Rafael van der Vaart believes Arne Slot is bringing out the ‘full potential’ in Ryan Gravenberch after the Liverpool midfielder’s impressive display against Germany on Tuesday evening.
The Netherlands drew 2-2 with Germany in Amsterdam with Tijjani Reijnders and Denzel Dumfries scoring for Ronald Koeman’s side.
Gravenberch, meanwhile, delivered the standout performance at the heart of the Dutch midfield and Van der Vaart feels the 22-year-old has made a drastic improvement during Slot’s short reign at Anfield.
‘I think we have a great midfielder,’ Van der Vaart told NOS.
‘Arne Slot has brought him back to his full potential at Liverpool, and his potential is now fully revealed.
‘Today I thought he was the very, very, very best, certainly in the first hour.’
The highlight of Gravenberch’s performance was a brilliant long-range pass from inside his own half to put Xavi Simons through on goal in the 21st minute.
‘He plays football so easily and passes balls. And then that one pass,’ Van der Vaart said.
‘Those are the most difficult balls to pass in football. He did it fantastically.’
When asked about that pass to Simons after the game, Gravenberch said: ‘That one pass felt perfect. I saw Xavi go, then I thought: if it goes well, it goes well. If it goes wrong, then wrong.
‘You can enjoy that on the pitch. It’s super nice, even when you give a pass like that. And then you hear the crowd. This one felt really perfect.’