Phil Thompson felt that one Liverpool player who looked ‘tired’ in recent games was ‘back to his best’ in the Reds’ victory over Girona on Tuesday.
Although Arne Slot was far from pleased with his team’s overall performance in Spain, some players rewarded him with excellent outings. Alisson Becker pulled off several big saves upon his return from injury, but even that wasn’t enough to see him oust Andy Robertson as UEFA’s Player of the Match.
The 1981 European Cup-winning captain identified another LFC player who he felt deserved plenty of praise for his display at the Estadi Montilivi.
Thompson singles out Gravenberch for praise
Speaking on the Official Liverpool FC Podcast, Thompson commended the performance of Ryan Gravenberch in Liverpool’s win over the LaLiga side, with the suggestion that the postponement of the Merseyside derby last weekend may have benefitted the Dutch midfielder.
The 70-year-old said: “You look at those other players and you’re going, ‘Oh, you know, it’s good to get this game and get that little bit of confidence back’, because you worried for Ryan…I was worried for Ryan. After that game against Newcastle he looked tired, and today he was back to his best.”
Gravenberch was quietly effective for Liverpool against Girona
On Tuesday, Gravenberch maintained his record of starting every Premier League and Champions League game for Liverpool this season, and he’s racked up the third-most minutes of any player in Slot’s squad so far this term, so perhaps the derby postponement gave him the recharge that he needed.
The 22-year-old flourished in the second half with the extra space that a tiring Girona side afforded him, and he ended the night as one of his team’s better performers.
As per Sofascore, the Dutchman completed 54 of his 57 passes (95%), won five duels, made seven defensive contributions and executed one key pass at the Estadi Montilivi. That earned him an overall performance rating of 7.5, a sizeable increase on 6.4 against Newcastle on his previous appearance.
Those figures support Thompson’s claim that Gravenberch was ‘back to his best’ in terms of the standards that he’s been setting throughout the season so far, and the midfielder’s near-constant presence on the pitch attests to the importance with which Slot views him.
Now that our number 38 is back into his rhythm, let’s hope he can deliver a similarly strong display against Fulham on Saturday!
