As Klopp clarifies rotation, Cody Gakpo is “very important” and the midfield is ‘never the plan’

The Dutchman played center-midfield for the first half of the season as the Reds rotated their forwards and dealt with injuries.

Gakpo has scored four goals this season, but he was sidelined after suffering a knee injury when trying to equalize at Tottenham before the international break.

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Since then, he has made a comeback to the team, starting in his more comfortable position as a center striker in Wednesday’s League Cup match away at Bournemouth.

Prior to the trip to Luton, Klopp acknowledged that Gakpo’s midfield cameos weren’t prearranged, but he still believes the player is “smart” enough to fill the role to the necessary level.

“Since Cody’s here, he arrived in his position and now starting the season he played in midfield,” Klopp told the media in his pre-Luton press conference.

“If we had everybody available it was never the plan for us to put Cody there, we just knew he can play there.

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“It was for him again something new after the false nine last year, and all of a sudden he was in new positions.

“He is a super-smart player, so he can adapt to that, but we want him to adapt and then you have to perform immediately at the top level.

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“That was in the midfield position a bit difficult, but with a bit more time he can play there perfectly, no doubt about that.

“Then the injury, which was really unlucky in this horrible game, and now he is back and he is just a versatile striker, he can play everywhere for us.

“He is a top, top, top player and a really good character as well so it is really helpful.

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“The boys up front, they all like each other. There’s not this battle between ‘how will I start’, they all like each other.

“They know they can all play together and that’s really important, and they enjoy it a lot, they all want to start but if you don’t start they know they will come on, and Cody’s a very important part of that.

“The good thing is we have really smart players, and it means they understand they cannot play all games.

“That’s how a smart footballer should think and our boys do that.”