Rafael van der Vaart has revealed why he thinks Cody Gakpo has struggled at Liverpool since joining the club from PSV in January.
The Reds signed Gakpo at the start of the year, adding the winger to a cohort containing the likes of Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez but hasn’t found his goalscoring touch at Anfield just yet as the Reds struggle for form.
Van der Vaart, speaking to Ladbrokes Fanzone via the Liverpool Echo, admitted his confusion as to how Klopp has been deploying Gakpo in his attack.
“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 main striker? He’s not a striker!
Gakpo played predominantly out wide for PSV for whom he scored 55 goals in 159 matches and van der Vaart was adamant that that is where he should be playing at his new club.
“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.”
Hopefully, Gakpo will pick up some form soon to show the Liverpool fans that his Eredivisie and World Cup performances weren’t just a flash in the pan and that he deserves to be one of the main players for Jurgen Klopp going forward.