Robbie Mustoe felt that Ryan Gravenberch immediately improved Liverpool when he came on during the second-half against Manchester City, insisting that he is a better player than Curtis Jones.
Mustoe was speaking on The 2 Robbies podcast after the Reds left the Etihad Stadium with a share of the points, with Trent Alexander-Arnold finding the bottom corner after the break.
Curtis Jones came in for his first Premier League start since being sent off at Tottenham in September. The 22-year-old would have been hoping to vindicate Jurgen Klopp’s decision by making a real impact against the champions.
Ryan Gravenberch improved Liverpool when he replaced Curtis Jones
Jones had some bright moments and he was always willing to get onto the ball. But his final pass appeared to be a little off at times. And it was hard to imagine that too many Liverpool fans were disappointed when he was replaced by Ryan Gravenberch in the early stages of the second-half.
Liverpool definitely caused problems after the break. In fact, had their final ball been a little better on a few occasions, they may well have won the game.
And Mustoe believes that Gravenberch was central to their improvement following his introduction.
“I thought the biggest moment in this game came at half-time when Jurgen Klopp went to work and he made substitutions that made the team better,” he told The 2 Robbies.
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“Ryan Gravenberch is better than Curtis Jones. I understand maybe in a game like this he wanted Curtis Jones, who’s been around a little bit, he’s only a young player still. Gravenberch made them better.”
International break may have influenced Jurgen Klopp’s thinking
Klopp does have to manage his midfielders particularly well. Liverpool just do not have the depth in the middle of the park, particularly off the back of an international break.
So he may have been wary of throwing Gravenberch in alongside Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai given the travelling the pair would have done.
But Gravenberch has definitely made a bright start to his Liverpool career following his £35 million summer move.
And there are going to be plenty of occasions moving forward when he gets the opportunity to steal the show on the biggest stages.