Liverpool midfielder Hrafenberch recently accepted an interview with Stadium Astro and talked about the team's current situation.
How have the tactical changes brought about by the arrival of new players this season affected you, your position and the way you play?
"Is it the team or myself?"
Yourself, how has it affected you?
"To be honest, the impact is not very big, I think we are doing almost the same as last season. Of course, with the new players, it will be a little different because they have to adapt to the tactical style of our existing coach. So it is not that easy for them. But if you look back at last season, I still Playing in the six position. Yes, sometimes if the six position is occupied, I can be more forward, so it is not a big change, but maybe sometimes if another number six player is there, I can be more forward."
I guess the head coach called you before the start of last season to discuss your change in this position. Can you tell us what that conversation was like from your perspective?
"The Euros were going on and when I came back for pre-season last season, I hadn't played pre-season from the start, so he called me and we talked about everything and then he told me he wanted me to try playing at the six position and what he expected from me. Basically when I came back from the Euros and played pre-season in the United States, we discussed the details of their expectations for the six position and that was it."
How did you feel at that time? Are you excited, hesitant, or curious?
"I'm excited because I've played this position at times before. But it's more the defensive part that I need to improve on, and yeah, I did. So I'm excited, really excited, and it's always exciting to have a new coach. So yeah, that's about it."
Do you see yourself fully embracing this new long-term role in the future, or do you still feel like your best position is elsewhere on the field?
"I get asked this question a lot. For me, I just want to play, so it doesn't really matter whether it's the six or eight position. Now I mostly play the six position, which I also like."
You have also played for some big clubs in different European countries, the Netherlands, Germany, and now in England. How do you compare the football culture of each country and each club?
"Good question. I think here at Liverpool what I see is that they live for the club, you know, the fans and everything around them. Basically from our players to the people who work in the canteen, everyone here at Liverpool is like a big family. But there's a lot to do with other clubs like Bayern and Ajax. There are similarities. I think these three are elite clubs with a long history, and also Ajax is like a big family. "
In England there are more songs and they sing your name a lot, is it the same in other countries?
"No, I can tell you that in Munich they sang it too, sometimes it felt like 90 minutes. They made a lot of noise there too and I probably couldn't understand the language, I think that's why."
You've played under some big-name coaches, what's one piece of advice that any of them gave you that has stuck with you to this day?
"You may not know this coach, but he was my coach at Ajax U17. At that time, I often played based on talent, and everything went smoothly. Going up, I never encountered setbacks, so I was really relying on my talent to play, but he said to me that I still have to work very hard, because one day the talent will not be enough, so to this day, this sentence has always been in my mind, you can have a lot of talent, but you have to work very hard."
Do you still keep in touch?
“Yeah, I still have his number, so we’ll be in touch sometimes.”
Who among your current Liverpool team-mates surprises you the most?
"Maybe I'd have to pick Salah because in terms of what he does to stay fit. He's also one of the first ones at the training ground, going to the gym first."
It's a bit of a difficult time for the club at the moment, but if you could point to one thing that Liverpool must do better immediately to turn things around, what would it be?
"I think obviously winning the game."
When you guys discuss it in training, what's the focus right now? Is it about tactics? Is it the mentality? Is it about regaining your confidence?
"No, it's basically what we did last season and we want to improve on that. Of course, it doesn't feel good to lose, I think it's been five losses now, but I think we have to stick to the basics and get back to what we're familiar with and improve from there, you know, if you do that, the winning days will come back."