Liverpool’s January signing Cody Gakpo showed that he’s a ‘neat and tidy’ player after bagging his first goal for the club tonight.
That’s the view of Reds legend Jamie Carragher, who was on commentary for Sky Sports at Anfield. After watching Gakpo break his Liverpool duck, Carragher claimed that the Dutchman offered something different to Jurgen Klopp’s attack.
“One thing I’ve noticed with Gakpo, he’s not quite a similar profile to Salah, Nunez, Jota, he’s not got that blistering pace – although we’ve just seen him glide past a couple of Everton players. He is very neat and tidy on the ball, he doesn’t waste possession,” said the pundit.
The 23-year-old was substituted late on for Roberto Firmino. Upon his number going up, Carragher claimed that Gakpo was in fact very similar to his Brazilian teammate.
“He’s probably a bit similar to Firmino than the other players, he’s certainly played that role tonight,” he said.
What a relief to see the former PSV Eindhoven man get off the mark for Liverpool. It may have been a tap-in, but it will have done him the world of good. Here’s to many more to come, Cody!
Gakpo finally gets his reward
More than just his goal, Gakpo was really good tonight. In fairness, he’s been pretty good since joining the club last month.
Granted, that hasn’t resulted in goals or assists, but he’s been exceptionally tidy. In a team that have been as loose as Liverpool have of late, that’s more important than it might sound.
For a young player coming into a team doing so badly, it’s also credit to Gakpo. His head could have gone down after a desperate first month at Anfield. But it never has.
He’s kept on looking for the ball, kept on trying to play. Tonight, that was finally rewarded.
Gakpo may have played mainly from the left for PSV, but he’s looked the part centrally for Liverpool. With Darwin Nunez playing to his left this evening, it was a sign of how the Netherlands international will be used by Klopp.
When all of the manager’s attacking options fully return, it’ll be interesting to see if that remains the case. It’s early days, but as Carra mentions, he has the look of a near perfect Firmino successor.