Cody Gakpo made it on for 20 minutes of extra time against PSG, but it was clear he was not fully fit, or at least fully up to speed. However, he might still have made it back just in time to leave his mark in his favorite competition — and he has revealed Arne Slot’s role in his improving fortunes.
Barring a highly unfortunate turn of events involving a Fabian Schar or Sandro Tonali hat-trick, Gakpo is already guaranteed to finish this season’s Carabao Cup as top scorer. Nor would you bet against him adding to his tally at Wembley, especially if Slot and the medical team give him the nod from the start.
With some of his teammates having gone the full distance against PSG, Gakpo’s freshness would undoubtedly be welcome against Newcastle. And he has offered a more direct goal threat than Luis Diaz this season, with only Mohamed Salah having found the net more (albeit by a considerable margin).
In fairness, Gakpo was also prolific in last season’s League Cup under the tutelage of Jurgen Klopp, finishing second to Morgan Rogers in the top scorer stakes. But his improved form across the board in 2024-25 owes much to a positional change.
Gakpo arrived as a left-winger by trade, and even signed at a time when there was something of an injury crisis at Anfield in that position. Even so, he primarily featured in central positions under Klopp.
That even occasionally involved a midfield berth, in much the same role that Dominik Szoboszlai now calls home. And while Gakpo accepted any minutes that were on offer, he has admitted that he prefers the situation under Slot.
“One of my first conversations with the manager here was about the position,” Gakpo told the ECHO. “I was wondering what he thought, because I knew also that I can do a lot better than I did before if I play in my right position.
“Obviously he knew me already from the Netherlands, and I’d just come back from the Euros which were good for me. He just said “you have to focus on the left wing, I’m not going tell you that you’re going play all the games because we have Lucho (Luis Diaz) and other players who can come in and play who are really good, but if you come in or if you play, this is most likely the position you will play.”
(Image: ANP via Getty Images)
“So there was already for me a kind of a relief that I can develop there and become the player I always imagine I can be. So I’m working towards that point now and hopefully I can get better than I am today and help the team more as much as I can.”
It won’t have done Gakpo any harm to gain experience in other positions on the pitch. And with others ahead of him in the pecking order at that point, game time was the crucial thing he needed, standing him in good stead for where he is now.
But there’s no denying that Gakpo is one of the most improved players under Slot, with fellow countryman Ryan Gravenberch perhaps the only one with a better case. He was right to feel relief after that initial conversation with the coach, because his fortunes have transformed back out on the left.
Entering the season as the fifth-choice forward, Gakpo now arguably has a place in the first-choice front line. He will ultimately want to shake off his reputation as a man for the cups — a record which he dismissed as a coincidence — but a crucial contribution at Wembley would still be very much encouraged from the man whose stock at Anfield continues to rise.
