Why Ryan Gravenberch is ACTUALLY a centre-back

It's been clear since the season started that Liverpool have a defensive crisis that needs immediate attention.

Arne Slot played Jarrell Quansah in the season's opening fixture against Ipswich, although after just 45 minutes of play, Ibrahima Konate was brought on in place of the Englishman.

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Now almost six months on, the sentiment that Konate is Slot's first choice centre-back partner for Virgil Van Dijk continues to ring true, much to the detriment of Quansah's confidence and development.

When they're at their best, the pair are unstoppable in defence, but when they're off their game, Liverpool have a lack of options to call upon. Against Fulham this afternoon, the reality of the situation was bleak.

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Across the team's last four games - Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League, Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final and Everton and Fulham in the Premier League - Liverpool have one win.

By any club' standards, that is disappointing.

And while there are a lot of different reasons behind those results, one common theme can be picked out which lays bare the major flaw in this Liverpool side.

Konate is not at his best and Slot has no that he trusts to come in and do a job for him.

When it became apparent that the Frenchman needed to be taken off, Quansah was left to sit on the bench as Ryan Gravenberch was pivoted into a makeshift centre-back, leaving the team with two main midfielders and a front four.

In isolation, Slot's decision makes sense. His centre-backs are normally on the ball quite a lot and Gravenberch is similar in his profile as a defensive midfielder.

But when context is applied, it's a truly unhinged decision. After all, the Dutchman has played 3605 minutes this season in 42 appearances - an average of 85 minutes per match.

The 22 year-old midfield revelation might well be skilled enough to perform in the role from time to time, but it's hardly a smart move to think of ways where an over-played player is given more minutes, is it?

We all knew that Wataru Endo wasn't favoured as a back-up for Gravenberch in midfield, and likewise, it has been clear all season that Quansah is not favoured at centre-back either, but this nothing short of bizarre.

In addition, the current intel coming from David Ornstein at The Athletic is that Liverpool are not looking at bringing in a defensive midfielder this summer, or that the position is quite far down the shopping list.

Not having a back-up for Gravenberch is inexcusable negligence. We're four years into our search for a No. 6 and now that we've found a promising makeshift solution, we're giving up on finding a specialist.

Furthermore, if Slot's serious in his intention to field the Dutchman in defence more regularly, then we are quite literally playing with fire. At least one centre-back is expected to come through the door this summer, so perhaps the tactic will only be used for the remainder of the season.

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But while Gravenberch might've done well in defence this afternoon, the likelihood that his workload might somehow increase should only really be a concerning outlook rather than anything else.

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