Neil Jones believes Ryan Gravenberch has made a ‘really encouraging start’ to life in the famous red shirt of Liverpool.
The former GOAL reporter tweeted his admiration of the 21-year-old following an impressive first league start for Jurgen Klopp’s men in the Merseyside derby last Saturday, taking his total tally of minutes in the English top-flight to 129 .
Think he's made a really encouraging start, Gravenberch. A player who backs himself, and who I expect to get better and better.#LFC 🔴 https://t.co/WSX5jFvLjs
— Neil Jones (@neiljonesgoal) October 23, 2023
The Dutchman filled Curtis Jones’ boots admirably, completing 97% of his passes (31/32), winning five out of seven ground duels and making three interceptions in a 62-minute showing, according to stats compiled by Sofascore.
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Better than expected from Ryan Gravenberch
We’ve already seen more than a handful of glimpses of what our latest summer signing can offer Jurgen Klopp’s men on the pitch.
To put in a performance that our No.17 would have been pleased with in a game of such significance – even if we did indeed take the fire and blood out of the derby – will have put forth a compelling argument for him to remain in the first-XI even after the aforementioned Englishman’s suspension runs out.
A gentle run of fixtures on the horizon, from the hosting of Nottingham Forest at the end of the month all the way through to a home clash with Brentford in mid-November, means our German tactician shouldn’t feel too nervous about keeping Gravenberch in the side and further boosting his confidence and match fitness levels in the process.
It’s a pretty tough call to make given how reliable Jones has been prior to his accidental misstep at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but boy isn’t it nice to have such selection headaches in midfield again?
#Ep94 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️