Ryan Gravenberch has been advised to copy the example of a compatriot who’s played in a World Cup final.
The 22-year-old joined Liverpool from Bayern Munich last year and has been included in Netherlands’ squad for Euro 2024, but he’ll be hoping to improve on his tally of 12 Premier League starts from his first season in England.
Rafael van der Vaart spoke to Voetbal International about how the Reds’ number 38 could take his game to the next level, steering him in the direction of an ex-Manchester City player.
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The former Tottenham man said: “I advise Ryan to opt for a role as a defensive midfielder. That will not be an easy choice for him, because he can do much more. You can compare it with Nigel de Jong in the past.
“Nigel could do much more than the subservient controller he eventually became, but in that specific role he reached an absolute top level. Nigel decided he was going to be a pitbull and that’s it.
“Ryan is also very versatile and I recommend him to make a similar choice in a role like Patrick Vieira once played at Arsenal and France.”
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Is there logic to Van der Vaart’s suggestion that Gravenberch seeks to establish himself as a number 6 at Liverpool?
It’s a position in which he’s already played 19 times in his senior career, with one of those instances coming in the Reds’ Europa League visit to Union Saint-Gilloise last December (Transfermarkt).
Should Arne Slot envisage the 22-year-old adopting a defensive midfield role, he could be a considerably younger alternative to Wataru Endo in the Anfield engine room.
In fact, during the 2023/24 season, Gravenberch made more interceptions (1.12 to 1.05) and blocks (1.6 to 1.26) per 90 minutes than the Japanese enforcer, also posting a better tackle success rate (41.4% to 32.8%) and recording more ball recoveries per game (5.92 to 5.65) than the 31-year-old, as per FBref.
That could provide the new head coach with food for thought, but whether or not he takes Van der Vaart’s advice remains to be seen.
A World Cup finalist in De Jong wouldn’t be a bad example at all for the 22-year-old to follow – except for kicking the mercurial Xabi Alonso in the chest, of course!