Grav’s strength is on the turn and breaking lines. Further forward negates that a fair bit.
It is the opposite. As an 8 he can play on the half turn and roll opponents. He can do that because he has a 6 plus the two centrebacks behind him. As a 6 the centrebacks split especially from goal kicks meaning he has to play square on with his back to goal to protect the ball.
We very rarely play the ball into him when we are pressed high up the pitch early in the game so his ability to turn and drive is completely negated. When he is allowed the freedom to play on the half turn and drive is in the second half when the game opens up and Trent inverts which gives him the freedom to duck and then drive.
The biggest issue is like tonight when the opposition don't press but drop into a mid block. Second half we passed Villa to death but it was constantly outside of their shape. VVD made 117 passes and Grav made 55 with the majority of them being in the first half. We were crying out for an 8 to demand the ball.
The perfect example was Baleba for Brighton because he pushed on and demanded the ball inside City's shape. City couldn't cope with him so they lost their shape, First half they sat in a mid block with Haaland and Foden making half hearted presses. That mean when the press was beaten they still had two banks of four. Brighton had a wide open passing shape to play out from the back but City refused to engage.
Baleba changed that because he pushed up into City's shape and demanded the ball. Second half we had no one doing that. So we made 20-30 passes with no penetration and then VVD swatted it out of play. Players like Gravenberch and Baleba give you penetration when they play inside the opposition shape.
Players who can do that are like gold dust. City couldn't go 1v1 with Baleba because they knew he could do a Grav and beat his man and break the lines. So they ended up losing their shape and pressing with more players to stop the Baleba 1v1. That allowed Brighton to pass around them. City went from a passive 4-4-2 that engaged when they outnumbered Brighton to a ragged press trying to put out fires.
That is why Grav is a wasted as the deepest midfield player. The six is the player who passes into the press breaker. The 8 is the player who breaks the line. When you think of it in those terms then it is pretty obvious why you want Grav higher up the pitch.
