Cody Gakpo doubles down on Liverpool role under Jurgen Klopp with 'tricky' admission
Cody Gakpo has praised Arne Slot for putting him back on the left wing, having admitted he found it “tricky” to play as a striker when he joined Liverpool.
The Netherlands international is enjoying a fine season at Anfield, and has now firmly established himself back out on the left, where he vies with Luis Diaz for a starting position. Gakpo has 14 goals and five assists from 32 appearances across all competitions, leaving him just three goal involvements off his tally from last season.
The 25-year-old has put his upturn in form down to being returned to his best position, having found himself in a slightly less comfortable role under Jurgen Klopp.
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Gakpo was mostly utilized as a central striker under the former Liverpool boss, having caught the eye as a left-winger with PSV Eindhoven and the Netherlands. The change didn’t get the best out of him, although Slot looks to have found the solution.
"Obviously now I play on the left side, so I think that’s, for me, personally, the biggest change to my advantage,” Gakpo told TNT Sports. “That’s what suits me the best, and I think that’s where I’m at my best.
"I went to Liverpool, I played a lot as a central striker, which was new to me. So I had to adapt to being in a new position and also being in a new team, so at times, it was tricky.
"But yeah, I’m very happy that I’m back on the left now and I think that’s the biggest change that the manager did for me."
It’s not the first time Gakpo has suggested that he wasn’t too comfortable with the role he was previously given by Klopp. While away with the Netherlands during Euro 2024 last summer, he admitted he hadn’t been played in his favored position under the former Liverpool boss.
"I will play on the left wing at this tournament," Gakpo said. "I also played a lot as a striker at Liverpool."
"I have always been a left winger so that's always been my preference," he added. "But in the last one and a half years, the coach needed me to play somewhere else and that's what I tried to do at my best."
