Former Liverpool midfielder Boudewijn Zenden has backed Ryan Gravenberch to be a success at Anfield, once he’s been allowed to acclimatise to life in the Premier League.
The Dutchman has been speaking to Soccer News about his former club and Gravenberch’s apparent initial struggles since a move from Bayern Munich in the summer.
The 21-year-old has had a slow start to life at the club since then, with Jurgen Klopp taking the slow and steady approach to his initiation into the team.
There’s been questions given he moved to Liverpool from Bayern Munich over a lack of playing time at the German giants, and doubts over whether he’d be able to replicate the level of his earlier years.
The key question is what role he will play in Liverpool’s new look midfield, but Zenden believes he’ll be fine eventually.
“I generally think that all players who come new to the Premier League actually need time to acclimatise,” he said.
“The way of playing is different than in other competitions. The number of matches with the intensity that they’re played at (is difficult).
“Is he going to play a more conservative role, one with more freedom going forward as the defensive midfielder is usually Mac Allister. So yeah, Gravenberch is of course a player who comes with the Ajax DNA who wants to shift and appear in spaces.”
While Gravenberch is pushing to get into the first team, there are several current stars facing questions about the level of their performances.
Virgil van Dijk is one of those, with some questioning whether he remains at the level he once hit, that had some establishing him as the best defender in the world.
He’s not been hitting those heights so far, with several disappointing performances and mistakes leading to doubts about him.
Zenden, though, insists that those are unfair as the Liverpool defender is still coming back from a major injury, an experience he knows well.
“Look, that expectation of Van Dijk is of course based on what he has done in the past with Liverpool,” he added.
“What needs to be taken into account is that he had a significant injury and that kept him sidelined for a long time. I have experience of that, needing nine months to recover and I can say you need another nine months to fully reach your own level.
“Once you have done that, then it is true that rhythm comes. After his first injury he had a second injury, and you can’t see that separately although it is completely different. It just takes some time to fully reach your own level.”
