Arne Slot must stick with new role for £34m Liverpool player despite recent teething problems - opinion

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Ryan Gravenberch has been a standout player for Liverpool this season despite some poor performances from the side overall.When you look at the recent consecutive defeats in all competitions, one constant force for good in the squad has been the Dutchman, who has been as calm in possession as ever.Arne Slot’s decision last season to transition him into a standard No. 6 was one of his best choices from the Premier League title-winning season because of how much cover he provided in the midfield three.Gravenberch this season has now found himself in a slightly altered role to his one before, which has allowed him to be much more attacking than he previously was.Now, the 23-year-old looks like a more complete player as his all-round game has improved tenfold by this choice from the manager to involve him more in the offensive side of things.Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty ImagesRyan Gravenberch’s statistics show his role is workingIt was an unusual decision at first glance when he started to drift into the attacking areas of the pitch, but it made all the sense in the world when you watched where a player like Dominik Szoboszlai was finding himself on the pitch.There have been teething issues despite his great transition into this role, as the team has looked more open because of the change made, which has at times led to conceding more.While it may be that this is a prominent issue, it has been exacerbated by the defensive setup and individual performances of some of those in the backline.READ MORE: Liverpool have an away trend forming under Arne Slot which should be starting to alarm supportersHowever, when you dive into his statistics this season, it is clearly working as intended and has shown him to be one of our best, most dependable players.At a base level, his goal contributions have been increased from the start of last season already, with three in the Premier League.An area where Liverpool have struggled across the pitch is passing, but he has managed to maintain an 88% passing accuracy despite the problem with the team.It has been especially important when attacking in the opposition half, and there he only drops his percentage of passes by 2%.If you look at his defensive contributions, they may not be as high as last season, but they are still important, as he has an average ball recovery of 4.7 in the opening seven fixtures.He has also been quite strong in his ground duels, winning 65% of them so far in the league.Just based on the eye test, this season, you can see why he is massively important to have on the pitch, no matter the game, and Gravenberch should continue to receive his plaudits for his impeccable form.Liverpool do need to sign an outright No.

6 soonWhat would help him even more to continue this form is for Liverpool to go into the market and find an outright No. 6 to unlock this change of role to its fullest potential.A dream move would be for someone like Adam Wharton, who could work so well alongside Gravenberch to take on more defensive duties and give the squad more control.It would help fix the issues with the team looking open and allow more fluidity for the player.But that is an issue that can be solved next summer, even if the January window is coming up, because Slot does not usually want to sign players in the winter.