A training ground message from Jürgen Klopp saw the Liverpool manager echo Luis Díaz’s plans, 18 months after the Colombian arrived for $61 million.
Ryan Gravenberch mainly played in a midfield two or three during his time at Ajax, the last club he started regularly, but now, at Liverpool, he is playing effectively in a four-man setup.
While the full-backs often moved inside, Jürgen Klopp effectively used two defensive midfielders behind two advanced number eights when the Red Devils had the ball.
Speaking on Liverpool’s official website after their full debut against LASK in the Europa League on Thursday night, the $44m (£37m/€40m) summer signing from Bayern Munich was announced.
ask about the difference between his new position and the roles he holds.
previous leaders.
“Actually no,” he replied.
“Yesterday, after training, [Klopp] came up to me and told me to relax, you know, you can do whatever you want, of course you have to do your job, but he told me to just relax and express myself and express myself.
Ryan, that’s right.
“
That advice paid off as Gravenberch turned in a solid performance in the first game, providing a superb assist for Luis Díaz’s second-half goal and committing more fouls (four) than any of his teammates.
thanks to his elusive dribbling style.
And what is encouraging for Klopp is that he can and will improve.
There was a certain element of carelessness in his performance as he failed to complete 30% of his passes and made some questionable decisions on the ball, but these could largely be due to the lack of sharpness in his game when he first played.
Bundesliga matches have 10 minutes before entering the field and only entered the field in injury time against Wolves last weekend.
Additionally, Gravenberch will certainly look better as Klopp gradually gives more insight into the nuances of his role on and off the ball.
For now, he is mainly left to himself on the pitch, although he still needs to work on the basics in terms of pressing as Liverpool cannot afford to carry passengers.
The goal here is likely to restore the player’s confidence after what should have been a damaging period at Bayern, where he played just 586 minutes of league football over one season and a few.
Klopp has allowed him to take risks and almost rediscover his football identity.
There are similarities here with his approach to coaching Díaz in the early months of the Colombian’s career at Anfield following his $61m (£50m/€58m) transfer from Porto in September.
January 2022.
“I thought ‘OK, why don’t we try?
‘, just without 5 million information, let’s let him play,” Klopp said after the winger played his debut against Leicester (via This is Anfield).
“Obviously he was watching us and we showed him a lot of situations, but in a lot of moments it felt natural.
The plan paid off immediately, as Díaz was arguably Liverpool’s most notable striker in his first half-season and thrived on the freedom he was given as Klopp gradually imbued with his philosophy.
In what he hopes will be his first full season with the club (Díaz was out from October to April last year due to injury), the long-term benefits will also become should be clear.
He has scored three goals in his first five appearances this season.
It remains to be seen whether Gravenberch will be as involved in the coming weeks and months as Díaz, but importantly he is also seen as a natural fit.
Indeed, that explains why he has been a long-term target of Klopp and the Red Devils (via The Athletic), since his time in the youth team at Ajax.