After attracting interest since his time at Ajax, Jurgen Klopp, who led Liverpool until last season, came to the rescue of Dutch midfielder Ryan Gravenberch, who was struggling to secure an opportunity at Bayern Munich.
This season, fellow countryman Arne Slot took over as manager, and the midfielder will be used as a defensive midfielder rather than an inside half.
He has played well continuously since the start of the Premier League season and the conversion was so smooth that it seemed as if he had been playing for many years.
The 22-year-old midfielder, who has also played in the ‘number six’ position, noted the difference between then and at Liverpool.
He revealed that under the direction of national team defender Virgil Van Dijk, who provides leadership in the final line, he is now able to concentrate on defence instead of being too much on the front foot.
“I have indeed started playing more defensively,”
“Last year, I went forward more often, but now I have to think more defensively. That change happened quite quickly.”
“I have Virgil behind me to help me. If I go forward too much, he calls me back. ‘Rio, stay here!’ I notice that he has to call less and less often and that I focus more on defending. In attack, I try to read the game. That often works well.”
“The coach called all the players for a talk. After the European Championship he called me to tell him how he saw me. He knew me from my time at Ajax, of course, when he was at AZ and Feyenoord.”
“He told me what position he wanted to use me in and he put me at six. I went into it with an open mind. I played a lot at eight and when I was younger also at six.”
“That helps, but now other things are being asked of me. In the youth I could go forward. Back then there was no Virgil who called me back!”
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Although he is not a player whose strength lies in his fierce tackling and ball-winning, like Japan midfielder Wataru Endo and former Brazil midfielder Fabinho, who shone at the bottom of midfield in the Klopp era, he reads the balance of the game and presses at the right time.
Scenes sometimes occur due to his lack of experience as a defensive midfielder, but overall his performance exceeded expectations and he functioned as one of the best ‘number six’ players in the early part of the season worldwide.
How well he will play in the overcrowded schedule, towards the middle and end of the season…he is ready to make a big leap forward as a player.