8 months ago
154 Stephen Warnock has accused one Liverpool player of being so wasteful after coming on against Manchester United on Sunday, as the Reds were knocked out of the FA Cup at Old Trafford.
Jurgen Klopp’s men will need no-one to tell them that they should have booked their spot in the semi-final. The visitors certainly had the tie in their hands on a couple of occasions before letting it slip.
Several Liverpool players were off the pace over the course of the game. Graeme Souness claimed that Mohamed Salah was miles off it. And Cody Gakpo was another who struggled to impress.
Stephen Warnock criticises Cody Gakpo after Liverpool defeat
Jamie Carragher accused Gakpo of playing the game in slow motion. And the 24-year-old arguably continues to be the most underwhelming performer amongst such an exciting Liverpool attacking unit.
Speaking on The FA Cup, Stephen Warnock noted how poor Liverpool were when it came to making that final pass on Sunday, picking out one moment where Gakpo was leading a five-man counter, running at just two Manchester United defenders.
“This is the most obvious one. Gakpo gets the ball, comes on as a sub, and he was very wasteful, Gakpo in the way he played. In this position now, you cannot pass the ball yet. You’ve got to wait for the two centre halves, push them back onto the edge of the box. And then you can slide passes. They’ve then got to make a decision to engage at some point. It’s really, really poor from Liverpool. And they got punished for it,” he said.
Forward now needs to improve
Liverpool fans are going to want to see more from Gakpo. The Premier League title race is going to come down to the barest of margins. And so many of the Reds’ squad has been impacted by injuries.
Gakpo has scored five goals in 26 league games this season. And his record of 20 goals in 67 games in all competitions is underwhelming.
He was far from being the only player who struggled to impress against Manchester United. But perhaps his lack of clear progress is the most alarming at this stage.
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