Cody Gakpo is keenly looking forward to playing at centre forward for the Netherlands in this week’s Nations League finals after being thrust into the position over the last months at Liverpool, and with Dutch first choice Memphis Depay ruled out.
Gakpo, 24, built his reputation as a left winger at PSV Eindhoven but was switched to striker after moving to Liverpool in January. “Now that I’m playing at Liverpool I think it’s a nice position,” he told reporters on Sunday as the Netherlands prepared for the four-nation tournament. They face Croatia in Rotterdam tomorrow in the first semi-final.
With Depay sidelined through injury, Gakpo is expected to lead the line for the hosts. “I have become convinced that being a striker suits me,” said Gakpo, adding that several coaches had previously tried to convince him to make the switch but he had resisted.
“Guus Hiddink was the first. He spent a while at PSV as a sounding board, saw me play and said: ‘You have to become a striker or a false No. 9’. I didn’t want to believe it then. And then when Roger Schmidt said the same thing later at PSV when he was coach, I was even more stubborn. It felt good on the left flank. But at the last World Cup I was already more central on the field and at Liverpool permanently in the past six months. It’s been good. I’m excited now to get better in the position in the near future, for the club as well as the national team.”
Jurgen Klopp’s decision to shift Gakpo was initially met with criticism from Dutch pundits, who felt the Liverpool manager would not be able to get the best out of him. “It was a difficult period when I first arrived,” Gakpo recalled. Liverpool were struggling with in a dip in form and his introduction to the team did not go as smoothly as hoped.
Klopp then called him in a for pep talk. “He said what he wanted from me. In the beginning, of course, it took some getting used to, but I’ve enjoyed playing in that position in recent months.” Depay has a calf injury and Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman said on Saturday his absence offered “opportunity to see other guys at work.”
Meanwhile, Croatia could cap a superb season with success in this week’s Nations League finals against a trio of opponents looking to restore lost lustre at the end of a long campaign. The four-nation tournament is being held in the Netherlands this week with World Cup semi-finalists Croatia taking on the hosts in the first semi-final in Rotterdam tomorrow before Italy and Spain meet 24 hours later in Enschede. The winners move into the final in Rotterdam on Sunday, which takes place after the third-place playoff. Croatia’s run to the 2022 World Cup semis burnished a reputation they forged four years earlier in Russia when they lost to France in the final, but both the Netherlands and Spain left Qatar believing they could have done more. The Dutch exited the quarter-finals in a shootout while Spain were stunned by Morocco in the last 16.
Italy failed to qualify for 2022 but have allowed Roberto Mancini to stay on and try to rebuild the side. He will have five players from the Inter Milan side that lost Saturday’s Champions League final to Manchester City in a youthful squad. “It’s a great achievement to be back in the final four,” said Mancini. “In the group we had good teams like Germany, England and Hungary. We’re in the final stage and it’s clear that we want to win, like the others, but it won’t be easy.”
Spain have undergone a major overhaul since the World Cup under new coach Luis de la Fuente, who made seven changes after their last set of internationals in March, including a recall for 37-year-old Jesus Navas.
The Dutch go into the tournament without striker Memphis Depay and hoping for a renaissance under Ronald Koeman after he replaced Louis van Gaal as coach. In contrast, Croatia, with Luka Modric skippering the side, are a beacon of consistency though defender Josko Gvardiol has withdrawn through injury.
They now have a chance to win a first major title after finishing runners-up at the World Cup in 2018 and third in Qatar in December. This is the third edition of the Nations League, introduced to fill dates on the international calendar previously taken up by “meaningless” friendlies. Portugal won the first tournament in 2019 and France were champions two years ago.