When Arne Slot arrived at Liverpool, he came with a reputation for getting the most out of the resources at his disposal. But few would have expected him to have such an impact.
Shifting Cody Gakpo back into his best position has done wonders for his productivity in the final third while building the team to funnel the ball to Mohamed Salah as often as possible is yielding the Egyptian's most prolific campaign. Ryan Gravenberch, meanwhile, has come alive as a number six when he spent the previous two years wondering how he could get a regular run.
Gravenberch, though, has become so good that he might be becoming a problem. To put it simply, Liverpool doesn't know how to give him a rest — or at least hasn't shown itself to be capable so far.
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So far this season, Gravenberch has played 2995 minutes in all competitions. He has been given just 110 minutes off in the Premier League across the campaign as a whole, starting every single match in the top flight. In Europe, he only didn't start against PSV.
Gravenberch has already played more than 1000 more minutes this season than he did in the whole of his debut campaign under Jurgen Klopp and there are still months remaining. However, it could be argued that his heavy schedule is starting to show.
Aside from a couple of Eredivisie seasons, which are far less demanding, the 22-year-old has never been this central. We are now entering unprecedented territory and his form, as Slot admitted during his pre-Manchester City press conference, has begun to drop off.
Understudy Wataru Endo has not started a single game in the Premier League this season, only coming on for a total of 99 minutes across 11 substitute appearances. His only European start under Slot came in the dead rubber against PSV on matchday eight — the reverse of Gravenberch, as it were.
Liverpool tried to sign Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad last summer, with the player ultimately rejecting the opportunity to make the transfer. But that kind of move, which would have cost around $63 million (£51m/€60m) because of his release clause, is essential when this season ends.
Endo, as much as he can be useful and Slot has praised his ability to drop into the side as and when required without much notice, is not stylistically suited to the way that Liverpool wants to play. It is for that reason that Slot has barely used him in comparison to Gravenberch, even when the number one choice has looked in need of a break.
The drop-off from Gravenberch to Endo is simply too large. But if Liverpool continues to play the former into the ground, at some point he is going to get injured or see a drop in form — something you could argue has already begun.
Liverpool might not face many runs as emotionally and physically draining as Everton (A), Wolves (H), Aston Villa (A), Manchester City (A) and Newcastle United (H) inside the space of 15 days, but only three-fifths of the way through that period, Gravenberch looks like he could do with a reset.
Nonetheless, it would be a shock not to see him on the teamsheet at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. And there will be more big weeks to come, especially as the Champions League knockout phase gets properly underway.
From now until the end of the season — still with just under a third of a league season to go — Liverpool will have to make do with what it has, either by trusting Endo more often or praying that Gravenberch can cope. But in the summer, an alternative to help him out should be as big a priority as finding upgrades at left-back and number nine.
