Gravenberch reveals how Slot unlocked his potential after Klopp struggles became clear in brutal Liverpool 10-game span

Ryan Gravenberch has pinpointed the main reason why he’s thriving under Arne Slot compared to Jurgen Klopp after the Dutchman’s struggles were laid bare in a brutal 10-game stretch for Liverpool last season.

Liverpool signed Gravenberch from Bayern Munich last summer for a package worth £34.2m. The Dutchman has always been rated highly within the game, though a lack of opportunities in Bavaria saw his club career stall.

A fresh start at Anfield awaited, though Gravenberch experienced many of the same limitations he faced at Bayern.

The all-action midfielder did rack up 38 appearances across all competitions in the 2023/24 campaign.

However, those appearances accounted for just 1,839 minutes of action (48 minutes per appearance), with the vast majority of his Premier League outings in particular coming off the bench.

Gravenberch’s struggles for regular game-time and his inability to convince Jurgen Klopp of his usefulness came to a head in the second half of the season.

Liverpool were competing for trophies on four fronts and had banked the League Cup in February. However, their season quickly unravelled over the course of a devastating 10-game span between March 17 and April 27.

READ MORE: How Federico Chiesa will fit in at Liverpool: Future Salah replacement or immediate star?

Gravenberch struggles under Klopp summed up in 10-match span

The Reds exited the FA Cup at the hands of bitter rivals Manchester United. Their Europa League ambitions and dreams of a final in Dublin were dashed at the hands of eventual winners Atalanta.

But perhaps the most frustrating of all was Liverpool’s capitulation in the league.

The Reds drew with Man Utd and West Ham and suffered defeats to Crystal Palace and Everton during the season-defining 10-game span.

What was telling from Gravenberch’s perspective was how little he was used at a time when Liverpool’s season was going off the rails.

Indeed, Gravenberch was an unused substitute in both legs of the quarter-final clash with Atalanta.

He also failed to make it off the bench in the FA Cup defeat to Man Utd despite the match going to extra time and penalties.

Gravenberch was also not called upon to make an impact off the bench in the league matches in which points were dropped against Man Utd, Palace and Everton.

Clearly, Klopp did not have faith in Gravenberch to be a game-changing player, though the Dutchman’s situation has dramatically changed under fellow countryman Arne Slot.

After failing to sign top transfer target Martin Zubimendi, Gravenberch has been entrusted as the starting midfielder alongside Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai who regularly drops deep when Liverpool are out of possession.

Gravenberch has been one of Liverpool’s best players in the season’s early going and has opened up on why he’s thriving under Slot.

MO SALAH: Winger ‘desperate’ to secure Liverpool stay as three key reasons emerge for huge transfer decision

Gravenberch thriving on greater involvement

In quotes carried by soccernews.nl, Gravenberch claimed Slot’s system which is based more on control and possession is working wonders for his game.

Gravenberch suggested he’s a player that needs to be constantly involved in the heat of the action and under Klopp where Liverpool went back to front far more quickly, Gravenberch often went through extended periods of the match without touching the ball.

“There were sometimes matches in which I had only touched the ball once after five or six minutes,” explained Gravenberch. “Then you don’t get into your game.

“Now I get the ball more, then you get more comfortable.”

On how being deployed in the No 6 role came about, the midfielder added: “He (Slot) just saw this. In the end it worked out well.”

Gravenberch was named in Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands squad for the upcoming Nations League clashes with Bosnia and Herzegovina (September 7) and Germany (September 10).

DON’T MISS: Liverpool great tips TWO elite stars to join Real Madrid, with Slot already ‘planning’ for devastating exit