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There are those who remain in the rubble of Darwin Núñez’s destruction. They can be opposing goalkeepers and defenders, riddled with bullets by the raging bull, or supporters of the goal, threatened with capricious shots. Their number also includes the striker-turned-attacker. Liverpool anti-Nunez.
There is something underrated about Cody Gakpo. He would possibly be the least explosive of Jurgen Klopp’s forwards. He endeared himself to the Liverpool manager by understanding his tactical demands without delay, while it took time for Nunez. The Uruguayan is the true number 9; While the Dutchman arrived from PSV Eindhoven as a left winger, he spent much of his early months at Anfield as a false nine. Liverpool may not have another Roberto Firmino, but Gakpo was predicted to be his successor last season.
This year, however, it would arguably have a less enviable status. If Núñez can be electric in mid-flight, he overtook Gakpo. There was a time when Klopp had 3 debutants who were guaranteed to start. Then Diogo Jota has become the intruder, which makes the issue a 3 out of 4. While Firmino followed Sadio Mane to the start, while Gakpo, Nunez and Luis Diaz started from Anfield, Klopp was left with 3 out of five: or, with Mohamed Salah’s dominance firmly entrenched, two out of four.
And Gakpo, once one of the two front-runners, has begun to consider the fifth pick. Although Jota has been injured for a few weeks, he seems to be the first reserve. A brace against LASK on Thursday seemed timely, but hardly seemed to replace Klopp’s thinking. Liverpool go on a run of 8 games in 23 days and Gakpo will be in the starting line-up, although perhaps not as a starter when it comes most.
“We already have Diogo, he’s not there, so he’s not useful and we have to share those minutes with other players and they have to play, not 90 [minutes] but 60 or 70 at full throttle,” Klopp said. . . « Darwin is in a wonderful moment and that hasn’t changed, it’s very vital for us. He didn’t start tonight and Cody scored twice. Does that mean he has to start the next five games in a fight?Cody didn’t expect that. They have to write down, that’s the job, that’s what they want, but it’s not like I’m having sleepless nights and I don’t know where to start. It’s not really a choice, to be honest.
It shows that Nunez, who spent part of the second half of last season as a substitute and others as a substitute striker, is now the spearhead. Indeed, Klopp’s Premier League options suggest that Gakpo is a man and that the pecking order has changed.
In the last four games, the attacking trio consisted of Salah, Nunez and Jota, but this came at a time when Diaz’s season was cut short by the kidnapping of his father. With the Portuguese now sidelined and the Colombian reunited with his family on Merseyside, he looks set to regain the position he lost after a great performance in the Merseyside derby. A very good header that contrasts with LASK’s evidence of his abilities; Perhaps just as pertinently, Gakpo, despite his versatility, has not looked dynamic enough to be a true winger for Klopp. Diaz is.
And the review of his season is instructive. Three of his six league starts came in midfield. Indeed, his ability to go deep came in handy last season: while Liverpool struggled in midfield, Klopp struggled to accommodate Nunez in a central role and appreciated the January newcomer’s ability to help out. For 3 games, when Klopp was left without midfield duties, he called up Gakpo.
But in his three attacking starts, he scored two respectable goals (to add to his two each in the Carabao Cup and Europa League), but was eliminated within an hour of each. He has not started as a forward in the Premier. League since the 2-1 defeat against Tottenham. He lasted only forty-five minutes, scored but was injured.
His other start as a striker came here at Newcastle; This is one of the biggest matches of Liverpool’s crusade for several reasons.
They were 1-0 down with 10 men when Gakpo came out (through no fault of his own, they were exhausted in two of his three attacking games) and won 2-1 with a devastating double coming on for Nunez.
It was the start of the Uruguayan’s surge into the premier position in Klopp’s thinking. If Gakpo benefited from not being Nunez in spring, now he is suffering from it in winter. Maybe, like many a defender, he has been powerless to halt Nunez in full flight.