Ryan Gravenberch has simple explanation for his Liverpool transformation this season
Ryan Gravenberch has become an automatic starter under Arne Slot at Liverpool after being on the margins last season under Jurgen Klopp and he has a simple explanation
by David Anderson · The MirrorRyan Gravenberch insists he is still the same player when asked to explain his Liverpool transformation.
Gravenberch is reborn under Arne Slot and the Netherlands midfielder has become one of the first names on the Liverpool team sheet, starting all six of the Reds’ Premier League games. He started just 12 Premier League games under Jurgen Klopp following his £34.3million move from Bayern Munich 13 months ago and he never won over the former Reds boss.
Gravenberch, 22, also failed to nail down a regular place at Bayern in his one season with them and he could not rescale the heights he did at Ajax under Erik ten Hag. Slot turned to Gravenberch when Martin Zubimendi rejected a move to Liverpool in the summer and he knew from watching him as a young player at Ajax he could be the No 6 he felt his side needed.
He spent pre-season drilling Gravenberch, when he told him to learn to anticipate the opposition play by making interceptions and how to control Liverpool’s play. He was man of the match in Liverpool’s scrappy win at Wolves on Saturday night and he has a simple response when asked what is the reason for the turnaround in his fortunes.
Gravenberch feels Slot has given him his chance and he feels perfectly at home in the Reds’ No 6 role. “I’m the same Gravenberch,” he told Dutch newspaper Trouw.
“I sometimes had matches where I only touched the ball after five minutes [last season]. Then I didn’t get into my game, I didn’t get into my rhythm. This feels more comfortable to me.”
He added to Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant: “The coach knows that I have a lot of football in me. He has a clear plan, with the build-up, with the pressing. It’s up to me to maintain that and be consistent. He gave me the chance from the start. I had to focus on a certain position, a bit more defensive.
“I do my thing and that works out well. That has to do with myself and with the coach. There was clarity from the start. We play as a team, and then the individual also looks better.” Gravenberch admits he is in a great place after the difficulties he endured in the last two seasons and says Liverpool must be in the top four.
He refuses to get carried away by their position at the top of the Premier League and instead is focused on learning the lessons from Molineux where the Reds were below their best. “This season I wanted to show myself again and I’m really happy,” he said.
“The coach put me in the starting 11 and gave me a lot of confidence. I think a team like Liverpool always has to be in the top four. We’ll keep pushing, but it’s still really early. At the end of the day we still won. I think we lost a lot of concentration, myself included. We won, but we have to learn from what we missed. We have to get better."
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