Liverpool news: Ryan Gravenberch slammed as Reds told to raid rivals for replacement

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Arne Slot faces one of the most important weeks of his reign as he looks to get Liverpool ’s ailing title defence back on track. The Reds boss has plenty to ponder ahead of next Saturday’s home clash with Nottingham Forest after his international stars return to the club.

The 3-0 defeat to Manchester City left Slot’s side eighth in the table, eight points off leaders Arsenal after five defeats in just 11 games, more than they lost in the whole of last season.

Slot must find out how to get a tune out of his expensive squad to silence the critics and stop his side falling away from the Champions League spots, not just the title race. Mirror Football brings you some key news lines from Anfield…

Liverpool have been told raid raid Tottenham Hotspur for Virgil van Dijk’s long-term replacement.

The 34-year-old, who penned a new two-year contract earlier this year, is coming towards the end of his career and the Reds will ideally want to fill that void before the Dutchman departs. According to former Chelsea defender Khalid Boulahrouz, they should mount a bid for impressive Spurs centre-back and international team-mate Micky van de Ven, who is a decade younger than Van Dijk.

“I think he’s the ideal successor to Virgil van Dijk, both for the Dutch national team and Liverpool,” Boulahrouz told ESPN NL .

“The question is, of course, what Virgil will do after the World Cup. When you’ve been playing in the Premier League for years, your body has taken a beating. You might start longing to take it a bit easier.

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“And Liverpool is not crazy: if you’re looking for a world-class left defender and you have enough money, you’ll quickly end up with Van de Ven.

“The same goes for the Dutch national team. I think [Ronald] Koeman has long since realised that Van Dijk’s successor is already there.”

In a verdict that won’t strike a chord with anyone at Liverpool, Ryan Gravenberch has controversially been branded “lazy” while on international duty.

The midfielder is on course to be at next year’s World Cup with the Netherlands, who missed the chance to cement qualification with a group game to spare as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Poland on Friday. The lazy accusation came from former Nottingham Forest and Celtic striker Pierre van Hooijdonk, who criticised him for not tracking runners.

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“It’s laziness, because you think the ball won’t fall there anyway,” he said on NOS via Voetbal International as he watched clips of Gravenberch. “When you have a lot of possession against those kinds of teams, you actually have a false sense of dominance.”

Despite the result, it would take a miracle for the Netherlands not to top Group G and seal automatic qualification. With one game left, against Lithuania on Monday, the Dutch are three points clear of Poland, whose goal difference is vastly inferior ahead of their group finale in Malta.

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