Liverpool were left frustrated in their attempts to sign Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad this summer but Arne Slot may have found an in-house solution in the No. 6 position.
Ryan Gravenberch, a £34.2m signing from Bayern Munich last year, featured mostly as a left-sided midfielder under Jurgen Klopp. It was the same story under Erik ten Hag, the manager whose Manchester United side he faces on Super Sunday, at boyhood club Ajax.
But Slot has asked him to play deeper, effectively swapping positions with Alexis Mac Allister, who is now starting as the left-sided No 8, and the initial signs have been encouraging.
The change has been dramatic for him, both in terms of the area of the pitch in which he is operating and what he is being asked to do. Slot wants more control and feels the Ajax-schooled Gravenberch can provide it. “I think he has the attributes to play there.”
Chief among those attributes is his ball-playing ability. The change of role is seeing Gravenberch get around 30 per cent more touches than last season and make roughly 50 per cent more passes. His accuracy rate has leapt from 83.4 per cent to 90.4 per cent.
But Gravenberch is not just playing it safe. Slot’s players are being encouraged to pass the ball with purpose. In the first two games of the Premier League season, Liverpool have registered a higher percentage of passing sequences leading to a shot or touch in the opposition box than any other side.
Passing sequences ending with a shot or touch in the box
Premier League, 2024/25
| Team | 10+ pass sequences | Ends with shot or touch in box | As a % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 38 | 19 | 50%50% |
| 2 | Nott’m Forest | 14 | 5 | 36%36% |
| 3 | West Ham | 14 | 5 | 36%36% |
| 4 | Arsenal | 28 | 9 | 32%32% |
| 5 | Tottenham | 42 | 13 | 31%31% |
Gravenberch has been key to that and his knack for threading passes through midfield can be seen in the statistics. In Liverpool’s opening two games of the campaign, he has completed more passes between the lines than any of his team-mates.
The example below, late in the 2-0 win over Brentford, shows Gravenberch after receiving the ball from Virgil van Dijk in the centre circle. There is an easy pass on to left-back Andrew Robertson, but instead he takes the more difficult option to pick out Mac Allister.
Mac Allister was subsequently able to work the ball into the box for a cut-back, which had to be scrambled away by Brentford and there is a similar example below from Liverpool’s win over Ipswich, with Mac Allister again the target for another incisive Gravenberch pass.
On this occasion, Mac Allister instantly laid the ball off to the onrushing Dominik Szoboszlai, who, in turn, was able to put Mohamed Salah through on goal for an even better opportunity.
As seen in the example below, Gravenberch brings another quality to the No 6 role which is important to Slot: the power and dynamism to drive forward with the ball himself.
Having picked up possession in his own half, Gravenberch spots a gap in midfield and accelerates into it, carrying the ball across the halfway line and subsequently playing a pass in behind for Luis Diaz, setting up another excellent scoring chance for Slot’s side.
There are still question marks defensively. Ipswich and Brentford did not test Gravenberch particular sternly in that regard. With Bruno Fernandes flitting between the lines at Old Trafford on Sunday, the game against Manchester United will be tougher.
He will need to step up.
Julian Nagelsmann, the manager who took him to Bayern Munich from Ajax, felt he could become “one of the best midfielders in the world” but only if he “adjusted a few things” out of possession. His successor, Thomas Tuchel, agreed, preferring to use him as a No 8, the same role in which he was deployed by Klopp last season.
The video you are trying to watch cannot be viewed from your current country or locationWatch highlights from Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Brentford
It is only under Slot that he has had a chance to establish himself as a No 6 and while he still has plenty to prove—”he”has to develop in that position, that is clear,” said the new Reds boss – the early signs, especially on the ball, offer encouragement about what is to come.
Credit: Sky Sports
