Cody Gakpo had a mixed season as Jurgen Klopp’s final Liverpool manager, but those 2023–2024 final shots suggested a more steady role under Arne Slot.

Gakpo is the player with the most appearances for Liverpool’s first team since joining Anfield in January 2023.

Being one of Klopp’s last additions, the Dutchman’s initial value is demonstrated by the fact that the PSV Eindhoven contract was rushed through in the middle of the season because it would have become “unaffordable” if he had continued to improve.

However, one may argue that Gakpo hasn’t yet demonstrated his finest play after his first full season and hasn’t been given the chance to do so.

Klopp’s grave error

After Gakpo scored his 10th goal of the season in the 4-1 victory against Brentford, Klopp said in February, “Cody had a bit of a struggle in between the season, it was more my fault.”

“We spoke about can Cody play a midfield position for us, yes he can in different moments,” the boss said in an explanation. Is that his role? No, in my opinion.

He can certainly play the attacking portion of the role, but you could tell that he struggled at times with the defensive aspects of it since they were unfamiliar to him.

“The youngster arrived here and was flying pretty much right away, but then all of a sudden you saw, Okay, that’s not exactly the same anymore. Things like this do occur.

Gakpo was a prolific left winger when he joined from PSV Eindhoven, however he was first used as Roberto Firmino’s replacement before being used as a utility player in the most recent season.

Klopp has acknowledged that he made a number of mistakes when playing as a No. 8, and it became evident that his confidence was impacted by his few consecutive games played in the same position.

The 25-year-old wasted the ball to stop a five-on-two counterattack, which led to a calamitous cameo in the FA Cup loss to Manchester United.

“Gakpo appears to be playing the game at a slow speed,” Jamie Carragher declared right away.

Gakpo was however making a consistent impact in front of goal despite his difficulties; he scored in four straight Carabao Cup games and twice against LASK in the Europa League.

The player had little fault to blame for the stifling of the quality that was always present.

Some players’ fortunes will shift with a new manager, which should be advantageous for one of the new head coach’s compatriots.

Are You Prepared to Join the with Slot ?

Having watched Gakpo score three goals and provide three assists in three matches against the coach’s Feyenoord team while he was at PSV, Slot will be well aware of the player’s abilities.

It’s noteworthy that he started on the left in each of those three games, which should help Slot figure out where he’ll be most effective when he gets ready for life at Liverpool.

Although there is still room for debate over Slot’s fondness for pacy wingers—Gakpo is hardly one of those players—it is unlikely that the 45-year-old will just plop his Feyenoord system onto his new team.

Gakpo’s adaptability will always be a valuable quality, but his dominance from the left side was evident in the matches against Tottenham, Villa, and Wolves.

It’s unclear where that leaves players like Darwin Nunez and Diaz, but it seems certain that Slot’s fellow Dutchman will play a significant role.

Despite the mid-season setbacks, Gakpo’s campaign saw him score 16 goals and dish out six assists in 53 games, so he has a solid foundation on which to grow in 2024–2025.