Interview'Be more of a leader' - Ryan Gravenberch's aims for season four with Liverpool

The midfielder returned to club duty this past weekend by linking up on the USA pre-season tour, after representing the Netherlands at the World Cup.

Three years on from joining the Reds, the No.38 is beginning life under a third different boss, with Andoni Iraola now head coach.

On Monday in Chicago, we caught up with Gravenberch to get his thoughts on a fresh start with Iraola and his objectives for 2026-27.

Read the Q&A below.

Ryan, welcome back. How does it feel to be back with the lads?

It’s nice. Obviously, I haven’t seen them for a while, so it’s nice to see them again. Yeah, I missed them.

It looked like Jeremie [Frimpong] was quite excited to see you yesterday…

Yeah! Because I haven’t seen him for a while. I spoke with him through the phone, FaceTime, but in real life it’s nice to see him again.

Did you manage to get a break over the summer and switch off a bit? Obviously, you had the World Cup, it was an intense season last season. Did you get a bit of downtime to recharge?

Yeah, I think I had three weeks and I spent it well with my family. I enjoyed the holidays. So yeah, I’m recharged now.

At what point do you start thinking about coming back and seeing the lads again and training again? Is there a point in your holiday where you feel like, ‘OK, I want to kind of get back to it now’?

It’s a good question. I think in my whole holiday I haven’t thought about football. I was just spending time with my family because it was a long season, also with the World Cup. So I had in my head, ‘Just let me enjoy my holiday and when I have to come back I will be back.’

You come back and there’s been a few changes. How much are you looking forward to working with the new head coach and his staff?

Yes, I’m really looking forward to it. Just the principles that he has, with the intensity he plays, what he did with his former club – he did a really great job. So, I’m really excited [for] what he will bring to the team.

How impressed were you with what he did at Bournemouth?

I was really impressed. I think they ended up behind us last season. With Bournemouth it’s a really great job. When we played against them it was always a tough game, so I think he did a really good job and hopefully he can do it here as well.

A lot of the lads we’ve spoken to both back at AXA and here in the US have spoken about there being a positive atmosphere around the place. You obviously came in the other day. Have you picked up on that?

Yeah, I think everyone is happy. Everyone is happy to be here. I spoke with a few of the lads and they said the training sessions are really nice. They are intense as well, but really nice. So, yeah, everyone is excited, I think.

What do you think the feeling is among the squad? Because obviously, if we’re honest, last season was disappointing in a lot of ways. Is there a feeling of wanting to put it right this time around?

Yeah, especially after last season, I think we didn’t do a great job, so I think everyone has the feeling inside to show themselves and make it a better season this year.

You’re three years at Liverpool now, it will be your fourth season. You’re still only 24. Do you feel there’s room for you to improve and get better? And is that kind of your ambition for this season?

A hundred per cent. It goes so quickly, hey? My fourth season already. Of course, if I look back to last season, it was not the best season I had as well. And I want to show myself this season more and more. I want to be more of a leader now for the team, I think. So that’s what my aim is this season.

And given it’s a young squad with us here in America, you’re 24 but do you feel like one of the seniors, maybe, given your experience?

I think so. I’m young, but what you said, I’ve played a lot of games, also the highest stage, so maybe I’m one of the more experienced players here.

Just finally, on that note about playing games, how much do you look forward to actually getting the jersey back on, getting out on the pitch and playing in some of the friendlies?

Yeah, really excited. The next friendly is against Wrexham, so we will see, maybe I get a few minutes there and I’m really excited to play again.

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