Liverpool attacker Cody Gakpo has admitted he was affected by his poor start at Anfield following his January switch from PSV Eindhoven.
The Dutch international joined the Reds during the winter transfer window from PSV Eindhoven in a deal worth £37m.
The Dutchman arrived at Anfield as one of the most prolific strikers in Europe, racking up 13 goals and 17 assists in 24 appearances for the Eredivisie side.
Gakpo is yet to score his first goal or provide his first assist for Liverpool, though, and the Reds have been struggling in any sort of form of late.
The versatile Dutch attacker has admitted that he is concerned about his lack of attacking performance following his move to Anfield.
The 23-year-old has vowed to up his game overall and start contributing early on. Gakpo spoke ahead of the Merseyside Derby against local rivals Everton, as quoted by Express Sport:
“Guys who say it doesn’t affect them when they don’t score are lying. I’m an attacking player, so of course I like to score goals or give assists, and I also like to win.”
“I’m just trying to improve my game and adapt my way of playing to the way the team plays. If I can do that, the rest will follow.”
Gakpo has also opened up about what his national team captain and Liverpool teammate Virgil van Dijk has told him about his slow start to life at Liverpool. He added:
“Virgil has told me about the derby and has told me that it is going to be a great fight. He also told me that he scored his first goal against Everton, and now I expect exactly the same”.
However, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has insisted that he is happy with what he has seen of Gakpo so far. He said:
“His defense is outstanding. Okay, we bought a striker and we talked about defense, but his defense in the central position is outstanding. That is what we need.
“I am completely happy. People will say he didn’t score, but coming into our team as a striker right now, congratulations, and then being judged because you didn’t score, that’s really cool.”
Jamie Carragher explains why the Liverpool star reminds him of Fernando Torres
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has compared striker Mohamed Salah to former Reds striker Fernando Torres.
The Egyptian superstar hasn’t been at his best this season, but he’s still scored 17 goals and provided seven assists in 31 games across all competitions.
Speaking of the Egyptian end in the across the park podcast, Carragher claimed that it reminded him of Torres. He said:
“He will finish with 25, close to 30. We judge Salah very well. Yes, the team is not playing well, so Salah will not be at his best.”
“I have never believed that Salah is a great player as such, he is a great goalscorer. He is very direct, everything is about the goal, he runs towards the goal, so sometimes he can have matches where, a bit like Torres, where he can get the ball and he bumps into people and loses possession.”
The Liverpool legend also insisted that he is not bothered by Salah’s low form, as he believes the Egyptian winger will score soon. He said:
“Sometimes you’re thinking, just keep it and run after it. When he’s in the song he can do that, but the team doesn’t help him. But I’m not worried about Salah.”
added:
“Sometimes I think that when he hasn’t scored for so long, he’s obviously going to score soon. If I were Everton, I would be thinking: ‘Salah deserves a goal’. This is how I think, he has gone several games without scoring, so there must be one around the corner, because you can’t score so many goals.”