Buying defensive midfielders has never been Liverpool’s forte.
In the PL era, bar Mascherano and Fabinho – Liverpool has rarely had the privilege of calling itself home to any of the world’s best defensive midfielders. Lucas-Hamman were serviceable at best, injuries prevented us from seeing the best of Sissoko, the less is said about Poulsen- the better. For the last two years, Liverpool’s pursuit of a Fabinho replacement has largely been unsuccessful. The age old Liverpool heritage of shoehorning an advanced midfielder in the single pivot zone – were kept alive by Alexis Mac Allister last season, with little success.
The responsibility was given to Ryan Gravenberch this time.
And boy o boy was he successful.
I have always been vocal about Liverpool’s negligence in consistently fielding a world class defensive midfielder in the starting XI, and I still remain somewhat skeptical about whether he can maintain this form throughout the season. However, Ryan Gravenberch deserves his flowers.
Largely a peripheral figure even in the last season, neglected by country, heavily touted to join Galatasaray – the Dutch Dynamo has been a revelation in the sole defensive pivot in this season. He still needs to fix his overly fluid combinations with Szoboszlai and Mac Allister and the knack of dribbling forward more often by stationing himself just in front of the defensive duo and acting like Fabinho-esque ‘lighthouse’.
They say, Arne Slot’s ‘Project Rijkaard’ is in full swing with Ryan Gravenberch. Forget Rijkaard – I’d be satisfied if he can simply morph into a Wijnaldum
Otherwise, he’s just perfect as one can get as a defensive midfielder in a possession-oriented team – already an elite midfielder on the ball, Ryan Gravenberch has been gradually molding himself as a defensive talisman too – Yesterday, he was the first Premier League midfielder to contest more than 5 duels in a match with 100% success ( 8 ), make 3+ tackles with 100% success (3), and make 50+ passes at 90%+ accuracy (57/62) since Sandro for Spurs v Blackburn in April 2012.
They say, Arne Slot’s ‘Project Rijkaard’ is in full swing with Ryan Gravenberch. Forget Rijkaard – I’d be satisfied if he can simply morph into a Wijnaldum. That’s all.