Who’s 1st choice front 3 and is Gakpo the new Jota?

Got home later from work than anticipated so just a quick conversation starter of a filler article…

When the season started and everyone was fit, Klopp’s preferred front three was Salah, Jota and Diaz and there weren’t many who would have disagreed with that. Oscar might have had Darwin up top but between his well documented struggles and Gakpo having mixed results in his utility attacker role under Klopp the previous year, I don’t think too many people would’ve argued that the aforementioned trio were our best front three and to be fair, they didn’t disappoint. Diaz had a blistering start to the season, Jota was his usual highly effective self and a resurgent and obviously highly motivated Salah, was clearly in the mood for a special season.

Things look a lot different now though. Salah has maintained his blistering form but the painfully familiar long spell on the sidelines for Jota, opened the door for one of Nunez or Gakpo to seize their chance and despite moments from Nunez, it’s undoubtedly been Gakpo who didn’t just seize the opportunity, he put it in a chokehold.

When he scored on Sunday, it actually occurred to me that Gakpo reminds me of Jota in a lot of ways. Seen as mid-range priced squad players when they arrived, they were met with the usual flurry of excitement any new signing brings but the fan base weren’t exactly celebrating in the streets, nor were they united in their approval of the signings. Gakpo didn’t face quite the unfathomable prospect that Jota did, of having to try and dislodge one of the much celebrated trio of Mane, Salah and Firmino. He did all he could do however, which was make an impact every time he played, be that starting or off the bench. He did that, until eventually his goals just couldn’t be ignored any longer and the unthinkable happened – he took Firmino’s place as preferred starter down the middle of our attacking trio.

Gakpo has done exactly the same thing. Had to be patient at the start of the season, not getting many minutes and none from the start. When his chance did come in the league cup however, there wasn’t a hint of ego about him, feeling the competition was below him. He was right at it, attitude bang on point and the fact he’s now the top scorer in that competition, tells its own story.

In the league he was having to make do with minutes off the bench but again, he did what Jota did and made an impact, changing games as he was brought on to do, scoring winners or even just his fresh energy and directness, causing tired defences to make crucial mistakes. It’s all a player in his position can do – when your minutes come, make them count!

It became apparent Slot didn’t fancy Nunez much when Jota was injured and he went to a front three of Salah, Diaz and Gakpo. What did surprise us was we all expected Gakpo to be the one who would play down the middle but tellingly, Slot opted to move Diaz from his preferred position and keep Gakpo wide left. It’s proved a masterstroke, as since returning to his natural position, Gakpo has now demonstrated what earned him a move to Liverpool in the first place and like Jota before him, his goals can no longer be ignored.

When he scored that goal on Wednesday against Spurs, I thought to myself – We’ve got another Jota on our hands. He’s not blowing people away with outrageous skill or anything, he’s just going about his business of being quietly, yet devastatingly effective. A knack for being in the right place for a poachers finish but scores all kinds of goals – right foot, left foot, headers. Creates goals for himself out of nothing both inside and outside the box and also creates for others. He’s rarely the player who stands out in your mind immediately after a game but then you see the scoreboard and realise that actually he scored two of your four goals, assisted another and won the penalty for the other and you realise that you barely noticed but actually, he dominated the match. Just like Diogo at times before him.

Diaz could perhaps feel a little aggrieved and blame his recent drop in form on being played out of position and that’s valid but you just can’t ignore Gakpo’s goals, especially at a time when Diaz looks like he’s never going to score again.

Like Jota, Gakpo is an extremely intelligent player, he has the perfect attitude, an excellent temperament and then on top of that, he has something Jota will never have – physical prowess! Height, pace, power… Not to mention fitness record. He has the potential to be Jota on steroids!!

In all seriousness though, I think if there’s any player Gakpo should be learning from, in terms of similar traits and the way they see the game, it’s Jota as opposed to Salah.

For me, the Dutchman is fast proving himself to be another incredibly shrewd signing, not to mention absolute steal for the price we paid and in my opinion when everyone’s fit, our strongest front three right now is Salah, Jota and Gakpo.

Diaz is right behind Gakpo though and one dip in form or injury, their roles could easily reverse once more but that is the beauty of squad depth with genuine competition for places. We’ve seen Konate dropped for Quansah in Slot’s very first team selection. That will have hurt but having been brought on at half-time, he set about making sure Slot knew he’d got that one wrong and has played the best football of his career since.

A lacklustre Szoboszlai missed a couple of games and Jones came in and was superb!! He has to be because he needs to impact games when the chance arises, as Gakpo and Jota did in the aforementioned. For me it’s coincidence though that then Szoboszlai returns and suddenly we’re seeing the very best of him again. I’ve not got the stats but I’m pretty sure Harvey Elliott’s goal involvements to minutes ratio this season must be quite impressive as I can remember a couple of occasions him coming off the bench to score or assist. Loves a deflected goal does Harvey but in the very limited minutes he’s had, he’s made an impact more often than not and once again, no sulking and a top attitude.

Darwin I’ve run out of things to day about. He’s basically just become this team’s very expensive Origi. He’ll have some big moments and play his part but I don’t ever see him as first choice and wouldn’t be surprised if he was moved on in the summer.

Chiesa I think people are being too quick to write off. It’s been a mixed bag no doubt but after the injuries, time frozen out at Juve and the time away from the group when we basically had to spend 6 months just getting him fit enough to be able to TRAIN with the others, let alone play. Now I don’t think that says much about him as a professional but we’re here now and now he’s finally fit, we need to give him time. He’s had no chance to find for or rhythm in the limited and spaced out minutes he’s had. He’s looked excellent one minute and godawful the next but I’m not ready to give up on him just yet and still believe he could prove a very useful squad player. If he’d been fit earlier in the season, he’d have benefitted from the same league cup run that Gakpo did. As it is, he’s playing and then not playing again for a few weeks. Plymouth away, on a pitch that had so many bobbles on it that it resembled a mole’s high school reunion party and our lightweight midfield thst allowed the game to become an old school British, blood and thunder match that we never had control of… it will have been something of a culture for an Italian who’s played in Italy his entire career up to now. It’s not a huge surprise he struggled.

I suspect if we’re ever going to see the best of Chiesa, we’ll probably have to wait until next season. Settled in and acclimatised to the club, style of football, weather etc… Proper preseason with the lads and then more consistent minutes coming off the bench in the league and starting in the cups. That will give him some chance of finding some form and rhythm. This season I have limited expectations but we’ve seen he’s capable of popping up with a goal so if he could grab a couple off the bench between now and season’s end, I’ll take that. 6th choice though and has a lot to do to change that.

That’s my thoughts on the current state of play of our attack then. Feel free to disagree of course… If you fancy being wrong at least once today 😉

Walk on!!