It wasn’t all that long ago Ronald Araujo was Barcelona’s most important defender, a player you couldn’t have pried away from the Catalan giants at any price. Shortly after Araujo was given a lucrative new contract and the captaincy, though, things all rather fell apart.
Whether it boiled down to manager Hansi Flick’s system, the player being unable to cope with being asked not just to defend but to become the leader and main organizer of the defence, or a player getting caught in a spiral of negativity
and fan criticism the result was the same.
Araujo wanted out and Barcelona and Flick didn’t see value in keeping him around, especially given his high wages. Liverpool then unexpected came calling, and the player took a pay cut to get a loan deal done—one with an option to buy that’s starting to look very tempting.
“He has done very well,” Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola said following Araujo’s player of the match performance against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday evening. “Very well. The other day against Ipswich Town and now today even better.
“He is defending his side of the pitch very well, and sometimes maybe we underestimate his attacking. Today he provided a great assist. I’m very happy with him. He has come here wanting to show he is at this level, so I hope we can keep him there because he’s in a lovely place.”
Araujo’s performance covering right back for the Reds drew attention in particular for two first half moments, first running the length of the pitch to put pressure on the ball as it went back to the goalkeeper, a show of effort much appreciated by the Kop. And then the assist.
You know. The assist. The one where he found himself in the attacking box and played a back-heel one-two with Dominik Szoboszlai in the penalty area to set up the Hungarian for Liverpool’s first goal of the night. It was an assist Roberto Firmino would have been proud of.
The fans loved it, too, naturally, and even if right back isn’t considered Araujo’s primary position, it’s not a role he’s unfamiliar with. On the evidence of Ipswich and now Atletico Madrid, he might even be the best option for the position the club has for the role this season.
