Cody Gakpo talked about the aims for the new season and new Liverpool signings
Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo is excited to go again as he returns for the pre-season and talks about the new signings the club have made so far.
The Dutch international made an impressive debut as a Reds player after arriving from PSV Eindhoven in January just after the World Cup.
He took over the false nine effortlessly and is touted to be a long-term replacement for Roberto Firmino. The latter is of course not at the club anymore after leaving for free this summer.
Dominik Szoboszlai has arrived from RB Leipzig while Alexis Mac Allister has made the switch from Brighton & Hove Albion. These two midfielders are expected to play a role in increasing the supply for our elite forward line — Gakpo included. Here’s what Gakpo said about the new season, the aims and new signings (h/t Liverpool website):
“Very excited [to be back]. I think first of all it’s nice to see everybody after a short break. I think everybody is excited to go again and we want to show everybody what we’ve got.
“For me personally, [my aims are] just working hard, keep improving and helping the team as much as I can: to really have an impact by scoring goals, giving assists, helping the team, working hard with the result of winning games.
“Very pleased [they (new signings) are here]. I think everybody knows that they are very good players and I’m really looking forward to playing with them together.”
Once Gakpo settled in that false nine position, Liverpool’s attack started looking good, with Mohamed Salah on the right and Diogo Jota or Darwin Nunez or Luis Diaz on the left.
What it shows is that Jurgen Klopp’s playing system needs a centre-forward who is willing to drop deep, link the play up and focus on assisting goals as much as scoring them.
In Gakpo, the manager has found an extremely technical player who does have issues in finding spaces between the lines, shrugging off challenges and finding the right pass or shot in the final third. He is quick and deceptively tall too. Having an extra few inches is never a bad thing in either box.
Let’s hope that Gakpo and everyone in the squad have a good pre-season. After all, a team can be as good as they were during the preparatory period.
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It would also be interesting to see how Klopp will fit the two new midfielders in the playing XI. Will he go with the same system that ended the season or go back to basics with 4-3-3? We wait and see about that. What we do know is that we are building a team with young and exciting players that could herald in a new era of success at Anfield.
Exciting times ahead.
