If there’s a man who appreciates Ryan Gravenberch’s value to this Liverpool side, it’s most certainly his new head coach, Arne Slot.
From shaky beginnings at Anfield in the 2023/24 season, the former Feyenoord boss has overseen a rapid improvement from the Dutch international.
Such is the stark change that any potential signing that the Reds bring in to bolster the No.6 position will more than likely be considered a backup option to the 2023 summer signing.
You’d be hard-pressed, certainly, to argue that even Martin Zubimendi (if the Merseysiders manage to eventually lure him away from San Sebastian) would find himself ahead in the pecking order.
There’s a new world order at Anfield, and Gravenberch – described as a ‘beautiful player’ by Rafael van der Vaart – is right at the heart of it.
Unsurprisingly, Slot admitted he’s struggled with balancing the 22-year-old’s minutes in light of his consistently high-quality performances at the base of the Liverpool midfield.
“When it comes to Ryan, the reason I took him off was because he played every single game,” the 46-year-old told reporters at his pre-match press conference (via liverpoolfc.com).
“Every single game it was almost impossible for me to take him off because he played so well. I was like, ‘If I take him off now, what’s going to happen to the team?’.
“That’s a bit exaggerated but you know what I mean. This game [Newcastle] especially first-half wasn’t his best, same for the team, first 10 minutes as a team, then we started to play better, he as well.
“But this was a game where I felt like maybe someone else can do as a minimum the same and then that will rest him as well, as he’s played so, so many games already and that’s why we chose [to substitute].”
The Dutchman went on to add that his No.38 would still start on Saturday in the Merseyside derby.
Just to illustrate how seemingly reliant we are on the former Bayern Munich flop, it’s worth highlighting that only Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah have played more minutes this season.
From then on, it’s a sharp drop-off to Alexis Mac Allister in fourth.
It’s exciting to see the improvement, but we have to hope that there will be some opportunities soon for Slot to hand Gravenberch a rest and avoid any potential burnout issues heading into 2025.
| Player | Minutes played |
| Virgil van Dijk | 1,710 |
| Mo Salah | 1,703 |
| Ryan Gravenberch | 1,687 |
| Alexis Mac Allister | 1,496 |
| Ibrahima Konate (injured) | 1,424 |
* Figures courtesy of Transfermarkt
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