Can’t believe this guy was starting as a midfielder at the start of the season. Please let him be himself next season.

by ali0yvr

10 Comments

  1. Gakpo is playing exactly how he was at the World Cup just before we bought him.

    Remember a lot of football is tactics and how a manager dictates what you do.

  2. petethepool on

    He played plenty at LW, and as a forward at times last season, and he went through a prolonged spell of poor performances too that had nothing to do with his position. Let’s not pretend Klopp had a fully-firing Gakpo at his disposal all season and simply stubbornly refused to use him. There is no need to be so reductive. 

    Gakpo and Klopp both spoke about a conversation they had near the end of the season which clarified to Gakpo what he needed to do – which, funnily enough, was more or less to ‘be himself’ – and this more than any positional starting point is what reignited him for Liverpool. So Klopp also encouraged him to be himself – again, no need to retroactively create narratives that don’t need to exist about some imprisoned prince finally let out of a cage. If there was a cage, it was mostly mental. 

    Gakpo was hot and cold last season, like most of our forward line, and there were a number of good reasons for this. His position was only one small factor in it all. He’s more than capable of performing well as a forward or a LW when he’s in good form, as he’s also demonstrated in the past. 

  3. I’ve started to think all of the Gordon talk is weird considering Gakpo is having such a good tournament at LW. I understand if Diaz wants to leave and there’s nothing wrong with having options, but seems a high-profile LW signing would be a slap in the face to Gakpo at this point.

  4. We need a player for the RW.

    Diaz, Gakpo, Jota, Nunez.. all play from the left (or do a job there). That right side needs some cover/options

  5. Billy-no-mate on

    Playing under a Dutch manager now, who will surely know how to get the best from him. I’m excited.

  6. Problem, is, you all want everyone to play.

    Diaz will have a worldie and someone will say, “of course he needs to play”

    Ultimately, the adaptable players will be used in that fashion, when holes open up

  7. taracjonesgau on

    his player’s growth has been incredible to watch, from uncertain starts to shining on the field

  8. If I’m honest, I don’t quite see the player in him yet. I certainly hope to be proven wrong, though – both for his and the club’s benefit.

    I simply wonder if he can consistently have this type of output against high level opposition.

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