Jurgen Klopp has lavished praised upon Cody Gakpo following a return to form that he credits to honest talks between the pair.
The Dutchman was among the Reds’ standout performers in last weekend’s 4-2 win over Tottenham, providing a goal and an assist to take his season’s tally for those measures to 15 and six respectively.
However, those impressive numbers have come about despite Gakpo suffering a notable mid-season dip in form that saw him struggle to influence games.
And Klopp has now opened up on the discussions that helped end that poor run, hinting that positional issues and aggressiveness were the main topics.
He said: “Cody, he knows that he was, for a while, not in his best moment.
“We had a conversation there, obviously not for public what we spoke about there, but it helped him a lot. We could sort it a little bit.
“It’s just the problem, can I speak in the first moment a player is not performing anymore to the levels you expect them to do?
“You can, but how can I have an answer for his situation if I don’t understand it? So we have to try to look a bit longer into it, wait for a specific moment when I can give answers.
“Maybe that took too long for me as well, that’s maybe the case. But after that talk he really stepped up.
“It’s really good to see how physically strong he is, how good a footballer he is. He can play left wing especially and centre.
“Smart again, full of confidence, physical strength, good moment. Good for him, good for us.”
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