Peter Crouch was particuarly impressed by one Liverpool player during their 2-0 win over Ipswich at Portman Road on Saturday.
The Reds gave Arne Slot a winning start to life in the Premier League with a clinical second-half performance after struggling in the opening 45 minutes; and despite the clear desire in recent days to bring in a new midfielder, the visitors looked commanding in that area of the pitch today.
Ryan Gravenberch has been utilised as a number 6 in the new head coach’s first few games, and he appears to be taking to it very quickly.
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Speaking on punditry duty for TNT Sports after the match [via TEAMtalk], Crouch said: “When they’ve got the players they have [Liverpool], they can pick apart any team in the world. Those top players, [Trent] Alexander-Arnold…
“The midfield, that was spoken about all summer, ‘this needs to be replaced’… I thought every single one of them was fantastic today. Gravenberch receiving the ball, certainly in the second half, was the difference.”
Gravenberch was excellent during the second half in particular, making the most of the space which opened up as Liverpool began to take command at Portman Road.
The statistics from the 22-year-old’s performance reflect how good a day he had. As per Sofascore, he won six duels (joint-second most of any Reds player) and three tackles, completed one dribble and 86% of his passes, and found a teammate with both long balls that he played against Ipswich.
It remains to be seen how successful he’ll be in the number 6 role over a sustained period of time, and Arne Slot seemed to hint after the match that he’d still like to bring in another midfielder this month, but the recent signs from the ex-Ajax youngster are very encouraging.
If he continues in this vein on a consistent basis, Gravenberch could be a massive player for Liverpool this season, finally enjoying a sense of stability in his career after a nomadic couple of years.
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