Ryan GRAVENBERCH: 2023/24

Szob did a lot of things on the dirty side of the game that were excellent, his and Joneses closing down and pressing was excellent and he burst past their midfield numerous times, but then inexplicably he would give it away with a bad pass.

I must admit he was heavily involved in the first goal.

RG played a couple of good passes, was caught in possession once I think. He wasnā€™t bad.

Grav did ok but I thought Elliot deserved to come on in front of him.

I thought the same. Maybe Klopp wanted an athletic player who can cover a lot of ground quickly (because Newcastleā€™s counter-attacking transitions in the second half were pretty quick)?

Anyway, Gravenberchā€™s post-injury form is rather concerning, especially considering that Szoboszlai will likely miss the remainder of January (hopefully not longer than that) and that this midfield needs an athletic presence, in my opinion at least. Whatever the reason behind his poor form might be, I hope Klopp can help him resolve it soon.

Really weird how both Ryan and Szob have become poor with the ball at their feet, when it looked a strength.

Maybe they arenā€™t used to the intensity of the games and training, although you canā€™t fault their effort

For Jurgen to find the dropped wedding ring so quickly - is probably an indication of how short they keep the grass

I wouldnā€™t be surprised if the drop in form (re: Ryan and Dom) is related to training and tactics - e.g., more responsibilities, things to think of - as opposed to playing their natural game, which they had license to do, when they first came.

This is not to say that the coaching is making them worse but that - until it becomes second nature to them - there could be a decline in form.

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Iā€™m not that worried about Ryan to be honest or Dom for that matter.

My take is that there is a lot of expectation that all of our signings will come in and be brilliant immediately. It has happened with a lot of Kloppā€™s signings after all.

But sometimes it can take time to adjust and bed in, and while theyā€™re doing so, itā€™s natural to compare them to the players weā€™ve had before.

The team that won us the Champions League under Klopp were playing at such a high standard, for most of us theyā€™re amongst the best weā€™ve seen in our lifetime

Of course these new players arenā€™t there yet. But why would they be?

Szoboszlai - 23
Gravenberch - 21
Elliott - 20
Jones - 22

I for one am happy to wait and see how these players look in two or three years, because it doesnā€™t seem to me that they should be the finished article yet.

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While I agree with the gist of your post, whatā€™s concerning regarding Dom is that he started off like a house on fire and appears to have regressed. It could be tiredness or a niggling injury, but he needs to get back to where he was a couple of months ago.

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Iā€™m sure itā€™s just inconsistency, and that we will have that sorted out in no time at all.

Meanwhile, weā€™ve all being talking about how variously, Mac Allister, Gravenberch, and Szoboszlai have dimmed from their initial starts, while Endō is suddenly thriving.

Maybe itā€™s just a matter of different players having different patches of form, and that at least weā€™re still putting in the performances as a team overall.

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He has played 26 games for Liverpool and another six for Hungary. Also, I think the high-tempo and physical aspect of PL is affecting his recovery.

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yep I said in the pre-match he looks tired already.

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Regarding Dom, I said it in the in game thread, apart from his passing the rest of his game was very good, his pressing, his ball winning and his breaks through midfield. The only aspect for me that was off was his passing, maybe he is working that hard off the ball that when he gets it he relaxes too much and plays a poorly executed pass?

Dom has his own thread Ifti, donā€™t mess with my ocd!

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We knew Ryan was going to be a work in progress - heā€™s had a bad couple of seasons with Bayern so I think the expectation was always that he would be someone who requires more work than the others.

Plenty of time for him yet.

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I really want Ryan to do well. Heā€™s got the attributes, but itā€™s clear to see that heā€™s just lacking a bit of steel. It looks like he goes into challenges afraid to get hurt. Someone needs to make him angry.

Noticed JĆ¼rgen signalling ā€˜heartā€™ to him at one point.

He did show some grit in winning the ball in the build up to one of the Jota goals. We need much more of that.

Ryan had a patch of good form in the early part of the season. He lacks consistency. Not playing regularly for Bayern, lack of a pre-season, and adapting to a new league is hampering his progress. The potential is clearly there, he just needs to keep working hard.

I think a lot of Gravā€™s issues can be put down to the fact that he missed a lot of football of the last couple of years, a preseason with us, and Klopp has been known to let players find their feet for a while before dropping them in.

But I was a bit concerned by this as well. He looked like he didnā€™t really want to get stuck in yesterday, which is not going to endear him to Klopp at all.

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Yes, this was telling yesterday. Hopefully he picks it up over the next year. There were a couple of occasions where a 50-50 situation ended up with not only the Bournemouth player winning the ball, but then taking Gravenberch out the game completely (as he half heartedly attempted to engage) to continue the move upfield.

I have the same observation with himā€¦.doesnā€™t want to get stuck in on challenges. Heā€™s a big, strong, athletic lad and he should be using those attributes. Definitely needs improvement in this area. He also just needs time to adapt and pick up minutes where he can to build confidence. Not sure why he thought he could move from Bayern and get more minutes here.