1 year ago
298 Jamie Carragher has admitted to Sky Sports that Liverpool star Cody Gakpo is so much quicker than he ever realised.
The Reds hammered Manchester United 7-0 on Sunday and while there were brilliant performances all over the pitch, Carragher was particularly impressed with Gakpo.
The Dutchman is beginning to find his feet at Anfield after making the £35 million switch from PSV in January.
He’s had to adapt to a new role in Jurgen Klopp’s side as he’s been used as a false nine. The 23-year-old mainly operated on the left-hand side in Holland and Carragher has admitted that he didn’t think he was quick enough to play out wide for Liverpool.
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Carragher says Gakpo is quicker than he thought
Speaking on Monday Night Football, Carragher analysed Liverpool’s emphatic victory over United and highlighted Gakpo’s pace for his second goal of the game.
“This for me was an absolute wow moment on the day. Yes there’s seven goals you can pick out, but this is the man who picks the ball up now, Gakpo. I actually love the composure he shows here with the pass to Salah because he’s getting challenged by Antony, he could play it now but Luke Shaw is blocking the pass,” Carragher said.
“He just waits until that space opens up, then he’s off. But I’ll be honest with you, watching Gakpo I didn’t think he had this [pace]. I thought he’s got to play central, I don’t really see him as a wide player even though it was his role at PSV because I didn’t think he had the pace. But that running power he’s got here was absolutely fantastic. And that finish? I mean that’s world-class.”
“He for me was the big revelation from that game yesterday (Sunday) and may be the signs that there may be a new front three for Liverpool blossoming right now.” the Liverpool legend added.
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Gakpo had failed to find the back of the net in his first four Premier League appearances for Liverpool, but he’s now bagged four in his last five appearances.
The Dutch forward is beginning to produce the form that convinced the Reds to bring him to Anfield in January.
It will be interesting to see if Gakpo continues to play centrally under Klopp, with Darwin Nunez pushed out wide.
Of course, it’s working brilliantly for Liverpool at the moment but it isn’t either player’s favoured position.
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