Who is Ryan Gravenberch?:
Developed at the institution whose foundations were inspired and built by Johan Cruyff, Ryan Gravenberch came as a rather exciting individual who grew himself in the Ajax academy. Joining the club in the year 2010, Amsterdam has been his long home for nearly the past 11 years and over this time Gravenberch has transformed himself into a lethal midfielder with keen versatility in all areas over the middle. For one thing Ajax is a remarkable and renowned footballing entity and Ryan Gravenberch is the youngest player to play for the Dutch giants in its stretching history, making his debut aged 16 years, 4 months and 7 days surpassing and breaking the legend Clarence Seedorf’s record all this time.
Currently, at 19 years of age Ryan has made 47 appearances for Ajax with nearly above 3,000 minutes which highlights his importance in this current side that secured the league title. Let us discover his style of play!
Style of play:
Standing tall at 1.9m with exquisite dribbling and take on ability, Ryan Gravenberch has drawn comparisons to World Cup winner, Paul Pogba. The dutch professional is similarly aesthetic to the Frenchman with him also playing a similar position which is off the left side of a midfield three, the comparisons are most likely accurate. However his best attributes and traits are rather different. When we compare both profiles we affirm that Paul Pogba although has a unique arsenal, still prefers the most offensive areas of the field preferably the half-spaces, between the lines where he runs his magic. Gravenberch on the other hand specializes operation within the more deep areas of the field. In most cases he has played his games as a semi-8 midfielder with hybrid responsibilities which consists of mainly helping the ball proceed vertically up the field, covering the spaces and breaking play through his distinctive reading ability along with a small load of creation resting on his shoulder which is an aspect he is slowly improving game by game.
Gravenberch possesses phenomenal ball control and dribbling prowess through which he can cover long distances with the ball without causing a turnover therefore helping his team getting the ball upfield. Despite being just 19, he has a wide array of skills and maturity is evident in his style of play as he can easily beat pressure through impressive scanning and vision. Rare for age, Gravenberch can also receive on the half-turn in a very refined fashion. All these qualities enable him to play in a double pivot or a defensive midfielder as well. Below is the player report:
Defending ability:
Quite prominently in the scouting report above we can witness Ryan Gravenberch’s eye catching defensive actions. As mentioned Ryan has a fair responsibility to break down play and protect his back-line by shielding them and covering spaces. Therefore, just as it happens his positional discipline is near a great level as well with certified aggression and the idea present over when to commit or not. He is also very tall and can fight off midfielders for the ball using his strength. Being tall at 1.9m most definitely gives him an advantage in the air with him averaging 2.31 engagements in aerial duels per 90 with a 66.36% success rate which is yet again impressive. His strong nature can be elaborated as well given that he wins 63.67% of his defensive duels with 6.72 duels attempted every game defining his proactive nature and curiousness to win the ball. Whether it is holding off his position or pressing the man, Gravenberch is well equipped with smartness and positional sense to take the right decision.
Above we can see as to how he excels in winning defensive challenges with superior numbers when compared to other top midfielders in Europe.
Greatest skill, from defending to attacking:
So far we have discovered the many couple abilities that Gravenberch excels in such as his strong defensive nature along with his role in the team where he is responsible of most of the vertical proceeding up the field. Now we shall move into detailed analysis and explore that regard as to how Gravenberch is a master of converting defence into offensive. In the scout report profile above we saw his amazing progressive numbers which is also his greatest skill, converting play from defending to attacking.
Football conversations are tactical and complexed. Verticality is however the essence of on-field actions as to win matches we need to score goals and to score goals we need to move the ball forward. The Dutchman has the best ball progression numbers in the world with remarkable speciality to shift the ball from the first phase of play to the second and then the second phase to the third. They are many great ball progressive players in the world who are equipped in one of the two ways to get the ball upfield which are:
1. Progressive passes
2. Progressive runs/carry
Just as it happens Gravenberch is an expert at both regards with 9.45 progressive passes and 30.0 progressive runs per 90 minutes.
We have mentioned his dribbling ability and ball comfort before which allow him to sprint with the ball and carry it vertically to the offensive areas of the field in the final third. Add his vicious passing from deep where he breaks lines and finds his forwards in the middle we come to the conclusion that magic of Gravenberch is staggering.
Below are the metric radars of Gravenberch and recent treble winner with Bayern Munich, Leon Goretzka. We discover how both compare
Transition phases and passing:
We have mentioned in this piece before as to how to Ryan Gravenberch has the unique ability to transfer the ball from the first phase of play to second phase, and then from the second to third using his unique passing. 76.77% of his passes are forward which again represent his vertical and forward thinking nature. He can transition from the first phase to the second through passing or carrying through his dribbles into tight spaces with his close touch control along with resisting pressure from the opposition.
Coming towards passing, as we have mentioned before that he plays 9.45 progressive passes per 90 along with more than 8.2 final third passes per game. These passing metrics exceed the likes of Fred, Kovavic and Frenkie De Jong, players who are referred as immense ball progressors.
Analysis Video to be inserted here
Attacking ability:
The advanced metrics suggest that Ryan Gravenberch is a midfield player that can transfer play from defending to attacking very quickly. This forward thinking mentally make him a very strong attacking player who would try his best to get play into the final third and would also try to create play through final balls.
Being a player who operates into the deeper zones of the field he has an impressive xA per 90 of 0.10 along with 0.28 key passes per 90. These numbers will increase further in this career however some statistics are still eye catching such as 1.12 smart passes per 90.
Although he still is averaging more than 3.5 passes to the penalty area per game which elaborate that he is already a developing attacking outlet with his incredible technical ability shadowing his head.
Comparison to other midfielders from Europe:
As we have mentioned before Ryan Gravenberch’s elite nature is derived from his completeness and specialization in all aspects as a midfield player. He has several qualities that make him one of the best in the world such as being defensively secure along with being a world class on ball player with remarkable passing. His ability to break lines through threaders says a lot about him but what’s surprising is that he’s not only a passer but a great carrier as well with 9.45 progressive runs per 90. The ability to be a dual ball progresser is immense that too at such a very young age. Add his press resistance and the usual habit to receive on the half-turn, we conclude that Ryan Gravenberch is a very refined midfield player. More data and player comparisons radars are present on our detailed Scouting Report for Ryan Gravenberch!
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Why Gravenberch needs to start in the National team this summer:
Ryan Gravenberch is a very strong profile to have in your squad and Dutch manager Frank De Boer needs to find a way to adjust the team for him as the 19 year old has the quality to help his nation proceed further into the tournament. Holland have a couple decent options in midfield within the less advanced role in Frenkie De Jong, Gini Wjinaldum and Klaassen but the only undisputed starter here is De Jong. The system and structure that will be deployed will play a major role and it will most likely be a 4-2-3-1 where Gravenberch needs to start on the left side of the pivot. Frenkie De Jong can take care of the first phase in buildup while Gravenberch’s astounding deep runs and carrying will help them from securing territory quite high upfield. The 19 year old is the best left sided midfield option that Netherlands have and it would be appropriate if they would use a player of immense quality
Conclusion:
It is only a matter of time till Ryan Gravenberch grabs foreign attention with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United etc drooling over the generational midfield player with talent scouts writing praise-full reports on him. Ridiculously the 19 year old will make any of these teams better even as of now as he adds defensive solidarity along with stunning deep progression through passes and runs. Being a quality dribbler helps him beat pressure which will help these teams in Europe against tough pressing oppositions. He is already good enough to make a difference and is far from fully growing as a player so he will most likely get even more better.
