Arne Slot reserved special praise for one Liverpool star (Picture: Getty)
Arne Slot hailed the ‘outstanding’ performance of Ryan Gravenberch after Liverpool cruised to a comfortable 2-0 Champions League win against Bologna.
Goals either side of half-time from Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah saw the Reds make it two wins from two in Europe.
Other than a brief spell before the interval, Liverpool controlled the game in front of their home fans, with Gravenberch, in particular, continuing his fine start to the season with an all-action display in the middle of the park.
And Slot was equally keen to praise the midfielder’s performance at full-time, telling TNT Sports: ‘I was delighted with him.
‘I don’t say that to players at half-time because there are still 45 minutes to go but after the game, I said: “Again, a big performance.” He played really well.
‘If you have a player who can turn away from his man, you immediately have an overload in a game like this. Ryan was, again, outstanding today.’
Despite Gravenberch’s display, Slot still said his side had elements of their performance that could be improved upon.
Ryan Gravenberch was a commanding presence in Liverpool’s midfield (Picture: Getty)
‘Not many things delighted me, apart from both goals, especially the second one,’ Slott said.
‘[The second was] a great ball from Virgil [Van Dijk], great attack, great run from Trent Alexander-Arnold. It is always difficult to play a team that takes that much risk.
‘Overall a good result but I wouldn’t use the world delighted myself today.’
The result, however, does mean Slot has won eight of his first nine games in charge, a first for any new Liverpool boss.
‘It’s hardly possible to do something special at this club so it says a lot about how we started how players bought into it, the effort put in, and the staff helped me,’ he added.
‘Even more difficult fixtures coming up starting on Saturday when we play a 12:30 kick-off after a Wednesday evening Champions League game. It’s nice to start this way, that’s clear.’
Liverpool return to action in the Premier League on Saturday when they travel to face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
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