Liverpool's most improved player of 2024: Arne Slot has a SPECIAL one

Liverpool's 2024 has been long and tumultuous.

From falling away in a title race during the 2023-24 season to leading the way in what can barely be considered a title race in the 2024-25 season so far, as the Reds lead the way by six points with a game in hand, the club has been through a lot.

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Jurgen Klopp announced his retirement, the Reds' squad depth brought another EFL Cup back to Merseyside, Arne Slot took over the reins at the club sparking the start of a new era for Liverpool, and the club is set for a record-breaking campaign in the Dutchman's maiden season at the club.

The squad has changed very little in terms of personnel across the two seasons, and while a number of players have stood out across 2024, one in particular has risen astronomically in the last 12 months.

As part of Anfield Watch's look back on the team throughout the year, we have identified the most improved player in the team to be Ryan Gravenberch, whose current role is paramount to the side's success on the pitch.

An unknown quantity under Jurgen Klopp

When he arrived in the Premier League at the start of the 2023/24 season, Gravenberch was a player in need of an opportunity to reinvigorate his career, after failing to make an impression in the Bundesliga at Bayern Munich.

The manager at the time Thomas Tuchel had no real use for the Dutchman and Liverpool decided to take the plunge on the 21-year-old as part of their midfield rebuild under sporting director Jorge Schmadtke.

He arrived on Merseyside for £34m, alongside Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Wataru Endo.

However, his role in Liverpool's set-up was not entirely clear, as the latter three recruits automatically became Liverpool's best midfield three players.

As such, when 2024 rolled around, Gravenberch was halfway into his first year at the club, with very few minutes to his name.

Throughout January and February, he made a number of appearances, but his involvement in the side was the result of the team's injury crisis.

Both Mac Allister and Endo were considered the ideal players for the defensive midfield role, meanwhile, the two No8s in the side were a combination of Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott and Szoboszlai.

Across the entire 2023/24 season, Gravenberch has 1,839 minutes under his belt for Liverpool, which equates to just over 20 games. Not great for a player in a position that the club had rebuilt over the summer.

It was clear that Jurgen Klopp did not know how best to utilise his skillset and fans were already on the verge of considering him to be a failed transfer after just one season. After all, if Klopp couldn't get the best out of him, then who could?

A player reborn under Arne Slot

Perhaps directly as a result of Liverpool's failed pursuit of Martin Zubimendi in defensive midfield, Gravenberch was given a fresh opportunity under Slot.

The team needed a new DM and through working hard in training, Slot decided that the Dutchman's skillset could be utilised best in a deep-lying hybrid role if the team could implement a double-pivot system using one of the No8s.

As a result, Trent Alexander-Arnold's inverted right-back experiment was abandoned, as the England international was tasked with a more defensively sound approach, and Gravenberch's defensive awareness and ability on the ball could be given the necessary control required for Slot's possession-based approach.

Having been given the necessary support to play his natural game without fear of being dropped straight away, Gravenberch quickly developed his game and the team's number one area for improvement was suddenly fixed with a tactical tweak, utilising a player that the club already had but didn't know how to use.

His fitness has been paramount to his extended run in the team, but in truth, he's made himself undroppable by hardly making a mistake when he's on the field.

Fans and pundits around the world marvel at the confidence and composure that he plays with on the ball and at just 22 years old, the club's risky move to bring him to Merseyside feels like one of the great strokes of genius in the transfer market, uncovering a hidden gem in European football, just waiting for a manager to understand who he is as a player.

Arne Slot has played him in almost every game that he has been available for, notching up 2,044 minutes already this campaign in both the Premier League and the Champions League, and while the club continues to be linked to Zubimendi, some believe Liverpool are better to stand firm with Gravenberch and promote a youthful talent to ensure his workload is managed.

As such, the funds earmarked for a defensive midfielder could be better spent on resolving the club's ongoing contract saga regarding Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Trent.

To have come from feeling like a spare part under Klopp to thriving under Slot as one of the team's most important players, Liverpool's most improved player could be none other than Gravenberch.

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