Cody Gakpo makes admission about Liverpool role after 'injury crisis' - 'Just deal with it'

Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo has hinted that some of the difficulties he faced last season as a result of several big players missing chunks of the campaign through injury under Jurgen Klopp have already made him a better player.

Gakpo started the season in midfield and was also deployed off the left hand side of the attack and through the center. "We had an injury crisis at Liverpool that had to be solved in a certain way," Gakpo said, via the Daily Mirror.

"You have to just deal with it. Sometimes that went very well and sometimes not so well because of the constant switching. In the end, I am grateful that it turned out to be a very instructive season. But it has been a process from which I eventually gained a lot for myself.

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"What my role will be (in Germany)? I haven't thought about that myself yet. I have felt my role changing — and maybe others now look at me differently. As you get older yourself and some younger guys come in, then the dynamic changes automatically. But I have always had a great sense of responsibility to do my best for the team. That's just how I am."

Gakpo, alongside Virgil van Dijk and Ryan Gravenberch, will be representing the Netherlands at the European Championship. No other national team has as many Liverpool players heading to Germany to play for it.

"My condition has improved in terms of the pace I can handle and also the intensity," Gakpo continued. "I’m not one for data, but if I compare my stats at Liverpool to my stats at PSV, you can see that the high-intensity distance per match is now much higher. It depends on the coach where I will be used as well as the system, of course."

Liverpool.com says: Gakpo has more work to do to establish himself at Liverpool, that would certainly be fair to say. But he is a really good, versatile option to have in attack. At 24, he still has his best years ahead of him and the European Championship offers a big chance to kick on again. While he was scoring for fun for PSV before the Reds made a move for him, Gakpo came onto the radar of a lot of soccer fans with his performances at the World Cup in Qatar, where he netted three goals, all in the group phase.