Liverpool had plenty to smile about against Arsenal last night. Jurgen Klopp’s men surprised everyone with a comfortable victory away from home. This would have been an impressive feat on its own.
But to do it without the amount of key players who were unavailable for Klopp on the night – makes the victory extra special.
Liverpool were able to overcome Arsenal, even with a makeshift line-up with first choice options missing due to injuries or away on international duty.
It’s a result that not many will have envisaged nor foreseen. Leading up to the game Arsenal were the firm favourites. However, Liverpool once again proved everyone wrong. And that result will be another statement of just how exciting this Liverpool 2.0 has become.
But while Klopp was on the whole generally pleased about everything that occurred on the pitch last night, the Liverpool boss did admit one of his star players struggled.
Jurgen Klopp’s comments about Cody Gakpo
The game against Arsenal was always going to be a huge opportunity for Cody Gakpo to catch the eye and make his mark. With Mohamed Salah absent – this is now a chance for any of Liverpool’s attackers to step-up and fill the void the Egyptian has left behind.
But last night, Gakpo was not able to do that and he struggled on the pitch. He had just 20 touches overall and was subbed off around the hour mark.
Speaking after the game as per the club’s official website, Klopp admitted that Gakpo did struggle.
“For Cody [Gakpo] it was a bit more difficult, we put him again in that position, and then the front three I would say the timing was really not great for the pressing situations, that’s why they [Arsenal] could then pass too often. It was difficult, we try to prepare for everything [but] did I prepare for a double 10 and high winger?” Klopp said.
The Liverpool boss then went onto cast the blame on himself rather than Gakpo.
“No,” he answered his own question. “So more my fault than the boys’ fault. We had half-time to see it, to watch it, to learn from it and in the second half the set-up was much better.”
It’s clear after being at Liverpool for almost a year now, Gakpo is still adjusting to life at Anfield. However, he’s shown a lot of promise recently and has three goal contributions in his last five games. He’s only 24-years-old as well – so the future is still very bright ahead.
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