A guy called Johan was the inventor of the most iconic signature move in football, but now the Cruyff Turn might have a modern rival.
Ryan Gravenberch is not the great Johan Cruyff, but the skilful, press-resistant midfielder whose superb form has taken Liverpool to the top of the Premier League, has developed a similarly eye-catching move to his fellow Dutchman which has transformed the way Liverpool build play through midfield.
The sequence — dubbed by many supporters online as the “Gravenberch Turn” — is straightforward enough. It involves a signal that he is about to move forward to collect the oncoming pass, but what he’s actually doing is disguising his movement. In a split second, Gravenberch then arches his back, spreads his legs to act as a shield, before rapidly turning out of trouble.
Even Liverpool’s head coach, Arne Slot, has pinpointed the importance of Gravenberch’s patented move, telling UK broadcaster TNT Sports after last week’s Champions League win against Italian visitors Bologna that “if you have a player who can turn away from his man so well, then you immediately have an overload”.
It is something Liverpool work on mastering in training.
Gravenberch’s presence in the No 6 position — the standout change under Slot since he took over from Jurgen Klopp in the summer — has helped Liverpool redefine their playing style, although it is not a new trick.
The now 22-year-old used it on many occasions at previous clubs Ajax and Bayern Munich, especially when he was playing with confidence.
Here’s a teenage Gravenberch playing for Ajax against PSV Eindhoven in January 2021, receiving the ball in a deep area with his back to goal before using the ‘turn’ to quickly change direction.
Sometimes he doesn’t even need to actually touch the ball. Gravenberch is so quick on his feet that the positioning of his body does it all for him.
Look at how he sent midfielder Adam Wharton tumbling during the win against Crystal Palace at the weekend in a virtual re-run of the passage of play broken down above in an Ajax shirt almost four years ago.
This time, he is receiving a pass from Andy Robertson, again with his back to goal and in the space between the opposition’s attack and midfield.
He crouches low to the ground in such a way that it mimics the movement he would make if he was going to control the ball, and that’s enough to sell Wharton the dummy. Then, in a flash, he is spinning away, taking a defensive player out of the game and looking to set one of Liverpool’s forward players on a run.
It is a perfectly choreographed move, albeit a high-risk one because if it goes wrong then Liverpool would be facing a turnover of possession in their own half, and be suddenly on the back foot. So far, however, Gravenberch has been smart enough to know when to use it and when to be more conservative in his approach.
The fact he is doing it almost every game shows how much belief he has in himself under Slot.
Here is another example from the Bologna match, again receiving with his back to goal and spinning away without actually touching the ball.
This was Gravenberch doing it a little higher up the pitch against Manchester United during the 3-0 win at Old Trafford early last month where he excelled, ironically against his former Ajax coach Erik ten Hag. He won seven duels on the day and showed in a tough away match that, at 22, he is capable of handling the high-pressure moments.
And here he is on the opening weekend of the season against Ipswich Town, following a similar pattern where he receives the ball and comfortably spins away to create an overload.
It is so hard to predict because of the speed of his feet and the flexibility of his body, which is why the action is now named after him. Every player with a signature move, whether it was Cruyff, Zinedine Zidane with the ‘Marseille Roulette’ or Jay-Jay Okocha and his reverse stopover, had the same thing in common: incredible balance and poise.
For Slot, the greatest satisfaction must stem from Gravenberch mixing these moments of creative flair with defensive discipline. The Netherlands international has made the third-most interceptions (12) and recoveries (42) in the Premier League this season — all of which makes the fact that Liverpool were trying to sign Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad this summer to play in his position all the more remarkable.
Aside from his trademark turn, there are other versions that help Gravenberch get out of tight spaces, like this one below, also against Palace.
On this occasion, he receives the ball, opens up his body and wriggles away.
His agility and the ease with which he glides past opponents and moves into open spaces make him particularly pleasing to the eye. He anticipates movements that others cannot see and with Slot encouraging high-tempo football and with his midfielders afforded the freedom to build from deeper positions, Gravenberch now looks the part in his holding role.
Having a signature move named after him is the ultimate reward but as Liverpool’s captain and fellow Dutchman Virgil van Dijk said to reporters after the recent win over Wolverhampton Wanderers: “He has special qualities and he’s doing a great job. Now he has to stay fit, keep going, stay grounded and not listen to the praise too much.”
(Top photo: Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
