Liverpool are back on track in the Premier League after a relatively comfortable win over Bournemouth on Saturday.
It was perhaps not as straightforward as the 3-0 result would suggest, but the Reds were never really in danger of repeating their dismal loss against Nottingham Forest from the week before.
There were a number of really good performers from within the Liverpool squad who helped them do that. Gabriel Agbonlahor singled out four Liverpool players who really impressed him at Anfield, with most of Arne Slot’s side looking back to something like their best.Yet again, Ryan Gravenberch was among this group. The Dutchman has a strong shout to be the Liverpool player of the season so far and was running the show in midfield against Bournemouth.
But although Gravenberch is now showing the kind of consistency which suggests he can be Liverpool’s long-term defensive midfield option, pundit Ian Wright has said there’s still one thing he needs to see from the Reds’ No.38.Ian Wright explains Ryan Gravenberch wishGravenberch’s turnaround at Liverpool has been brilliant to watch.
The 22-year-old has gone from bit-part player to key man within the space of six games.With rumours persisting that Liverpool could return for Martin Zubimendi over the next two transfer windows, Gravenberch is doing all he can to show that the Spaniard is no longer needed.
Whether or not Liverpool adhere to that way of thinking is likely something that will be ironed out over the coming months.But according to Wright, the Reds may actually have benefitted from Zubimendi’s decision to reject them over the summer.
Speaking on The Kelly & Wrighty Show, the former Arsenal striker says that the gap that appeared in the midfield allowed Liverpool to ‘strike gold’ with Gravenberch.
Wright did also admit that he’d still like to see the former Ajax man perform against the Premier League’s top sides before going too overboard.“You could say that with Zubimendi not going through, they could have really unearthed the one for themselves now,” says the pundit.
Because when you watch those games, and obviously, we want to see him against the maybe the top three, top four, and if he’s putting in those kind of performances, then obviously Liverpool have like struck gold because he seems to have everything, He has got all the attributes.
Ryan Gravenberch set for Liverpool restHe does have some competition in this regard, but we really do think that Gravenberch has been Liverpool’s best player under Arne Slot so far.It isn’t only that the Netherlands international has shown such improvement, he has genuinely at least been one of the best three players in virtually every game.
Having quickly made himself so important for Slot, though, Gravenberch is now due a rest.
Last season, the Carabao Cup was one of the competitions in which Gravenberch was regularly given starts, along with the Europa League.
But putting together a predicted XI for Liverpool against West Ham on Wednesday, and Gravenberch is not in it. That alone shows just how far he’s come. If anyone has earned a rest when the Hammers come to town, it’s Ryan.
