McManaman claims ‘fantastic’ Liverpool player has been ‘hard done by’

It’s been mostly smooth sailing for Liverpool under Arne Slot so far this season, but Steve McManaman has suggested that one Reds player has been somewhat shafted in recent weeks.

Despite impressing at Euro 2024 by scoring three goals and setting up another as Netherlands reached the semi-finals, Cody Gakpo has started just two of our first nine matches of the campaign.

One of those was part of a much-changed line-up in the Carabao Cup against West Ham, while the 25-year-old has yet to start in the Premier League this term (Transfermarkt).

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Speaking on co-commentary for TNT Sports during Liverpool’s win over Bologna last night (via BBC Sport), McManaman had every sympathy for the Dutchman for being continually overlooked by Slot.

The former Reds winger said: “If there’s one player you feel sorry for, it’s Cody Gakpo. He has made a difference; he’s been excellent. With the summer he’s had you’d think he’d be one of [the] first players on [the] manager’s list. He is hard done by; he’s been fantastic.”

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It attests to the sheer strength of depth that Liverpool have in attack that Gakpo has been confined to almost entirely a substitute brief so far this season.

His starring performance in the win over AC Milan last month, when a searing run created the opportunity to Dominik Szoboszlai to score, makes it even harder to comprehend why the 25-year-old has been overlooked by Slot for the most part in recent weeks.

There’s one overarching reason why he’s begun from the bench in the majority of games – Luis Diaz. The Colombian has enjoyed a splendid start to the campaign with five goals in eight matches, including a double against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

The 27-year-old’s scoring flow has lessened slightly of late, with four blanks in his last five appearances, and he had one of his quieter outings of the season in the victory against Bologna last night, having not recorded a single shot before he was substituted for Gakpo.

With a quick turnaround to a banana skin of an away fixture versus Crystal Palace on Saturday lunchtime, Slot might freshen things up by selecting his fellow Dutchman from the start at Selhurst Park and giving our number 7 a breather in the knowledge that he could do damage off the bench.

As ever, we’ll leave that decision to the man with the responsibility for making it, a man who’s gotten almost everything right so far in his Liverpool tenure.