Ronald Araújo Is Already Indispensable for Liverpool
Signed on loan from Barcelona under suspicion, the Uruguayan defender has become one of Andoni Iraola's most trusted players after reinventing himself at right-back.
Ronald Araújo was not an obvious fit when Liverpool brought him in on loan from Barcelona this summer, but twelve games into the season he looks like one of the shrewdest additions Andoni Iraola has made.
Liverpool needed the full ninety minutes to see off a resurgent Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday, winning 2-0 at Anfield. Pascal Groß turned Florian Wirtz's shot into his own net and Alexander Isak finished off Bradley Barcola's cross inside the opening 21 minutes, giving the hosts a cushion they then had to defend.
Araújo did much of that defending himself. According to Opta data cited by The Analyst, he had more touches than anyone else on the pitch with 59, won the ball back six times — a tally bettered only by Alexis Mac Allister's seven — and made eight clearances, trailing only Virgil van Dijk's ten at the back for Liverpool.
A block and a header that summed up his season
The clearest image of Araújo's afternoon came in the first half, when he threw himself into a block on a shot from Maxim De Cuyper and then, still on the ground, chose to head the ball away from his opponent rather than wait to get up. It was the kind of moment that spreads quickly online, equal parts admired and wincing, and it captured the all-in approach that has made him a cult figure at Anfield inside a few months.
That clean sheet mattered too. It was Liverpool's first in a home league fixture this season, and Araújo's willingness to put his body on the line, including that header, was central to keeping it intact.
Why Iraola trusts a loan signing so completely
Signing a 27-year-old defender for a single season on loan sat oddly with a club that typically builds for the long term, and Araújo's arrival raised some scepticism at the time. He had captained Barcelona and arrived with substantial experience at the top level, but his previous campaign had been difficult, ending with a red card in a Champions League defeat away to Chelsea.
After that game he stepped away from football to address his mental health. Speaking to The Times, Araújo described it as "a very difficult time," and said: "I felt that what I needed to do was take a step back. I hadn't felt right for a long time, and I wasn't enjoying the thing I love most, which is football." He added that he had to "put my hand up, ask for help and talk not just to the people closest to me, but to professionals as well," rather than try to carry the burden alone.
Observers of his time in La Liga had suggested the physicality of English football might actually suit him, and that has proven accurate. Iraola has rewarded that early adaptation with consistent selection: Araújo is one of only three Liverpool players, alongside Jérémy Jacquet and Mac Allister, to have featured in every one of the club's 12 matches this season.
From Barcelona centre-back to Liverpool's right-back solution
Much of his opportunity has come from a positional switch. At Barcelona he operated almost exclusively as a centre-back, but at Liverpool he has spent 76% of his minutes this season at right-back, a role opened up by Conor Bradley's long-term injury and uncertainty over Jeremie Frimpong's form and fitness.
The move has not blunted Liverpool going forward. Araújo has contributed two goals and an assist in his 12 appearances, with all three involvements coming in the Champions League. He backheeled an assist for Dominik Szoboszlai in a home win over Atlético Madrid, headed in an opener during a 6-3 win at LASK, and scored an equaliser in a 4-3 victory over Villarreal last week.
His attacking instincts were visible again against Brighton. He battled to win the ball, drove to the byline and, after going to ground, got back up to whip in a cross that Wirtz turned into the own goal that opened the scoring. It is that blend of defensive graft and final-third impact that has made him stand out, even on a short-term deal that supporters were initially warned not to get too attached to.
Liverpool's sheet stayed clean, their lead at Anfield held, and Araújo's performance underlined why Iraola has built so much of his defensive plan around a player who, on paper, was never meant to be more than a stopgap.