Pundit says £35m Liverpool player was awful against Fulham
Steve Nicol did not hold back in his criticism of Ryan Gravenberch after Liverpool edged the first-leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final against Fulham on Wednesday.
Liverpool do have the advantage going into the second-leg. But with the tie taking place at Craven Cottage, you could argue that the 2-1 scoreline leaves the contest perfectly poised.
Ryan Gravenberch criticised for display in Liverpool win
Unfortunately, a number of players failed to impress. And speaking on ESPN, Steve Nicol clearly felt that Gravenberch was well below par before he was taken off 11 minutes into the second-half.
“I spoke about Gravenberch before the game, and I thought, quite frankly, he was awful and did absolutely nothing to push Klopp into starting him anytime soon,” he said.
“I haven’t [seen anything since he signed]. I don’t remember any significant difference when he’s on the field. I don’t remember any assists. I certainly don’t remember if he’s got a goal. I don’t remember anything about him. And today, well, he did today what he’s been doing in my opinion, not a lot.”
Midfielder was always going to need time to settle – and still has huge potential
Liverpool fans would have always known that Gravenberch would need time following his £35 million move to Anfield in the summer.
He was arriving off the back of a tough time at Bayern Munich where he really struggled for minutes. He has already got more minutes under his belt in the Premier League this season than he did across the entire Bundesliga campaign last year. And yet, he has still not completed 90 minutes in any competition so far this season.
And it is easy to forget that Gravenberch is still only 21, and does not turn 22 until May. He is little more than a year older than Conor Bradley.
Gravenberch has shown glimpses of his quality for Liverpool. And Jürgen Klopp will remain optimistic that he will come good at some stage.
But clearly, he has some doubters to silence over the coming years.
Jamie Redknapp hails Liverpool ace who caused Fulham ‘so many problems’
Liverpool scored twice in the space of three minutes midway through the second half, and Nunez assisted both.
Jurgen Klopp’s charges had fallen behind in the 19th minute as Fulham’s Andreas Pereira made the most of a Reds defensive error to cut the ball back for Willian.
The former Chelsea and Arsenal man showed some neat footwork to get the better of his markers before slotting at the near post past Caoimhin Kelleher.
However, Liverpool restored parity in the 68th minute as Nunez teed up Curtis Jones, who fired home from the edge of the box via a Tosin Adarabioyo deflection.
Then, just three minutes later, Diogo Jota ran down the left and found Nunez, who stayed onside and pulled the ball back for Cody Gakpo to put Liverpool ahead.
Darwin Nunez continues to shine for Liverpool
As well as assisting both goals, Nunez had the most touches in the opposition box (12), completed the most dribbles (3) and had the joint-highest amount of shots (4), as per OptaJoe.
Redknapp liked what he saw from the 24-year-old, telling Sky Sports: “Darwin Nunez made such a difference for Liverpool. He came on and gave the Fulham centre-backs so many problems.”
It’s good to see Nunez deliver another impressive performance for Liverpool. His efforts helped the Reds into pole position to reach the Carabao Cup final.
Liverpool are next in action on Sunday when they head to Bournemouth in the Premier League. The Carabao Cup semi-final second leg at Fulham takes place next Wednesday.
Middlesbrough lead Chelsea 1-0 in the other semi-final after the first leg.
Cody Gakpo says 20-year-old Liverpool player was ‘class’ against Fulham last night
The Reds were made to work hard by Marco Silva’s side yesterday. Willian gave them the lead in the first half, but goals from Curtis Jones and Gakpo won them the game. Young Bradley, however, was named the Player of the Match.
Cody Gakpo praises Liverpool youngster Conor Bradley
Trent Alexander-Arnold was ruled out of the game yesterday, while Joe Gomez was required to play at left-back with Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas both not fit yet.
That opened the door for young Conor Bradley to start at right-back for Liverpool last night, and the 20-year-old had a very good game.
He worked tirelessly from start to finish, was very good on the ball and showed a lot of quality while defending against Willian as well.
Bradley deserves immense praise for his display, and he showed last night that he has a massive future ahead of him at Liverpool. Even Jurgen Klopp called him ‘exceptional’ after the win (Sky Sports).
After the game, the youngster took to Instagram to celebrate his side’s win. A number of players, including Luis Diaz, Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott showed him some love.
Conor Bradley could help Liverpool unlock Trent Alexander-Arnold
Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold is one of the best right-backs in the world when it comes to his quality on the ball and in attack.
However, there are still question marks over his defending – even though he has improved massively over the last year.
With Conor Bradley now emerging as a fantastic talent, he becomes a concrete option for Liverpool at right-back. That unlocks the door for Jurgen Klopp to deploy Alexander-Arnold in central midfield, which, in our opinion, is his best position.
Liverpool take on Bournemouth after the break and Alexander-Arnold is unlikely to be back fit by then. Bradley could get another opportunity in that game to prove his quality.
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