Cody Gakpo | OFFICIAL: Liverpool player

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jesperjaap

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Doing well at the world cup, unlike Jonathon DAvid. I think they are both good players, but yet to be convinced either are the answer for us.

David seems over rated to me, nseen him 6/7 times yet and he hasnt stood out as a potential star striker one.

Gapko is big, strog, technically good and seems intelligent with hsi movement for his age....But he seems better running the channels like Rashford does too to me, dont see him as a number 9 for us and with the number of left wingers we have (I include Rashford there), dont see him as the right signing...either way I think he is good, I dont think he will be great though and personally think some of our left sided players may not be as intelligent....but are more talented than him.

Not sure who out there is the answer tbh. I really liked Giouri and he is doing well at Rennes
 

croadyman

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As it stands right now he isn't a #9.

That doesn't neccesarily mean we shouldn't sign him though. We do need a proper #9, but it might be we'd plan on getting that #9 in the summer and just making do with Martial/Rashford/Gakpo up front until the end of the season. Which isn't ideal, but is understable if the CFs we really want aren't available until the summer.

The question for me is if we assume we'll be starting next season with a new #9, do we still want Gakpo? And it might be that we do, depending on what we see as his long-term position. Or indeed how much faith ETH actually has in someone like Sancho, say.

Completely hypothetical but let's say we started next season with these attacking options:

CF: New CF, Martial
LW: Rashford, Gakpo, Garnacho
RW: Antony, Sancho, Elanga

It doesn't particularly seem like overkill to me, especially with a few of those players being able to play in different positions.
That's what I would like to see,like you say if that out and out number 9 isn't available until next summer we need something in the forward line with Ronaldo gone.
 

croadyman

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Maybe ETH doesn't want a proper 9/ doesn't think there's anyone worth pursuing so he's going for Gakpo. We've seen City/ Liverpool dominate without one, since Gakpo can play even as a number 10, maybe he'll function as a false 9, I trust ETH knows his tactics.
City could do without a number 9 due to an absolute wealth of riches in wide areas and midfield as well
 

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He is quite like Rashford, but I've seen him put in lots of quality delivery from his crosses. I think thats one area he's miles ahead. And with both feet too.

He's also 6'4 which I didnt realize. Thats the same as McTom and only Maguire is taller of our players. He may not play like a central striker but he could certainly bring some of the things you would ordinarily get from one. If he's playing left wing he can get in the box when we attack down the right and provide that aerial threat for example
 

mitchmouse

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I'm not sure anyone has really shone through at this World Cup yet. Usually someone emerges as someone we should be interested in (obviously I'm not talking about established superstars such as Messi) but I haven't see that so far. Gakpo is sort of a level of two below that and we'd know more if the Dutch were to go deep into the tournament... if we were to be given a player, I guess he's one that has caught the eye, but he's not the No.9 we need in my opinion
 

Floyd

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He is quite like Rashford, but I've seen him put in lots of quality delivery from his crosses. I think thats one area he's miles ahead. And with both feet too.

He's also 6'4 which I didnt realize. Thats the same as McTom and only Maguire is taller of our players. He may not play like a central striker but he could certainly bring some of the things you would ordinarily get from one. If he's playing left wing he can get in the box when we attack down the right and provide that aerial threat for example
Depends where you look. I've seen 6'2, 6'3 and 6'4.

I refuse to believe he's 6'4.
 

andersj

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He is quite like Rashford, but I've seen him put in lots of quality delivery from his crosses. I think thats one area he's miles ahead. And with both feet too.

He's also 6'4 which I didnt realize. Thats the same as McTom and only Maguire is taller of our players. He may not play like a central striker but he could certainly bring some of the things you would ordinarily get from one. If he's playing left wing he can get in the box when we attack down the right and provide that aerial threat for example
What makes him like Rashford? Everyone are comparing them, but it feels more like an appearence thing. Gakpo’s strenght, as you say, is probably his strike of the ball (both in terms of crossing and finishing). In terms of qualities, he is probably closer to Greenwood in my opinion. But more of a playmaker.

The one thing Rashford and Gakpo have in common is that both of them are at their best when facing the goal. Gakpo neither look comfortable with his back to the goal.
 

kafta

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Its obvious we need a top level striker to take us to the next level.

Before the world cup, i thought Gakpo would be a well priced stop gap, that can eventually play anywhere across the frontline.

But at the prices quoted, he would have to be a key player going forward. Can we get him in January, then try to get one of Osihmen, Vlahovic, Sesko etc in the summer?

Or do we just get him in, and develop him into a top class CF? Does he have that in him?
 

lysglimt

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I think you missed the fact that I said in Jan. Cuz you are not going to get a proper no.9 in Jan, like say Osihmen or Vlahovic etc.
But why would you want to sign Watkins period ? He will cost a fortune and he isn't good enough. Gakpo is available for £40m or thereabouts - would you rather take Watkins who is 4 years older and more expensive over Gakpo ?
 

stoinz

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who will you prefer If both Gakpo and Joa Felix cost the same? Right now it is seems both are open to January moves, with Gakpo prices soaring after a good world it is entirely possible both are offered to us at roughly the same price.
 

Galactic

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who will you prefer If both Gakpo and Joa Felix cost the same? Right now it is seems both are open to January moves, with Gakpo prices soaring after a good world it is entirely possible both are offered to us at roughly the same price.
Joao Felix is overrated
 

Telsim

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who will you prefer If both Gakpo and Joa Felix cost the same? Right now it is seems both are open to January moves, with Gakpo prices soaring after a good world it is entirely possible both are offered to us at roughly the same price.
Gakpo, of course. Felix is overrated. He is built like a twig and doesn't have the skill necessary to compensate for that in the Premier League. His stats in La Liga also fail to impress.

But I suspect he will still cost more than Gakpo and demand higher wages. We need a goalscorer, which is what Gakpo does. Better that we stay far away from Joao Felix.
 

croadyman

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Its obvious we need a top level striker to take us to the next level.

Before the world cup, i thought Gakpo would be a well priced stop gap, that can eventually play anywhere across the frontline.

But at the prices quoted, he would have to be a key player going forward. Can we get him in January, then try to get one of Osihmen, Vlahovic, Sesko etc in the summer?

Or do we just get him in, and develop him into a top class CF? Does he have that in him?
Your last two paragraphs sum up Erik's dilemma
 

bosnian_red

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who will you prefer If both Gakpo and Joa Felix cost the same? Right now it is seems both are open to January moves, with Gakpo prices soaring after a good world it is entirely possible both are offered to us at roughly the same price.
The answer is Felix and it isn't even close. He's a player that actually has elite potential in the right system. And he's younger than Gakpo... (A few months).

People getting distracted by a hot finishing run against lower league opposition that the rest of his game is very weak.
 

croadyman

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The answer is Felix and it isn't even close. He's a player that actually has elite potential in the right system. And he's younger than Gakpo... (A few months).

People getting distracted by a hot finishing run against lower league opposition that the rest of his game is very weak.
You are probably right but it's only because we need a pure goalscorer right now I'm unsure
 

bosnian_red

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You are probably right but it's only because we need a goalscorer right now I'm unsure
Put Felix in the Eredivisie and see him rack up goals...

Felix is capable of getting plenty of goals. A goal scorer isn't necessarily what we need. We need a central forward who fits what we have. Who fits Rashford, who fits Antony. Felix would play as a false 9 and work with Bruno, and Rashford would be our main goalscorer due to his style being that wide forward who finds himself in those positions more often. But we'd score loads as a team and they'd be spread out. Gakpo scores his goals in the same fashion, so they'd likely limit each other, even assuming he adapts easily
 

Chief123

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His goal scoring abilities are really, really good, but i’m not convinced he can be converted to an nr 9. Any club that wants to buy him will need to pay 60mln+ to get him. That is way too expensive to gamble on a potential position he might not be suited for.

If Cody is to convert into a nr 9, that will only be successfull by granting him time to learn. And Man Utd is not in a position to do so.
In my view, I think it’s more likely Gakpo is utilised in his current position at LW and Rashford is deployed as a striker more often.

Reason being, Gakpo has attributes which aren’t as strong or consistent for Rashford. Gakpo has a fantastic cross and ability to pick up out runs from deep. I know Rashford can do this sometimes but it’s not as consistent. Gakpo is 6’3 and he’s taking corners which highlights how consistent his crossing is.

The second reason I think Gakpo will be utilised as LW with Rashford CF is because we will continuously come up against teams who sit deep or back off and make it difficult to break down. In those instances Gakpo has a very consistent ability to shoot from long range. Again Rashford can do this but not as consistent and not as pure. Gakpo’s ability to shoot from distance which would probably make him our best long range shooter will be very valuable against teams who want to keep backing off.
 

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who will you prefer If both Gakpo and Joa Felix cost the same? Right now it is seems both are open to January moves, with Gakpo prices soaring after a good world it is entirely possible both are offered to us at roughly the same price.
Gakpo is obviously a huge talent. Has he ever played as a lone striker though? Does he ever play with his back to goal? Felix isn't a physical striker in the slightest, but he can play as a false nine type of striker. He would have been a very interesting purchase for City when he moved to Atletico.

If the question is: Gakpo now as our main striker with no serious outlay on a striker in the summer or Felix on loan with an option to buy, I'd vote for the latter. It wouldn't be the worst idea for Atletico to loan out Felix for a tidy sum to get him in a team that actually allows him to express himself and entice prospective buyers.
 

croadyman

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Gakpo is obviously a huge talent. Has he ever played as a lone striker though? Does he ever play with his back to goal? Felix isn't a physical striker in the slightest, but he can play as a false nine type of striker. He would have been a very interesting purchase for City when he moved to Atletico.

If the question is: Gakpo now as our main striker with no serious outlay on a striker in the summer or Felix on loan with an option to buy, I'd vote for the latter. It wouldn't be the worst idea for Atletico to loan out Felix for a tidy sum to get him in a team that actually allows him to express himself and entice prospective buyers.
Yeah I would choose the latter if that's the situation,however if signing Gakpo doesn't affect buying a striker then all for the former.
 

Brophs

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Also worth noting (though it's probably obvious) that he's massively outperforming his underlying stats this season. 12 goals from 7.5 xG, 15 assists from 7.5 xA.

Overperformance might be something he's capable of generally given his striking ability but not to that extent. It's a hot streak and you shouldn't base your idea of how productive he'd likely be in the future off that rate of returns.

That said, if he had clocked a more sustainable 8 goals and 8 assists from 19 games it would still be pretty good.
I was reading about this earlier and it's one of the main things giving me pause. Not that he's not a decent player, but he's doing those numbers in two weaker competitions than the PL. If he came back to the sorts of numbers in the last line of your post I'm not convinced we'd be looking at him. It's one of those where I suspect we wouldn't mind giving him another 6 months over there to see if he levels off but there's probably sufficient interest to ensure it's now or never.
 

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If he can score 15 goals in the second half of the season, we should sign him.
 

Bastian

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Yeah I would choose the latter if that's the situation,however if signing Gakpo doesn't affect buying a striker then all for the former.
How would it not? We already have Rashford and Garnacho for whom that position wide left is their natural position. As far as a second striker or playing behind the front man is concerned, we've got Bruno who will likely be the captain once Maguire is shipped out. It's not that I doubt Gakpo's talents, I just question if he truly fits our needs and priorities.

If he's bought to be a striker he's in competition with Martial. Would we add a bona fide #9 in the summer with those two already on our books?
 

mav_9me

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But why would you want to sign Watkins period ? He will cost a fortune and he isn't good enough. Gakpo is available for £40m or thereabouts - would you rather take Watkins who is 4 years older and more expensive over Gakpo ?
I am not advocating for signing Watkins in Jan. I was responding to a hypothetical post about Watkins, and I agreed how someone like him would be good for us. Just purely talking about Watkins as a player. Not talking about signing him. That's why I said not happening in Jan in my original post.
 

RedorDead21

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How would it not? We already have Rashford and Garnacho for whom that position wide left is their natural position. As far as a second striker or playing behind the front man is concerned, we've got Bruno who will likely be the captain once Maguire is shipped out. It's not that I doubt Gakpo's talents, I just question if he truly fits our needs and priorities.

If he's bought to be a striker he's in competition with Martial. Would we add a bona fide #9 in the summer with those two already on our books?
A huge percentage wanted a rashford replacement not long ago. We must be in for any top talent regardless if we have a rashford level
Ability in front of him. That’s not the bar for saying “ok this position is nailed down already”!
 

Bastian

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A huge percentage wanted a rashford replacement not long ago. We must be in for any top talent regardless if we have a rashford level
Ability in front of him. That’s not the bar for saying “ok this position is nailed down already”!
We can't just stockpile players in positions we're already set in because they're good. There are considerations of squad harmony, wage budget, transfer budget, and we simply have more pressing needs than acquiring another left-sided forward. Also, Garnacho has really blown up recently and we can't have two first team players ahead of him in the pecking order if we're serious about retaining him.

I can see this make sense in two ways, ETH is convinced Gakpo can play as a centre forward or he wants Rashford there vying with Martial for that role and Gakpo competes with Garnacho. I think both scenarios are unlikely.
 

Cassidy

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We can't just stockpile players in positions we're already set in because they're good. There are considerations of squad harmony, wage budget, transfer budget, and we simply have more pressing needs than acquiring another left-sided forward. Also, Garnacho has really blown up recently and we can't have two first team players ahead of him in the pecking order if we're serious about retaining him.

I can see this make sense in two ways, ETH is convinced Gakpo can play as a centre forward or he wants Rashford there vying with Martial for that role and Gakpo competes with Garnacho. I think both scenarios are unlikely.
The manager has just said he is not happy with the depth of our attacking options, and he was not just talking about CF
 

Bastian

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The manager has just said he is not happy with the depth of our attacking options, and he was not just talking about CF
You think he was talking about the left wing? I've not even mentioned Sancho as he's got a bit of work to do before coming back into the fold I guess. But he as well prefers to operate there, so that's three first team players in Rashford, Sancho and Garnacho. I very much doubt ETH wants another player there. But he most definitely lacks a striker.
 

yamo123x

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Gakpo isnt a #9 he is a wide attacker and will be signed as that.

With the emergence of Garnacho too, this doesnt bode well for Jadon Sancho.

I can see Sancho back to Dortmund in any potentialBellingham deal
 

Todd

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Gakpo isnt a #9 he is a wide attacker and will be signed as that.

With the emergence of Garnacho too, this doesnt bode well for Jadon Sancho.

I can see Sancho back to Dortmund in any potentialBellingham deal
Bellingham is a pipedream, he will go to City

Gakpo as a striker would probably be more dangerous than anyone we currently have. Martial cannot be counted on to stay fit. A front three of Rashford, Gakpo and Antony would be pretty good.

I'd still rather have Lautaro though.
 

Cassidy

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You think he was talking about the left wing? I've not even mentioned Sancho as he's got a bit of work to do before coming back into the fold I guess. But he as well prefers to operate there, so that's three first team players in Rashford, Sancho and Garnacho. I very much doubt ETH wants another player there. But he most definitely lacks a striker.
I've not labelled Gakpo as a left winger, I don't know what ETH sees, but he wants him and wants more attackers across the board
 
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