Jamie Carragher believes that Florian Wirtz played in his best position during Liverpool's win over West Ham on Sunday.
Wirtz produced one of the best performances of his short Liverpool career at the London Stadium, having been selected to start ahead of the struggling Mohamed Salah.
Wirtz operated in the inside-left position, and Carragher beeves that is where he will at his most effective for Arne Slot's team – recalling how Kevin De Bruyne thrived for years while playing in a similar position for Manchester City.
Liverpool's win was analyzed in a Sky Sports highlights program, when presenter Mark Chapman put it to Carragher that Wirtz seemed to be playing with more freedom than usual against the Hammers.
Carragher responded: "Yeah, but I think it's more about getting him in his role, where he's best suited.
"We can talk about the knock-on effects with other players there... the makeup of the squad, it's probably not really that well balanced. We've spoken about Florian Wirtz being a number 10, but predominantly, he likes the inside left channel.
"When you think of Kevin De Bruyne, where do you think of him? You think of him in the inside right position; you always picture him on the ball in that position. That's where Florian Wirtz needs to play.
"I actually thought he'd play wide right today and come in from the side, as he has done in a few games where he's replaced Mo Salah on the right. But this was better; this is exactly where they want him on the pitch, and this is where, as I say, he's at his best.
"And that's why today was his best Liverpool performance by far. He's had other Liverpool performances, but mainly in Europe. In the Premier League, that's the best we've seen so far."
Jamie Carragher
Jamie Carragher was impressed by Wirtz (Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA, Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Arne Slot also said afterwards that he was impressed with the performance of his new signing: “We tried to create an extra midfielder, and he [Wirtz] was very important for us to find, every time, the extra midfielder.
“He was good when he made a dribble; he was really good in his one-touch balls. I even remember a moment when he played the ball diagonally in the 18-yard box to Cody Gakpo, which then didn't lead to a shot, so no xG value.
“We had many of those moments, and he was part of many of those moments, I think. A good game."