Visions Of Cody
Cody Gakpo is perhaps the most low-key member of Liverpool’s current attacking lineup. He came over from PSV just over 3 years ago without a ton of fanfare for a reasonable fee. His greatest achievement was being a key part of last season’s title-winning side in his second full season. Before that, he was likely the key component of winning the only trophy of Klopp’s farewell campaign. Just recently, he joined the likes of Fernando Torres and Cristiano Ronaldo by winning the Golden Boot at the Euros. Despite his success thus far, he’s frequently overshadowed by flashier teammates.
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It’s hard to compete with Mohamed Salah, naturally. Darwin Nunez and Federico Chiesa managed to break into cult hero status, despite the former’s inconsistency and the latter’s limited minutes. Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz managed to stand out as fan favorites, each getting a bespoke song to match their status. Even new men Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike have reached the heart of stardom thanks to some key outstanding performances. Gakpo remains the odd man out.
Differing Shades Of Cody
Gakpo’s got plenty of character of his own. His iconic celebrations and his well-reported religiosity make for a unique character. Much like fellow winger Mo Salah, he is quiet, media shy, and humble, making him an unpopular media subject. But one of the more interesting developments of this season is that Gakpo has become something of a polarizing figure. I was struck that, in its reporting of the performances against Leeds and Barnsley, This is Anfield gave Gakpo significantly higher ratings than their analysts did. This is hardly an isolated occurrence.
Even though, by the numbers, Gakpo is second only to Ekitike in offensive output, there have been increasing calls to sideline him in favor of Chiesa or young phenom Rio Ngumoha. This opinion is not shared by Arne Slot. The gaffer has been dogged in his use of Gakpo as his left winger of choice and second-choice striker. Slot went so far as to call Gakpo one of the best wingers in the world. That is exceptional praise from a manager so dependent on wingers. It is even jarring after we all saw Mo Salah do his best work last season. What explains this disconnect? What do coaches and analysts see that fans do not?
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Positional fluidity has been one of Gakpo’s trademarks. At various points, he’s been deployed as a center striker, a false nine, and a left winger. Partly, this is an artifact of when he joined. Liverpool has struggled to find a recognized striker with proper form since he signed his contract. Partly, his playstyle suits him in a variety of roles, as he usually adopts a central position when he strikes. The move is so associated with him that Dutch media took to calling a move where you pull in from the left position and shoot with the right foot “The Gakpo”. But left wing is arguably his most natural position. Gakpo himself stated that he prefers the spatial freedom that comes with playing out wide.
Gakpo is a highly technical player who plays best when he has a lot of space to work in, so this isn’t super surprising. Observers have agreed that Gakpo is at his best when deployed out wide. The inherent restrictions that come with the central attacking position are something of a handicap. Even so, Gakpo has demonstrated extraordinary versatility, which likely explains why Slot holds him in such high esteem. It’s been a factor in keeping us afloat in the transitional period for our attacking front line. Objectively, he’s a very good player. Still, fans seem not to care very much for him, especially this season.
Where The Road Has Slightly Parted
I’ve been pretty hard on fans for the most part this season, but this is one area where I think they’re not that off-base. Despite his past success, this season has not been one of Cody’s best. He has been one of our top offensive performers this season. However, that is more indicative of how poorly we’ve been doing on that front than anything else. Placed in the context of the rest of the league’s attackers, Cody hasn’t been doing so hot.
He’s our second-best goal scorer, but his ratio of shots taken to goals scored is horrendous. Fascinatingly, if you take his ratio of goals to shots on target, he’s at a respectable 20th in the league. If you instead look at the ratio of goals to shots in general, he’s much closer to 90th. He’s even below a lot of center-backs, including Marc Guehi. His xG-to-goals ratio places him even lower. This, of course, tells the same story that a lot of fans see play out on matchday. Cody plays a lot, shoots a lot, and misses a lot.
A CHANGING OF THE GUARD
Analysts tend to have a more panoramic view of a match than fans do, so Cody’s ratings often reflect that there’s a lot that he does well on the pitch. Post-game ratings tend to focus on how well he moves, his directness, his physicality, and the chances he’s created. His rating in assists tends to put him in better company, with the likes of Antoine Semenyo or Bukayo Saka. Gakpo does play well in many respects. But a fan watching Liverpool play does not have the same perspective as a disinterested party or even a professional analyst who favors the club.
What stands out for a fan is not how well a player dribbles or how smart his positions are. It’s the frustration of watching him cut inside from the left and whiff consistently. In a way, criticism of Gakpo is a microcosm of criticism of Liverpool as a whole this season. He’s a guy who does a lot of things well. Nevertheless, he can’t seem to get on the board when it counts.
Rose-Colored Glasses Missing Lenses
A fan frequently has a particular perspective on the game: a desire to win and a desire to be entertained. Increasingly, Cody is being viewed as a one-dimensional player, too predictable and not fun to watch. The Gakpo is becoming less of a playstyle trademark and more the sign of a one-trick pony. It’s largely the same problem that all of our attackers have had this season. Being very good at one thing is not going to be received well in a season that is begging for creativity and risk-taking.
Gakpo is a good player who is kept from being a great player because rivals have simply become too good at preventing him from doing the things he’s best at. His limited repertoire is a massive handicap in a season with rivals who specialize in playing anti-Liverpool ball. And being a good player who doesn’t score often enough is a bad thing to be when you’re in a slump like the one we’re in. Gakpo is getting more than his fair share of stick. But being so illustrative of our offensive shortcomings makes this sort of thing inevitable. The dissonance between how skillfully Gakpo plays and his number of goal contributions would likely be forgivable if he were a midfielder. But, for better or worse, a forward is always going to be judged by goal tallies.
THE PEOPLE VS. ARNE SLOT
The question is, what do you do about this? Most of the time, the proposed solution is the simple one: bench Gakpo in favor of Rio Ngumoha or Federico Chiesa. The former need not be even considered. Rio is 17 years old. It’s just not psychologically or physically healthy to put the pressure of playing a full Premier League season on a kid that young. He’s good, and he deserves his spot in the senior squad. But he’s still a kid and needs to be treated like one. I’d do a lot of things to save this season, but a blood sacrifice isn’t one of them. The question of Chiesa is a little more complicated. It seems straightforward. Gakpo has too many minutes and Chiesa not enough. However, the game of football is rarely so simplistic.
The Cult Of Cody Is Not Formed
In a way, Chiesa has gotten the benefit of his limited playing time, at least in terms of fan perception. Chiesa is seen as someone who has made the most of a few minutes and, accordingly, earned more time on the pitch. Slot’s insistence is that Chiesa has been sidelined simply because there are better choices in front of him. The media narrative is that Chiesa is being snubbed for no discernible reason.
I’ve largely been willing to reserve judgment until we’ve seen more of him. Chiesa plays a lot like Gakpo in many respects: diligent, skillful, and versatile. His versatility is why Chiesa, who usually plays on the right side, is touted as a replacement for Gakpo in the first place. He differs in three key respects. First, Chiesa is much more effective in the defensive phase, no doubt reflective of his contributions as a wing-back at Juventus. Second, Chiesa is a significantly less physical player, something that is apparent even at first glance. Finally, Chiesa’s a far more creative player, in terms of both his movement and ball-playing. Looking at a heat map that compares the two is a very entertaining contrast. Given his attributes, I’d actually consider Chiesa a better replacement for Alexis Mac Allister than Gakpo, if getting Chiesa more minutes was a priority.
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But if you’re comparing Gakpo to Chiesa, Chiesa offers a killer edge in key moments, yet Gakpo is a better all-around player. Who you choose is a matter of preference between creativity and consistency. There are certainly moments when you’d prefer Chiesa’s explosive unpredictability, but if you’re considering a player with a full 90 minutes and added time in mind, Gakpo is the smart choice. He’s not an exciting or compelling choice, but he is the right one. Troubling as it is for some people to hear, the questions of what would make Liverpool better and what would make Liverpool more exciting are independent of one another.
The Final Verdict
I don’t think a draw-and-discard approach to man-management is a solution to any of our issues. Cody Gakpo isn’t a bad player. None of his performances have been bad enough to suggest that dropping him is urgent. Like everything else this season, the problem lies in raising the level higher. We’ve reached a point where consistency just isn’t enough to keep up at the highest level. There’s an argument to be made that some competition for Gakpo’s position would help in this regard, but that competition simply does not exist at this moment.
Had we gotten hold of Semenyo, this would be a different conversation. Even without him, last season showed what we can do when we focus on repair rather than replacement. And here the solution is fairly simple: Gakpo needs to be a sharper, more clinical, less predictable attacker. Focusing too much on the criticism also does a disservice to everything positive about Gakpo, and there’s much to say on that front. Since Slot took over, Gakpo is second in his goal contributions overall, only to Mohamed Salah. His consistency has been a boon during a time of wildly variable player performances.
Many of the chances he’s created this season haven’t been very good, but he’s extraordinarily prolific at creating them. His upright character isn’t exciting to discuss, but it does give me some reassurance that he can be relied on to improve for Liverpool’s sake. In a sporting world that is getting increasingly commercial and mercenary, sometimes that’s nice too.