With Ryan Gravenberch named Man of the Match after Liverpool’s 3-1 win over AC Milan, Arne Slot likened the midfielder to four Dutch legends before him.
Gravenberch continued his early-career revival under Slot with an “outstanding” performance in Tuesday night’s comeback win at the San Siro.
Even with the shock 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend where many teammates struggled, it is fair to say the 22-year-old is yet to perform badly since the new head coach took over.
It comes after a change in role, typically deeper in Liverpool’s midfield, utilising Gravenberch’s composure on the ball, running power and long legs to break up play and move it forwards.
Speaking to Amazon Prime Sport after the game, Slot was asked about his No. 38 and talked up the significance of such a display at the home of AC Milan.
“I think he took the occasion of a stadium where a lot of Dutch players played unbelievable games,” he enthused.
“With Michael van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard, and afterwards someone [next to us, Clarence Seedorf] came over here to do the same things as the other three.
“Ryan played outstanding today. I think he was not the only one who played outstanding, but I can understand why you pick him.”
Slot continued this in his post-match press conference, referencing his interview alongside Seedorf, though he also emphasised the value of the team performance.
“I was standing just a second ago next to Clarence Seedorf,” he told reporters.
“They also talked about Ryan and Cody [Gakpo] and I said it’s a special place for Dutch players to play, because of the former players who played here.
“And to put a performance in like this is always nice as a Liverpool player, and at a venue like this is even nicer.
“You can pick these two but I think I could pick a few others as well that played really well.
“Like always, it’s very difficult for an individual to play well if the whole team doesn’t play well, and vice versa.
“So the team played well and the individuals can shine from there.”
The importance of a collective strength is summed up by Liverpool’s midfield, with Frank Lampard asking Slot about the makeup of his three-man unit for Amazon Prime Sport.
“I think it’s the combination of energy and quality on the ball,” the Dutchman said.
“The most successful team of Liverpool in recent years had three animals or dogs or whatever you want to call it, very hardworking players in the midfield.
“These three work really hard as well and I think, as we say in Dutch, they don’t fight with the ball, that means they’re quite comfortable on the ball.
“That’s what you see as well, because we like to press high, we like to be really aggressive, which we try to do, but we also try to play out from the back and create our chances like this. That’s what they did quite well today.”
