Liverpool $44m ace can be key lieutenant to Arne Slot in bid to maintain Feyenoord playing style
Liverpool’s performance in its 2-0 loss to Everton was very disappointing. It may not have mattered but it was unfortunate that the Reds were denied the use of two players who had been in decent form.
The final goal in Liverpool’s 3-1 win at Fulham last weekend was assisted by Cody Gakpo and scored by Diogo Jota. Neither featured at Goodison Park, though; the former as his partner went into labor, the latter after suffering another injury.
Whether they’d have made any difference against Everton, we’ll never know. But with the Reds negotiating with Feyenoord in the hope of appointing its manager, Arne Slot, to replace Jürgen Klopp, Gakpo’s performance at Craven Cottage showed he could be an asset to his fellow Dutchman should he take over at Anfield.
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Feyenoord’s playing style is not identical to Liverpool’s but there are definite parallels. The most important is an ability to counter-press, to win the ball high up the pitch with the aim of launching an immediate attack.
Per Opta Analyst, this season Slot’s side have generated 11 league goals from high turnovers, which are defined as “sequences that start in open play and begin 40m or less from the opponent's goal.” Across the traditional top five leagues plus Netherlands and Portugal, only Manchester City and Stuttgart have scored as many times via this method in 2023/24.
Feyenoord has been able to amass these goals as it is exceptionally good at winning the ball in the attacking third. Per Fotmob, it has done so 6.9 times per Eredivisie match this season, the most in the division. Liverpool averaged 7.6 in 2021/22 but has otherwise been below this mark in the last seven campaigns.
We can also assess this rate by factoring in how many touches a team’s opponents have in their defensive third. Feyenoord have regained the ball once for every 34.2 touches its opposition has taken in the back third of the pitch, a little better than the Reds’ corresponding rate of 35.8 this season. Better still was the 30.0 average Slot’s side posted last season on their way to winning the Eredivisie title, a more intense final third press than Liverpool has offered in any season since the summer of 2017.
Against tougher opposition and with more matches to play, Slot may not be able to reach such heights in the Premier League. But he will be looking to broadly maintain that style and Gakpo could prove to be a key lieutenant.
In the match against Fulham, the Netherlands international made four ball recoveries in the final third, seven in the opposition half and 10 in total, the most of any player from either side. One in the attacking third enabled Gakpo to have a shot on target himself too.
But the total of four in the final third is most significant. That’s as many as the whole Fulham team has averaged this season, with Nottingham Forest (3.4) and Sheffield United (3.3) making fewer. There are another nine teams in the Premier League posting fewer than five per game, so Gakpo wasn’t far off matching them too.
This was clearly an exceptional performance in this regard. But Jota, long regarded as a ‘pressing monster’ has only amassed six final third regains this season. Gakpo’s average for 2023/24 moved up to 1.2 per 90 minutes, second only to Harvey Elliott (1.3), though the young midfielder has played approximately 300 minutes fewer. The former PSV Eindhoven forward’s average was 0.9 in the Premier League last season and 0.8 in the Eredivisie in 2021/22.
Interestingly, Ryan Gravenberch averaged 0.7 for Ajax that season but has delivered 1.1 per 90 in his debut Liverpool campaign, the third most of anyone in the squad. Klopp has taken the Dutch players’ pressing up a notch and another son of the Netherlands may take advantage of that if he takes charge of the Reds next season.
Liverpool.com says: For Liverpool to have the best chance of success in 2024/25, it needs to appoint a manager whose style will ensure as seamless a transition from Klopp as is possible. Slot's preference for high pressing suggests he can enable that, and Gakpo's upturn in final third regains suggests he could be a key player for his fellow Dutchman.