It was a horrible afternoon at Anfield.
Losing 3-0 to Manchester City at home is bad enough, but watching Liverpool’s performance unravel after Ryan Gravenberch was sent off made it even harder to take.
Yet, strangely enough, there was one positive I took from the game.
Gravenberch was looking like the midfielder Liverpool have been waiting to see again.
I know that might sound odd after he was sent off in the 62nd minute. His second yellow card gave City a massive advantage, and Liverpool paid a heavy price as Erling Haaland, Jérémy Doku and Rayan Cherki scored to secure a 3-0 victory.
But before that dismissal, I thought Gravenberch was one of Liverpool’s best players.
And after the difficult start he has had to this season, that is something worth talking about.
This was much more like the Gravenberch we know
I’ll be honest: I haven’t been convinced by Gravenberch in the opening weeks of the campaign.
We know what he can do. We’ve seen him carry the ball through midfield, beat opponents with his strength and footwork, and turn defence into attack with those driving runs.
But that hasn’t been happening consistently enough.
Against City, however, I saw signs of the player Liverpool need him to be.
He was carrying the ball with purpose, getting involved and looking far more confident when he had possession. He wasn’t simply moving the ball sideways and hoping somebody else would make something happen.
He was trying to make things happen himself.
Liverpool were far from perfect, and City certainly had their moments before the break, but Gravenberch gave us some real energy in midfield.
He also tested Gianluigi Donnarumma from distance, with the City goalkeeper forced into saves as Liverpool tried to find a breakthrough.
That aggression and willingness to take responsibility is exactly what I want to see from him.
The sending-off changed everything
There is no getting away from the red card.
Gravenberch received his first yellow card shortly after half-time for a challenge on Elliot Anderson. His second came in the 62nd minute when he went in late on Doku as the City winger threatened to launch a counter-attack.
Referee Chris Kavanagh showed him a second yellow, and Liverpool were down to ten men.
Jamie Carragher subsequently criticised the decision, describing the sending-off as a shocking call and questioning the first booking too.
I can understand why Liverpool supporters were frustrated.
The match had been finely balanced, and Gravenberch had been one of the players giving Liverpool a chance of getting something from it.
But he also has to learn from the situation. Once you’ve been booked, you have to be careful about how you approach the next challenge, particularly against a team with players as quick and dangerous as City.
His dismissal was costly, and he’ll miss Liverpool’s next Premier League match against Brentford through suspension.
That is another blow Liverpool could have done without.
Still, I don’t want the red card to overshadow everything positive he showed before it.
Liverpool need this version of Gravenberch
This is the big thing for me.
Liverpool need Gravenberch to be more than a tidy midfielder who keeps possession ticking over.
They need him to drive forward, break lines and give the team a different way of attacking.
When he plays with confidence, he can do all those things.
He has the physical ability to ride challenges, the technique to get out of tight spaces and the mobility to carry Liverpool up the pitch. Those qualities are particularly important when opponents press aggressively and try to stop Liverpool building attacks.
We haven’t seen enough of that from him recently.
Against City, there were encouraging signs that he could be getting back towards that level.
And with Liverpool having so much work to do after this defeat, they need their important players to start rediscovering their best form.
Gravenberch is certainly one of them.
One good performance doesn’t solve everything
I’m not going to pretend this defeat was anything other than hugely disappointing.
Liverpool lost 3-0 at Anfield, and the manner in which City took control after the red card made the result even more painful.
There are serious questions for Andoni Iraola to answer, particularly about Liverpool’s attacking threat and how the team responds when a match turns against them.
Gravenberch also needs to make sure this performance becomes a starting point rather than a one-off.
He cannot afford to follow a promising display with another run of games where he struggles to influence proceedings.
But perhaps that is why I found his first hour against City encouraging.
After a difficult start to the season, he showed that the ability is still there. He looked more purposeful, more involved and more willing to take the game to the opposition.
Now he needs to build on it.
Unfortunately, suspension means he won’t be able to do that against Brentford, but the break could give him time to reflect on both sides of his afternoon at Anfield.
The silver lining in a miserable afternoon
I would much rather Liverpool had beaten City and Gravenberch had played well without getting sent off.
Obviously.
But football rarely gives you exactly what you want, and sometimes you have to look for the positives in a disappointing result.
For me, Gravenberch was that positive.
His dismissal was frustrating, and it contributed to Liverpool losing control of a game that had been close. But his performance before that moment gave me a reason to be hopeful about his season.
Liverpool need the confident, aggressive and forward-driving version of Ryan Gravenberch.
The one who demands the ball. The one who carries it through midfield. The one who makes opponents worry about what might happen next.
We saw glimpses of that against Manchester City.
Now I want to see it consistently.
The result was awful, the red card was costly, and Liverpool have plenty to work on before their next match.
But I’m not writing Gravenberch off.
If anything, his performance before the dismissal reminded me why I still believe there is a very good midfielder in there.
That was the silver lining at Anfield. Now he needs to make it count.
By Jamie (The Kopite View)
### _Related_