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Liverpool look defensively shaky, but Ryan Gravenberch can fix it
Last year, it was 'Liverpool haven't played any decent teams yet'. Now, the early-season hot take is that the Premier League champions cannot defend.
Two games this season — including the glorified friendly against Crystal Palace in the Community Shield — have seen Liverpool ship four goals and prompted some criticism over the team's defensive solidity, or lack of it.
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Yet this is not an entirely new issue. Since winning the title against Tottenham on April 27, Liverpool have leaked goals in every competitive game and all four of the club's pre-season fixtures in front of fans, yet head coach Arne Slot doesn't appear fazed.
When asked about the defensive fragility in back-to-back post-match press conferences, he admitted he needs to find a 'balance' between scoring goals and keeping it tight at the other end, but also suggested that radical changes were not needed as he intends to continue playing on the front foot and committing players forward.
Yet the answer may be quite simple.
A notable absentee from both the Palace and Bournemouth games was Ryan Gravenberch, who went from holding midfield stop-gap — moved into the role after Liverpool missed out on Martin Zubimendi — to one of the stars of the season.
Gravenberch also sat out the 3-1 defeat to Chelsea in the game directly after winning the title, as he had started every other previous Premier League encounter, and was then sent off against Crystal Palace in the final game of last season. He missed the Community Shield due to his partner giving birth, and was absent on Friday as he served a suspension for the red card.
The 23-year-old has mastered the art of combining defence with attack. The way he offers protection to the back line by tracking runners from midfield, covering both the full-backs and the centre-backs, while also providing a safe out-ball option, was perhaps undervalued in last season's title win, largely because he was never missing for an extended period.
Last week, though, when Slot was quizzed on why his side appears to be leaking so many goals during pre-season and into this Premier League campaign, he referenced the fact that Gravenberch was missing, as well as Alexis MacAllister still not being fully up to speed after missing some of the summer training.
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Centre-back Virgil van Dijk also name-checked his fellow countryman after conceding two goals on the counter-attack in Friday's opener. 'It needs time, that's absolutely normal, but we also played without our six, Ryan Gravenberch,' he told reporters. 'We conceded two goals in a transition moment where we have to do better. That's what we have to work on.'
The importance of a strong defensive midfielder was clear to see last season when Manchester City fell out of the title race once Rodri had suffered a serious knee injury, although Gravenberch's emergence in the role remains one of Slot's great coaching success stories.
Slot initially recognised his fellow Dutchman as a No 8, but he said that he wanted to experiment with him in a deeper position early into his time at the club.
By the midway point of the season, Gravenberch had become undroppable, with Slot discovering that his hard running and ability to offer defensive cover were helping bring the best out of those around him.
Gravenberch made the most interceptions of any midfielder (60) in the Premier League last season and he won possession more often (193 times) than any other Liverpool player. Opponents also found it much tougher to dribble past him (24) in comparison to Mac Allister (49), which is why Slot has since favoured a line-up with the pair playing side by side as the two 'controllers' in his team.
Had he been in the side for the first two games of this season, it's likely Liverpool would have been much more secure on the transition. The presence of a tried and trusted defensive midfielder would have also given the new full-backs additional support when they pushed forward, as both Dominik Szoboszlai and Wataru Endo aren't able to replicate the versatility that Gravenberch shows when he plays.
Clearly, Liverpool need a little time to settle into the season and find the right formula, especially as the concern from the stands is echoed by both the head coach and captain, albeit at a lower level.
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Liverpool conceded two goals on the counter-attack against Bournemouth when committing multiple players forward and faced five fast breaks. Only one team — Southampton — recorded more fast breaks (6) against Slot's side last season, which again highlights where the defensive discipline of Gravenberch, who featured in 37 of the 38 games last term, is so vital.
With Gravenberch available again for Monday's fixture at Newcastle United, the question that now remains is who he replaces in the team. Assuming that Mac Allister will start, it means either Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo or Florian Wirtz will drop to the bench.
There's a compelling argument that Wirtz should be the fall guy, as both Gakpo and Szoboszlai proved to be crucial components in the title win and a big part of why the midfield functioned so well last season.
Yet Liverpool did not sign the 22-year-old German for a potential £116million to sit on the bench, especially after just one game, so expect a tactical tweak by Slot as he reintroduces Gravenberch and seeks a way of finding a fresh way to balance his team's attacking intent with the much-needed solidity that was the key to success last season.
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