi at Leverkusen and before that as a number 10.
"It's about getting him in positions he is good at. We would like to have him in and around the 18-yard box centrally or a bit more off the wings for him to create the amount of chances he has."
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