It was a treble of sorts, though not one that brought the match ball or any cause for celebration. Liverpool’s season started at Newcastle, paying tribute to a man who scored hat-tricks for both clubs, in Kevin Keegan. Ryan Gravenberch’s campaign began with passes that led to three goals. Although the inconvenient detail was that two of them were Newcastle goals.
In the Dutchman’s defence, two misplaced balls, even one from a backheel, could easily be forgotten, given that he lost the ball around 80 yards from his own goal, but for the clinical nature of Newcastle’s lightning counter-attacks. Though a contributory factor was that Liverpool’s supposedly defensive midfielder was so advanced, caught ahead of the ball when a change in manager may make it even more important he is behind it.
Andoni Iraola highlighted the potential reward entailed in the risks his side take. “I understand that Ryan Gravenberch is basically the No 6 and is on the edge of the box, and if he shoots and scores then we are saying what a play from Ryan Gravenberch,” the new head coach reflected.
“I don’t want us to take that from his game but we have to adapt as a team to these situations, we have to know these situations can happen. The second goal we did better in terms of having the numbers to defend, but we don’t make a foul or go to the first challenge. It’s not just because one person is playing there. It’s something we have to correct between a lot of players.”
There are various aspects to it; the duties of committing the tactical foul in many a team, fall to the defensive midfielder. So, too, the broader task of subduing the opposition’s No 10, and Newcastle’s Yoane Wissa was the man of the match on Sunday.
It was scarcely all Gravenberch’s fault but he feels at the heart of several issues. One is that a team should not be opened up so easily through the middle of the pitch; as Liverpool adapt to Iraola’s football, they presumably will not be.
But they were at their most secure under Arne Slot with a trio of central midfielders, or occasionally even all four of Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones; but that balance was disturbed with the introduction of Florian Wirtz and Iraola has signalled his intention to play the German as a No 10. So there will be a duo, and Szoboszlai will have the licence to get into the box. Iraola wants front-foot football, too, even if there are questions if a side spearheaded by Wirtz and Alexander Isak can press with the intensity the Basque wants.
Factor in two attack-minded full-backs who are encouraged to go forward and with defensive vulnerabilities and Gravenberch’s responsibilities seem to grow. There is a case for arguing that if three outfield players remain in position to give Liverpool a base when in possession, it should be the two centre-backs and the defensive midfielder.
There is also the debate if Gravenberch actually is one. His reinvention two years ago was Slot’s flagship success; even then, however, his compatriot had an outstanding half-season, more than an entire campaign.
It was notable last year that a technician showed the attacking side to his game more. Even as Liverpool underperformed in the Premier League, Gravenberch ended with five goals and three assists; identical figures to Wirtz, more than Isak.
Perhaps Liverpool need fewer goals from Gravenberch, not more. He had 20 shots in the top flight in 2024-25, 38 last year. They may need him further from goal. Or they may need him to be the player he was not when signed, and who they tried to buy.
It may be revisiting the increasingly ancient past, but Gravenberch was converted into a defensive midfielder after Martin Zubimendi’s 2024 volte face, when he decided to stay at Real Sociedad for another year before joining Arsenal. It remains the case that the last player Liverpool bought as a defensive midfielder was Wataru Endo in 2023.
The Japanese should retain that status. While Jones is going, no replacement is envisaged, in part because Trey Nyoni excelled in pre-season, but also because Liverpool’s money is committed elsewhere.
Their funds are being saved for the ongoing search to a successor to Mohamed Salah on the right flank. Yet, assuming one is signed, it will take Liverpool’s spending in little over a year to more than £600m, and perhaps £650m, without any of it going on a central midfielder.
It feels still more of an anomaly in the summer when so many others are buying midfielders, and often for exorbitant prices. Perhaps that lends itself to the conclusion that Gravenberch saved Liverpool a fortune. But at St James’ Park, where misjudged passes were compounded by a lack of cover and the teething troubles of new tactics, there was a soft underbelly to Liverpool’s midfield.
