Cody Gakpo concedes he is in a “little bit of a difficult situation” after making a poor start to his Liverpool career.
Gakpo joined the Reds from PSV Eindhoven at the beginning of January. He arrived with a good reputation after scoring three goals at the World Cup in Qatar.
Yet Gakpo has failed to score or even give an assist during his first six Liverpool games. Although, the team have won just one of those six matches – losing three times.
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And those results saw them knocked out of the FA Cup and drop to 10th in the Premier League, with Gakpo struggling to make an impact in the 3-0 weekend defeat at Wolves.
“It’s always different when you come into a team that was maybe first and winning every game, but it’s now in a little bit of a difficult situation,” Gakpo told WALK ON, Liverpool’s eMagazine.
“So for me it is to come in and show what I can. If we were in first I have to do that and now we are in another place I have to do that also. I just try to show my best side.
“The coach [Jurgen Klopp] gave me a really warm welcome and I really appreciated it. We had a good conversation and now he is helping me to adapt as fast as possible in the team and to his style of playing.
“To do that I need to keep working hard and improving.”
Gakpo scored 21 goals last campiagn for PSV and started this season well, finding the net 13 times and making 17 assists. He also captained the club in Luuk de Jong’s absence.
But he has struggled since arriving at Liverpool, finding himself used by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp in a number of attacking roles. He has admitted that he prefers playing from the left, but is willing to play down the middle.
As quoted by the Liverpool ECHO, Gakpo said: “At the moment for me, I like to play on the left wing because I played there for four years so that is what I am used to, but maybe I will develop better in another position and then play there.
“I played in the middle in the FA Cup at Wolves and against Chelsea. I like it. It’s more in the centre of the goal. I’m not that used to it so I have to develop in that position.
“I don’t know if I will end up there, but [former Netherlands manager] Louis van Gaal told me I will end up in the middle so maybe I will.”
He continued: “I want to play with and against the best players because this is only good for my game, to improve as a player.”
