It was late into the game when Ryan Gravenberch turned to his captain Virgil van Dijk and began to smile.
Not only was a successful and potentially season-defining week about to be wrapped up in style for Liverpool, but wins over the reigning European champions and English champions had extinguished any remaining doubts over his ability as an elite holding midfielder.
At the start of the season, questions were asked about Gravenberch and whether he would be able to handle the games that really mattered. He had impressed in the early weeks of the campaign, but largely against opponents Liverpool would expect to beat. The last 10 games, however, raised the bar — and Gravenberch has met it.
His performance against City was one for the ages, topped off by a run to the edge of the box in stoppage time that required four players to eventually prise the ball away from his feet.
Gravenberch relentlessly harried Phil Foden, forcing him into a series of errors. When City played short passes between themselves, it was Gravenberch who broke it up. And on the one occasion when Ilkay Gundogan pulled away and had Erling Haaland in his sight, Gravenberch committed the professional foul to stop him in his tracks.
Through a combination of guts and guile, the 22-year-old showed class and composure above his relatively tender years. No longer is he just making up the numbers.
Last year, there was talk of Liverpool having four ‘untouchables’ at the club: Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, Alisson and Trent Alexander-Arnold. Gravenberch now belongs in that elite category, as one of only three players (along with Van Dijk and Salah) to have started every Premier League and Champions League game this season. His form makes the fact that he did not play a single minute for the Netherlands at the European Championship all the more bewildering.
It’s no secret that Liverpool wanted to strengthen the defensive midfield department last summer, with Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi a top target, but Gravenberch has changed the whole complexion of that debate. Now, Slot rotates the other senior midfielders Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones, but keeps the young Dutchman in place.
Among Premier League midfielders this season, Gravenberch has the second-highest number of interceptions (24) and the second-highest duel success rate (64.7 per cent).
Yet he is not simply a destroyer: his pass solar (pictured below) shows how central he is to Slot’s plans as he connects the entire team, receiving passes from the centre-backs and circulating the ball forward.
On Sunday, he was everything for Liverpool that the injured Ballon d’Or winner, Rodri, usually is for City: a player with the perfect blend of defensive nous and attacking creativity.
Here, early in the game, Gravenberch displayed his ball-winning skills to get the better of Foden — one of 12 occasions the England international was dispossessed throughout the afternoon.
Just a few minutes later, Gravenberch takes the ball off Gundogan in a dangerous position and sets his team-mates on the attack. He sensed a weakness in City’s midfield and quickly pounced on it.
Gravenberch followed that up with another interception after just six minutes. This time Manuel Akanji is sloppy with his pass into Gundogan, which opens up the opportunity for Gravenberch to nick the ball.
That set the tone for Gravenberch, who later made another two interceptions in quick succession. First, cutting out a pass from Matheus Nunes and then beating Foden to a flick-on from Haaland when he was the clear outsider in the challenge.
The other part of Gravenberch’s game is his positioning and passing. Typically, he’s asked to sit in front of the defenders and look for gaps in between the opposition lines, or simply to provide an easy out-ball. Below, you can see the areas where he likes to roam…
When it’s too risky to play a forward pass into one of his more attack-minded team-mates, Gravenberch calmly keeps the ball rolling and rarely overplays.
Here, he follows Van Dijk’s orders and plays back to Caoimhin Kelleher…
Tracking runners, anticipating the next move and getting a foot in ahead of others are all staples for defensive midfielders — and Gravenberch is doing them all extremely well. But it’s the classy in-possession moments that take him up a level.
The trademark turn that can quickly switch defence into attack for Liverpool is a special skill, but his numbers stack up too.
Gravenberch has completed the second-most passes (695) of any midfielder in the Premier League, behind only Mateo Kovacic (723). He also has the joint second-highest open-play build-up involvement in shot-ending sequences (2.8), which highlights his importance in attack.
The most eye-catching moments, though, are when he drives out of defence with such explosive force. Against City, there were a couple of occasions, including two in the second half.
In the example below, he picks the ball up close to the halfway line and quickly launches a counter-attack…
Then, late on, and with City struggling to sustain the flow of attacks, Gravenberch senses another opportunity. This time, four City players are needed to stop him in his tracks…
It’s easy to see why, in this form, Gravenberch has become the go-to man for Liverpool in midfield. Now, as the transfer window approaches, a position that was once considered an area of weakness is one of Slot’s’ great strengths.
No wonder Gravenberch is smiling.
