It’s not easy for transfer signings to make an immediate impact at their new club, no matter how much they cost. Four players have scored on their Liverpool debut under Jurgen Klopp, only 13 have for the Reds since the turn of the millennium. It’s not easy.
It’s important that a scoreless start does not drag on, though, as Peter Crouch famously discovered in 2005. Liverpool’s latest recruit, Cody Gakpo, has made five appearances for the club and is yet to score or provide an assist.
In fairness to the Netherlands international, there have been few harder times to play for the club in recent years. Gakpo has not been added to a slick, footballing machine by any means.
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His five starts have encompassed multiple formations, roles and teammates in attack. When Gakpo has spent more time in the front line with the likes of Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota rather than Fabio Carvalho and Ben Doak, it will be fairer to question his output.
He made his debut on the left of a 4-3-3 against Wolves, before Jurgen Klopp unsuccessfully switched to 4-1-2-1-2 for the debacle at Brighton. The Reds then returned to their well-established system for the next three matches, except now Gakpo was central in the forward line.
Although average positions mustn’t be taken too seriously, the journey Liverpool’s new number 18 has taken is fascinating. Across his first four runouts for the club, Gakpo found himself further both forward and to the right with each passing match.
Yet for the FA Cup match at the Amex Stadium, the 23-year-old was much deeper and was in a tight triangle with Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic in the centre circle. Having made 79 per cent of his career appearances as a left winger (per Transfermarkt) Gakpo likely didn’t anticipate this when joining Liverpool.
Or perhaps he did. Klopp has form for utilising players in different ways than they were deployed in the past, most notably his transformation of Gini Wijnaldum from an attacking midfielder into a deeper-lying possession monster.
It won’t have escaped anyone’s attention that the Reds didn’t exactly need Gakpo either. As talented as he is, the squad is not short of players for the left of their front three. It could be that a permanent formation shift lies in Liverpool’s future – a 4-2-3-1 requires fewer midfielders, for one thing – or maybe the former PSV Eindhoven man has been lined up to replace a legend of the club.
Roberto Firmino will be out of contract in the summer, and whether he remains with the Reds or not, he will be 32 in October with his best days surely lying in the past. Replacing such an integral yet somewhat unique player will not be easy.
The Brazilian’s average position at Old Trafford earlier this season was near-identical to that of Gakpo last weekend. As both games ended in 2-1 defeats and less than sparkling performances, it can’t yet be argued that having the centre forward that deep has really worked for Liverpool. It may be what Klopp is aiming towards in the long term though, with midfield runners tasked with arriving in the penalty box.
The final third possession regain statistics for Firmino and Gakpo (via Fotmob) suggest the latter might be able to replace the former, as they have both hovered around the 1.0 per 90 mark for many years. Where the Dutchman has yet to prove he can take over is in terms of creativity.
With PSV, Gakpo scored 45 goals and provided 44 assists. As he averaged 2.94 shots and 2.88 key passes per 90 minutes, it was likely his outputs would be similar. Yet in England, he has had 13 shots but hasn’t created a single chance. That will clearly need to change.
At Brighton, it almost did. Shortly after the equaliser, Gakpo received the ball near the half way line. He carried it forward and played a perfect through ball into the path of Harvey Elliott. The youngster’s first touch was superb, sadly a poor second meant the opportunity went begging.
It demonstrated what Gakpo can do from deeper positions though, as did a similar run in the second half which only ended when he was pulled back by Lewis Dunk. While it will be great when the new boy gets off the mark with a goal for Liverpool, those moments at Brighton may have provided a better glimpse into his future with the club.
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