Alan Shearer was full of praise for one Liverpool player who helped his nation to victory in the World Cup on Saturday.
Having been held to a 2-2 draw by Japan in their opening Group F match, Netherlands took a giant stride towards the knockout rounds by thumping Sweden 5-1 in Houston, with Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo both netting twice for the Dutch.
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The Reds winger was unsurprisingly lauded by Daniel Sturridge for those exploits, but he wasn’t the only LFC player in orange to have his contributions recognised.
Shearer praises Gravenberch in emphatic Dutch win
Speaking in co-commentary for BBC Sport (via Anfield Edition), Shearer highlighted the relentless work rate of Ryan Gravenberch in the Netherlands midfield as they put their Scandinavian opponents to the sword.
The ex-Newcastle striker said of Liverpool’s number 38: “He’s been everywhere. He’s epitomised everything good about the Dutch in midfield.”
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Gravenberch was quietly brilliant for Netherlands on Saturday
It wasn’t just Shearer who heaped praise upon the performance of Gravenberch in the Oranje’s emphatic win.
Johan Inan of Algemeen Dagblaad rated him at 7/10 and hailed him as ‘unstoppable’, while Mark Doyle of GOAL awarded him 8/10 as he ‘continued to play with great confidence and quality for the entirety of the 90 minutes’, despite ‘the odd stray pass’.
There weren’t too many of those from the 24-year-old, with figures from Sofascore highlighting how tidy he was in possession and how much work he got through off the ball.
| Passes completed | 26/29 (90%) |
| Duels won | 4 |
| Tackles won | 3 |
| Interceptions | 3 |
Gravenberch may have been the subject of peculiar criticism from Netherlands head coach Ronald Koeman in recent months, but the former Everton boss will surely have been very pleased with the Liverpool midfielder’s efforts against Sweden yesterday.
Brobbey and Gakpo understandably garnered most of the headlines from the Oranje’s romp in Houston, but the Reds’ number 38 also played an important role for his team, as Shearer and plenty others rightly recognised.
Holland will take some beating, they have pace, physicality and are good on the counter attack.
Van dijk for all his critics keeps getting goals, so does Gakpo.
One position every Liverpool fan would agree that needs strengthening is wingers. Another player for Holland is summerville , who’s also got two goals.
Is Munoz a better signing than summerville?
Gakpo is better than Munoz.
You live and die with the players you buy.