It seems somewhat painfully prophetic that one of Arne Slot’s enduring masterstrokes of last season, Ryan Gravenberch‘s positioning, has now been so badly and so bafflingly pulled apart.
Just 12 months ago, Gravenberch was enjoying a prolific spell as arguably the best No. 6 pivot in world football, after being assigned the task by the coaching staff and making it his own.
A series of unexpected events, revolving around the failure to acquire Martin Zubimendi, led Slot to devise his own ambitious plan to use the highly versatile skillset of his compatriot and sculpt him into that often tired cliche of a Rolls Royce midfielder.
But Gravenberch was the real deal. He looked calm, composed and confident beyond belief, week in and week out, until the latter stage of the season saw the vast amount of minutes in his legs start to bite a tad.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Sunday, May 25, 2025: Liverpool's Ryan Gravenberch with the trophy, as the team celebrate becoming Champions for the 20th time, after the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Crystal Palace FC at Anfield. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Along with Mo Salah and Alexis Mac Allister, Gravenberch was a vital driving force in seeing Liverpool crowned Premier League champions once more.
And now? Nothing.
A cursory glance at any Liverpool game over the past couple of months will tell you that Gravenberch doesn’t really know what his position is anymore. Where does the 23-year-old play and what is he actually being asked to do?
Playing a more attacking role
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, ENGLAND - Monday, August 25, 2025: Liverpool's Ryan Gravenberch celebrates after scoring the first goal with teammate Dominik Szoboszlai during the FA Premier League match between Newcastle United FC and Liverpool FC at St James' Park. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
The writing has been on the wall for some time. Gravenberch’s position was seemingly shifted, or at the very least the transition began, during the opening stages of the season.
Following Liverpool’s uplifting 2-1 Merseyside derby win over Everton back in September – to mark five consecutive wins at the start of the campaign – Gravenberch described the alteration to his role, following a marauding run and well taken goal just 10 minutes in.
“The coach has given me the confidence,” Gravenberch told TNT Sports after the game.
“This season, we have more freedom in the midfield. Last season I was only in the No. 6 (position), like deep, and now I can go more forward which you see today.
“I think my strength is also there (in attack) so I’m happy with that, and also with the goal.”
And so that was that, Liverpool’s most improved player, who had put his past inconsistencies and lack of confidence behind him to become one of the most imposing No. 6s in world football, was pushed forward in line with his ‘strengths’.
Why Liverpool look unbalanced
Gravenberch may well be an exceptionally gifted footballer both in and out of possession – he manipulates half-spaces better than almost anyone else in the Premier League and appears simply un-pressable in full flow – but this relinquishing of the team’s consistent anchor is one of the reasons for Liverpool looking so woefully unbalanced.
Heading into the festive period, Liverpool appeared more and more out of sorts; the balance has been non-existent, the midfield far too pedestrian and lacklustre.
Injuries of course have not helped, but the insistence on sticking to the new game plan has eroded several Liverpool players of all confidence.
Everything in elite sport has somewhat of a butterfly effect, that’s how finely poised everything is. Gravenberch’s positioning in the advanced third has repeatedly seen Mac Allister swamped by opponents; his season has been a campaign to forget as a result.
Curtis Jones has been used in spells to also help with the high offensive, interchanging with Dominik Szoboszlai when the latter hasn’t been stationed on full-back duties, but it’s left Liverpool unpolished, unsure and totally full of holes.
Liverpool’s new system in midfield has repeatedly left them wide open and over-run all season
The aim of Slot’s thinking for the new-era Reds is to have competent ball players high up the field, blocking in an opponent even if they should opt to play the tried-and-tested low block.
Unlike Jurgen Klopp’s gegenpressing, heavy transition football, which relied on rapid turnovers and even faster wingers, Slot’s model, in an ideal world, sees the likes of Szoboszlai and Gravenberch as advanced midfielders with a composed ball player behind them (Mac Allister) and an artful, lock-picking No. 10 (Florian Wirtz).
On paper the concept has so much potential, but the reality is it has had zero application, and Liverpool are in free-fall as a result.
Gravenberch finds himself ahead of the ball
Take Antoine Semenyo’s goal on Saturday to put Man City 3-0 up on Saturday, Gravenberch could be seen set up well ahead of the ball, alongside Jones, as the opposition broke.
Gravenberch is caught way ahead of the ball as Cherki uses the space to slip in Semenyo
As a result, the home team cannot be pressed or contained in position. One simple through ball from Rayan Cherki released Semenyo behind Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, and the January signing pulled off a deft chip.
Game over, Liverpool exit one of only two remaining competitions they could have hoped to win this season.
There is an argument to be made that the team started well at the Etihad, but while that is tough to dispute, the early evidence of City sniffing out the weaknesses was all too apparent.
Just 17 minutes in, a passage of play at 0-0 saw Ruben Dias easily slot a ball beyond the advanced Gravenberch and into the feet of Erling Haaland.
The big Norwegian, hardly renowned for his Lionel Messi-esque runs, had enough space that he could come deep and exchange a one-two with Matheus Nunes, before driving the full length of the field and laying the ball off to a teammate in the area.
Watching it back, now knowing the game ends in a 4-0 humiliation, it was pathetic.
Look how quickly City progress the ball, beating Slot's structure with ease…pic.twitter.com/2CAWMf2tLa
— Savvy (@lfcsavvy) April 4, 2026
A change of position for Gravenberch
Liverpool have some of the best midfielders in world football when they’re in top form and high confidence, yet Liverpool somehow don’t have an actual midfield at all.
There have been and remain many mitigating factors for the struggles this season, but the decision to tactically reassemble the midfield structure is on the manager and the coaching staff.
It has only served to stunt the confidence of players who so wildly excelled last season, while nullifying an array of attacking talent bought at a huge cost in the summer.
Stat (PL per 90) 24/25 25/26 Change
Pass Completion % 89.5% 89.3% -0.2%
Tackles + Interceptions 3.66 3.25 -0.41
Recoveries 5.48 4.14 -1.34
Successful Dribbles 1.05 0.93 -0.12
Dispossessed 0.74 0.79 -0.05
*Data via FotMob (April 6, 2026)
The porous and non-existent nature of the midfield means Liverpool’s tired defence will continue to get stretched and slapped well into the final weeks of the season, with the upcoming double-header against PSG almost slightly painful to think about.
Last February, with Liverpool surging towards the title, Squawka recorded Gravenberch as the first player in the top flight to make 40+ tackles and 40+ interceptions, with only one other player in the Premier League bettering his 59.5 percent duel win percentage.
Ryan Gravenberch's heat map in the Premier League this season. ? pic.twitter.com/CwII5aQcCT
— Squawka (@Squawka) February 9, 2025
His accompanying heat map showed a sea of red, revealing the Dutchman to be quite literally commanding across the pitch rather than simply sitting back and just getting stuck in. He was everywhere.
Taking his run-out against Brighton as a recent example, the heat maps from this season tell a very different story; reduced areas of occupied pressure, much lighter coverage and numerous untapped channels.
Now, like the rest of the Liverpool squad, Gravenberch appears to be very much nowhere and unsure of where to go next.
If the Reds were building into a new system, whereby the glimmers of progress were visible, there would be a much greater patience and sense of calm right now, despite the season rapidly sprinting towards its climax, but this isn’t the case.
Liverpool are being soundly beaten, edged out by inferior opponents, who they will often dominate but capitalise upon nothing) and just outright taken to the cleaners by the big guns with whom they should be going toe-to-toe.
Every week now feels like a defining week for the Reds, but it does seem like a certain line has been crossed.
When anger at poor results turns into passive resentment, that is when the alarm bells really do start ringing.