Liverpool are expected to target Marc Guehi this summer.Liverpool are expected to target Marc Guehi this summer.
Liverpool are expected to target Marc Guehi this summer. | Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Ryan Gravenberch changed roles and became a Liverpool stalwart last season and he has been names as the “toughest opponent” in the league.
Arne Slot proved why Liverpool didn’t need to go out and spend money last summer with the work that he did on the training ground.
The squad was in good shape, and inheriting players like Ryan Gravenberch, who will be missing on matchday one next season, made his job easier after a period of settling in.
With the perfect frame for the modern midfielder, the Netherlands international took his game to the next level in Liverpool’s engine room thanks to a subtle tactical tweak from his manager and he could soon be joined by Florian Wirtz with a transfer said to be imminent for the German international.
He was rewarded with the Premier League’s young player of the year award and proved to be a difficult opponent for playmakers across the league who like to find space between defence and midfield. His improvement in the role has saved Liverpool in millions they do not need to go out and find a new number six.
Ryan Gravenberch is “toughest opponent” as Liverpool midfielder thrives in new role
One such player is Jordan Kluivert who, when asked by Gary Lineker on The Rest is Football podcast who his most difficult opponent is replied: “If I'm on 10, on the number 10 position, the toughest, I would say my fellow Dutchman Gravenberch. I would say because...
“No, because as you said, with our high press, if you give him this kind of space, with his big legs, he's in two steps, he's there. And there's no way you catch him. And that's, I think, the only player that really has this quality.
“You can't give him a slight space because he will carry the ball, and he's won something unique.”
Who did Arne Slot nearly buy until Gravenberch impressed?
Slot, speaking to Sky Sports, earlier in the season, explained how Gravenberch became his midfield lynchpin: “That’s also why we were interested in signing a No. 6, but Ryan did come back one or two days earlier – I was hoping for more but he came back one or two days earlier – and that way he could play the Manchester United game in that position (holding midfield).
“I immediately liked it because he was so comfortable on the ball. I think if you watch this game back, there’s one moment where we played the ball to him and there was someone who tried to press him, and he just used his body to [shield the ball] and the player didn’t see him back for a few seconds, the one that pressed him.
“It made me feel that that would be a good asset to have and then we had to find out during the first games of the season if he was defensively strong enough, but he definitely was and I think he is one of the players now who has the most interceptions and all these kind of things.”
Not only was it the sort of change that helped Liverpool win the league, it also saved the club millions.
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