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Jurgen Klopp says Cody Gakpo “eats football” in glowing Liverpool admission
Liverpool recorded a convincing victory at Leicester on Monday night and Jurgen Klopp hailed Cody Gakpo in his post-match interview despite not scoring or assisting
Jurgen Klopp has heaped praise on Cody Gakpo after the forward put in another impressive performance in Liverpool’s comfortable 3-0 win over Leicester.
Gakpo, 24, was used in the No.9 role with Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah either side as the Reds swept aside Leicester at the King Power Stadium on Monday. Curtis Jones scored twice, while Trent Alexander-Arnold put the icing on the cake as Klopp’s side recorded their seventh straight win.
It puts them just outside of the Champions League places and one point behind both Manchester United and Newcastle, although both have a game in hand on Liverpool. After the victory at Leicester, Klopp highlighted Gakpo’s role in the victory and how he continued to impress.
“He is a super footballer and a smart person,” Klopp said, “I never for second thought that he was only 24, but he is really young. He was captain at his previous club (PSV), which is special.
“And then you meet the boy and you think: ‘Ah OK, now I understand why.’ He eats football, each information we give him is so natural for him to put it on the pitch.
“He is in a position he has never played before but he enjoys it a lot. We need him there and he is very cool that he can play three or four positions but he has adapted pretty quickly.”
Since arriving from PSV in January, Gakpo has scored six times and provided three assists in 19 appearances. He has led the line for the majority of the time he has been at Anfield, while Gakpo has also drifted out to the left-wing when required.
As for Liverpool, the Reds were dominant throughout the 90 minutes in the East Midlands and Klopp may have been a little frustrated they didn’t score more. Diaz should have scored immediately after Jones’ second, while Salah missed a gilt-edged chance in the second-half to put the game to bed.
When asked if it was the perfect away performance, Klopp said: “No, but it was good – really good. Between the 55th and, I don’t know exactly, the 75th minute maybe, I would have loved to have controlled a bit better. Our positioning was not as clear. The first 15 minutes I accept 100 per cent because it was a bit of a wild game.
“They really went for us and we had to figure out how we could build up the game. We had to adapt to that, the boys did that, we became more flexible and from that moment on we had five players facing the other goal and could then really pass through the lines and mix it up with [a] pass in behind, like for the first goal.
“Really good examples for the different things you have to do behind the line or through the line with the second goal. The third goal [was] obviously a wonderful set-piece.”
Liverpool face Aston Villa and Southampton in their remaining two matches as they aim to keep the pace on United and Newcastle in the top-four race. Klopp will be hoping for a favour from Leicester next Monday, however, when they travel north to St James’ Park.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72359739/20230607_170741.0.jpg "On This Day (11 June 1967): ‘Sham’ trip continues with narrow win")
