It is believed that the capacity of a team to win titles is greatly related to the quality of the deepest midfielder in a team's setup, who's fundamentally tasked to win possession and start an attack. Think of Rodri and Rice for Man City and Arsenal respectively, they're both of top class individual quality all-round, and they're aided by their team's system to consistently perform their roles. Liverpool need something like that.
Arsenal and Man City's setup emphasises on dominance across all phases of play and so would want to have a midfielder who excels in all phases of play. Declan Rice and Rodri Hernandez were the only desired profiles and both clubs went through all lengths to get them. Slot's Liverpool meanwhile emphasises on excellence in the build-up phase whereas Klopp's Liverpool emphasised on excellence in the final phase. That's why there's a difference in selection of the players that are positioned as the No.6 in their setups; Gravenberch—who's better at receiving from the centre backs and turning under pressure—in Slot's system, and Mac Allister—who helped sustained pressure with his influx of vertical passing—at Klopp's system.
Slot explains this idea properly when addressing the media regarding Gravenberch's capacity to play the No.6 role. In his own words:
"He brings certain qualities that we like in that position. If the other 10 had been shit at Ipswich he wouldn't have been able to play such a good game."
Liverpool targeted Martin Zubimendi earlier in August, as it feels the club doesn't see Ryan Gravenberch as the required quality from an individual standpoint.
Zubimendi would've been the perfect No.6 for Slot because;
He could receive and turn under pressure as well as the Dutchman
He could also dictate play and navigate his way through opposition defensive blocks from deep.
Unfortunately, Zubimendi didn't want to leave home, and the club didn't pressure Real Sociedad enough to release the Spaniard from his boyhood club.
Though Gravenberch hasn't placed a foot wrong when Liverpool hold possession, there are still doubts whether he can cope when the ball isn't at Liverpool's court. There's a great belief that a midfielder who's solid defensively, even if it is to partner Gravenberch, is crucial to sustaining a title race, but by how much does said player affect the implementation of Arne Slot's system?
Slot involves six players in his narrow build-up structure. Robertson isn't proficient enough in build-up, having another player who can't support build-up would force a lot of incomplete buildup actions eg. balls played long without purpose, and would result in going direct more frequently cos Gravenberch doesn't have the required understanding of tempo. This leads to system breakdown, then the solutions to the team's problems become more unclear.
Stefan Bajcetic isn't too different from Gravenberch in what he offers in the No.6 role. He's superior to Gravenberch in back-to-goal reception, making him a more viable option to start in that position in future, but unlike Gravenberch, he's not as adept at receiving between lines, so can't play the supplementary midfield role (double-6).
This is Arne Slot's first season. Liverpool need to prioritise the players that hold the head coach's system together first before signing players that support the system. If they're diving into the market for a 6, then they should have Zubimendi's profile in mind so that they can sign that defensive-minded midfielder to pair with him without complications.
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