Rafael van der Vaart has put the blame on Jurgen Klopp for Cody Gakpo's slow start to life at Liverpool since arriving from PSV at the start of January.
Gakpo, who completed his move to Anfield for around £40 million, opened his Liverpool account on Monday night in the 2-0 win over Merseyside rivals Everton.
The Netherlands star impressed for this nation in the Qatar World Cup, following which he almost sealed a switch to Manchester United in the summer window.
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The 23-year-old operated from a left-sided forward role for PSV, but he has often been used in the central of the front three for Klopp's side.
Van der Vaart exclusively told Ladbrokes: Fanzone: "The biggest surprise for me wasn't that Liverpool bought Cody Gakpo last month. Look, if you have the sort of tournament he did in Qatar, you're going to attract interest from a lot of top clubs.
"But, for me, they've signed a player who has played his whole career as a left-winger, and in the national team he's played as a number 10, a second striker... and now he's playing as a striker? He's not a striker!
"Cody needs space to play in, he needs to run with the ball, that's where he's most dangerous. That's the biggest issue he has at Liverpool, why are they playing him as a number nine? He's a left-winger who can cut inside and cause danger there."
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