Liverpool star praised by Slot after finding new role against Ipswich – ‘He sees options’

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has praised midfielder Ryan Gravenberch after excelling in a defensive midfield role against Ipswich Town on Saturday.

The Reds began the Slot era in the best possible fashion, with goals either side of half-time from Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah delivering a 2-0 win at Portman Road.

However, it was Gravenberch who caught the eye of many Liverpool supporters.

The 22-year-old is best known for his ability as a box-to-box midfielder but on Saturday, played alongside Alexis Mac Allister as a No.6.

Gravenberch completed 51 of his 59 attempted passes, nine of which went into the attacking third, while he mopped up defensively with three tackles and two recoveries. The Netherlands international — signed from Bayern Munich last summer — also won five of his 11 contested ground duels and maintained a 100% record on aerial duels.

Slot praises Gravenberch performance in unfamiliar role

Per Transfermarkt, this is just the 20th time in 177 senior club appearances that Gravenberch has lined up as a defensive midfielder — and only the second time for Liverpool.

Judging from his performance and the verdict of Slot, it won’t be the last.

“Ryan is attacking-minded but if we play with him then the rest of the team needs to help him as well. It takes a lot of effort for the attackers and the attacking midfielders to help him there, but what we do know with Ryan is that he can play the ball forward if he sees options to do so. That helped us today, especially in the second half,” Slot told reporters in his post-match press conference (via Liverpoolfc.com).

The former Feyenoord boss added: “Defending we do with 11, we don’t do this with one player, so we need to help him as all the others in the position where he’s playing in or where anyone else is playing in.

“It’s not that only Virgil and Ibou or only Virgil and Jarell [Quansah] are defending – the whole team has to do so. If we defend with 11, that will help Ryan or whoever is playing there a lot.

“Last season, Macca [Alexis Mac Allister] played there a lot and I think he has certain qualities that Ryan has as well. If you look at both players, the first thing you think of is with the ball, in ball possession and that’s why we as a team have to make sure that whoever is playing in that position is not too exposed.

“That’s what happened today because I think the team really helped to defend in the best possible way, and because of that Ryan had a good performance.”

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