Liverpool have had many highlights already this season but one of our best players has experienced a drop in form alongside the team as a whole, with Arne Slot explaining why.
Speaking with the press before this weekend’s game, our head coach said: “I think that is partly what it is [that he can’t be nine out of 10 every game].
“There are only a few players in the world that can be a nine or a 10 every single three days.
“If you look at his age, he might, might, might eventually belong to those group of players – those two or three or four that can do this.
“But he’s not there yet, which is completely normal and it depends also on the playing style of the opponent, which we just said.
“If you play Everton or Wolves, that is a completely different game than when you play Villa.
“I liked him yesterday much more than I liked him against Everton, for example.
“It’s not always as simple as the form of a player or how many games did he play, but nine or 10 times that’s the most easy reason to give instead [of] diving into looking at playing style and certain other things.”
It’s a balanced approach on the midfielder who may not have been at his very best in recent weeks but there’s no reason to be too concerned as of yet.
Arne Slot is backing Ryan Gravenberch to get back to his best
We saw the 46-year-old question the temperament of Darwin Nunez in the same press conference, advising him to be more like Wataru Endo.
It seems though that our No.38 does not need to make as much effort to improve his mindset and we already know he has the talents required.
With Martin Keown comparing the 22-year-old to Steven Gerrard, it’s been quite the campaign already.
After such a hectic run of five games in 15 days, we have a more relaxed schedule in March and so this should provide our squad with ample opportunity to rest and prepare for the close of the campaign.
One man who may benefit from this most will be the former Bayern Munich player and let’s hope he can get through the game with Newcastle United and first Manchester City – before thriving again soon.
You can watch Slot’s comments on Gravenberch via Liverpool FC on YouTube:
Join our channel of readers on WhatsApp to get the day’s top stories straight to your mobile
One year on: EOTK’s tribute to Alex South – the former LFC defender who played with Liddell & Paisley
