Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman was delighted with the performance of Liverpool star Cody Gakpo as the Dutch got off to a winning start at the European Championship. Gakpo scored as his nation beat Poland in Hamburg.
Gakpo, who was playing on the left side of the Netherlands attack, drew his side level with a deflected shot after Adam Buksa had opened the scoring. Former Manchester United striker Wout Weghorst then scored the winner with seven minutes of normal time remaining, with Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk playing the full game and Ryan Gravenberch kept on the bench.
Post-match, Koeman was very pleased with how Gakpo had performed. “I thought Gakpo played great. It went very well on the left side and we became very threatening there,” the ex-Everton coach said, via De Telegraaf.
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“At half time, we should have been ahead 3-1 or 4-1, that would have been normal. But creating chances is one thing and finishing them is a second.
“Now we get five chances before half time and we go to the dressing room at 1-1. When we conceded the goal, we were not in a good position in a standard situation, so we have to do better.”
Incoming Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has a decision to make on where to get the best out of Gakpo heading into the summer. Having excelled with PSV playing mainly off the left, he has rarely been deployed in that role for the Reds.
Gakpo started last season in midfield for Jurgen Klopp and has also been utilized as a false nine. But his best position, as this Player of the Match performance showed, is off the left-hand side.
Slot will have enough depth in his Liverpool attack to play Gakpo there even if Luis Diaz stays. And in Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez, he has good quality to use in the center aside from Gakpo too.
But the message from the European Championship could not be clearer: Gakpo looks most natural when played off the left. As Slot puts his plans together ahead of next season, that should be something for Liverpool to bear in mind.