9 months ago
137 Jurgen Klopp has suggested he has been playing Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo in the wrong position this season.
Cody Gakpo has endured a frustrating campaign at Anfield so far after impressing during the second half of last season.
The Dutchman was snapped up for a fee worth around £35 million from PSV back in January last year and he hit the ground running for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
But with the likes of Darwin Nunez making huge improvements this season, the forward has struggled to nail down a place in the Liverpool side this time around.
Klopp has even used Gakpo in midfield seven times in the league this term. But after the 24-year-old’s latest display at Brentford, Klopp has suggested he may have made a mistake by moving the forward into midfield.
Klopp on Gakpo’s form for Liverpool
Speaking to the media ahead of tonight’s game against Luton Town, Klopp discussed what has been a fairly testing season for Gakpo.
“The numbers are 100 per cent absolutely alright, or even better,” the Liverpool boss said. “But that Cody had a bit of a struggle in between the season was more my fault.
“Can Cody play a midfield position for us? Yes, he can, in different moments. Is it his position now? I would say no, that’s not [the case].
“The offensive part of the role he can definitely play, but with the defensive things, which he was not used to, that cost him a bit of confidence in moments, you could see that.
“The boy who came here and was flying from day one pretty much and then all of a sudden you saw, ‘OK, that’s not exactly the same.’ So, these things happen and will help him in the long term anyway, but in the short term you cannot always directly see it.
“But now he is absolutely there and as long as we can avoid that then we will probably not bring him in midfield and then it is very offensive, which again I am 100 per cent sure is possible.”
While Gakpo is a versatile player, there’s no doubt that his strengths lie in the final third.
He replaced the injured Nunez at Brentford over the weekend and came off the bench to grab a goal and an assist.
While it hasn’t been an ideal campaign for the Dutchman so far, he should get an opportunity to impress in Liverpool’s front three over the coming weeks, with concerns over recent injuries to Diogo Jota and Nunez.
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