Ryan Gravenberch hailed as 'special player' by Pep Lijnders

Gravenberch has impressed so far

Gravenberch has impressed so far / Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images

Liverpool assistant Pep Lijnders has heaped praise on midfielder Ryan Gravenberch after his hot start to life at Anfield.

The Reds paid around £35m to sign Gravenberch from Bayern Munich, where the Dutch midfielder managed just three Bundesliga starts in his first season, and have already seen him become a key part of the Liverpool starting lineup.

Initially tasked with proving himself in cup competitions, Gravenberch bagged two goals and an assist in three Europa League games and has now started Liverpool's last two Premier League games as he continues to showcase the sort of form that excited so many during his time at Ajax.

Lijnders, taking the place of Jurgen Klopp for Tuesday's press conference, was full of praise for the 21-year-old.

"We knew what he is capable of," Lijnders said. "It is the Ryan Gravenberch of Ajax that we see now.

"I'm not sure what happened at Bayern, you cannot judge that, but each player with confidence and without confidence is a different player. Each player with game time or without game time is a different player. That's how it is.

"That's why the Carabao Cup is really important for us as well because we know this and we feel this: a player who doesn't play doesn't get confident. You can do whatever you want on the training pitch, but in the end that's about it.

Minutes were hard to come by at Bayern / Daniel Kopatsch/Getty Images

"Ryan in the final third, as an eight, is the one who slides, the one who still has overview, the one who has a first touch with his left or right to get out of a situation, out of proper pressure. He can keep the ball under high pressure and still find the passing option forward.

"He is a complete, complete eight with scoring and with attitude. It is the eight we searched for and the eight we got. We are thankful to our owners and our scouting and everyone who made it happen.

"It's nice he is Dutch as well!"

Gravenberch has already racked up more goals and assists than he managed during his time in Germany, having formed an impressive midfield trio alongside fellow new signings Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister.

Liverpool are back in action on Wednesday when they face Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup fourth round. Gravenberch started against Leicester City last time out in this competition but his new-found status as a Premier League starter could see him rested this time around.

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Jurgen Klopp makes exciting claim about Ryan Gravenberch

Gravenberch has found his feet at Liverpool

Gravenberch has found his feet at Liverpool / Visionhaus/GettyImages

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes Ryan Gravenberch is not even close to fulfilling his full potential despite his impressive start to life at Anfield.

Gravenberch joined the Reds from Bayern Munich on transfer deadline day, bringing a premature end to a largely underwhelming and uneventful one-year stay in Bavaria.

The 21-year-old has since established himself as one of Liverpool's key players and was instrumental in their 5-1 thrashing of Toulouse in the Europa League on Thursday, scoring and putting in a player-of-the-match performance.

Klopp has been pleased with Gravenberch's start / Matt McNulty/GettyImages

Speaking to the media post-match, Klopp revealed his delight at how Gravenberch has settled in, but insisted he still has a lot more to offer.

"He's a good player," Klopp said to TNT Sports.

"I'm so happy for him that he starts really enjoying his football again. His first touch is incredible, his acceleration with the ball. He's not even half way there. The good thing is that he has a lot of things to improve."

Klopp then told a press conference that he expects onlookers to 'fall in love' with his new-look Liverpool side, who have started the 2023/24 season brilliantly after a dismal 2022/23 campaign.

"I think I said before, it is really easy to fall in love with this team because there is so much excitement in it. We have to make massive steps, we have to grow, we have to do a lot of things but a lot of signs are really promising," he said.

"How the team interacts with each other is really nice. When you talk about the rebuild of the team it is all about the things you see on the pitch, but there must be a rebuild off the pitch and that is going really well. The players growing into their new roles if you want."

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Liverpool 5-1 Toulouse: Player ratings as Gravenberch inspires another Europa League win

By Jamie Spencer | 26 Oct 2023

Ryan Gravenberch bossed another Europa League game

Ryan Gravenberch bossed another Europa League game / Richard Sellers/Allstar/GettyImages

Liverpool put one foot in the Europa League knockout stages on Thursday night with what was eventually a comprehensive 4-1 win over French side Toulouse.

Diogo Jota initially got the ball rolling at Anfield, only for Thijs Dallinga to hit back against the run of play, symbolising the admirable spirit that Toulouse brought to the game. But Wataru Endo's first Liverpool goal and one from Darwin Nunez before half-time put Jurgen Klopp's team into a commanding lead.

Player of the match Ryan Gravenberch later put the icing on the cake, with substitute Mohamed Salah adding a fifth for Liverpool for good measure in stoppage time.

How the game unfolded

Liverpool wasted little time in taking the lead, going ahead inside the opening 10 minutes when Jota skipped through the challenges and very calmly finding the bottom left corner. The Reds then stayed dominant and Guillaume Restes had to be alert when Nunez sat down his marker and fired at the onrushing Toulouse goalkeeper narrowing the angle.

Given that, the Toulouse equaliser came from nowhere and was alarmingly simple. As a counter attack developed, there was acres of space for Dallinga to run into – Trent Alexander-Arnold tried and failed to catch him offside – and kept his composure to beat Caoimhin Kelleher.

The goal flattened the crowd inside Anfield and it took a back to basics set-piece to restore the advantage. Harvey Elliott saw Curtis Jones in space for a short corner, with Jones in turn laying it back to Alexander-Arnold. There wasn't any pressure on the ball from Toulouse, allowing the Liverpool skipper for the night to pick his spot with a cross for Endo to head in.

And it wasn't long before Nunez had got Liverpool’s third before even the half-time whistle. Jones' attempted shot rebounded into the path of the Uruguayan, who fired high into the net with left foot. Gravenberch had made the whole thing possible with a driving run forward.

Kelleher had largely been a spectator in the first half but came perilously close to gifting Toulouse a second goal right after the interval with a woefully misplaced pass out from the back. But he had Alexander-Arnold to thank for somehow blocking Gabriel Suazo's shot on the goal-line.

Pressing for a fourth, Gravenberch forced an unorthodox save from Restes. An adventurous Endo was involved in getting forward too and had also seen his own effort only narrowly miss the target. Restes was again denying the excellent Gravenberch at the hour mark.

Liverpool still weren't wholly convincing at the back, with too many gaps and too many sloppy passes allowing Toulouse a glimmer of hope that shouldn't have been there. But they moved out of reach when Gravenberch was rewarded for his performance with a goal of his own. Really, it should have gone to Nunez, who did the hard work by beautifully beating his marker and rounding Restes, only to strike the post with the goal gaping. Gravenberch followed it up to turn in the rebound.

Salah scored the fifth with virtually the last kick of the game, clipping the underside of the bar as his shot from the middle of the penalty area hit the back of the net.

Liverpool player ratings (4-3-3)

Darwin Nunez

Darwin Nunez got on the scoresheet / Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/GettyImages

GK: Caoimhin Kelleher - 5/10 - Didn't have a great deal to do and a lapse in concentration nearly allowed Toulouse back into the game a second time.

RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold (c) - 7/10 - Culpable for the Toulouse equaliser, but made Liverpool's go-ahead goal and later made a miraculous goal-line block at a crucial time.

CB: Joe Gomez - 6/10 - Saw a lot of the ball as Liverpool dominated possession and did extremely well in that respect. Defensively, not convincig from the team.

CB: Joel Matip - 6/10 - Again, had a lot of the ball at his feet, but not rock solid and allowed Toulouse too many chances.

LB: Luke Chambers - 5/10 - A full debut but a challenging night for the youngster.

CM: Curtis Jones - 8/10 - Pulled the string creatively and created a number of chances.

CM: Wataru Endo - 8/10 - Scored Liverpool's first headed goal since April. Showed plenty of endeavour to get forward and arguably his best game since joining the club.

CM: Ryan Gravenberch - 9/10 - Another all-action Europa League display. Made the third goal possible with his driving run and ensured Liverpool were almost always in control. Deserved his goal.

RW: Diogo Jota - 7/10 - Started very brightly and broke the deadlock early on.

ST: Darwin Nunez - 7/10 - Clinical with his goal, but missed a far easier chance with an open net in the second half. At least Gravenberch scored the rebound and he could laugh about it.

LW: Harvey Elliott - 6/10 - Found it difficult to make the same level of impact as some of his attacking teammates.

Substitutes

SUB: Calum Scanlon (66' for Nunez) - 6/10

SUB: Cody Gakpo (67' for Alexander-Arnold) - 6/10

SUB: Jarell Quansah (67' for Chambers) - 6/10

SUB: Mohamed Salah (70' for Gravenberch) - 7/10

SUB: James McConnell (88' for Jones) - N/A

Subs not used: Alisson (GK), Jaros (GK), Van Dijk, Tsimikas, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Diaz

Manager

Jurgen Klopp - 8/10 - Plenty of changes were made to the starting XI to keep players fresh. It worked overall and he didn't have to use a few of his biggest names either.

Player of the match - Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool