Cody Gakpo has had a productive international break, which was also much-needed.
The Liverpool forward assisted his nation’s chances to qualify for Euro 2024 by scoring twice in two games for the Netherlands against Greece and Ireland. Regaining his scoring touch will be a huge lift for the Reds as they face Wolves this weekend in their return to action. Gakpo had a difficult start to the season up until he left for duty with his national team. He had failed to score in his first four matches and had to make do with a spot on the bench in Liverpool’s most recent match against Aston Villa.
 His current performance may be a reflection of the difficulties he initially faced after joining Liverpool at the beginning of the year, something that Ronald Koeman, the manager of the Netherlands, mentioned before the victory over Ireland.
According to Koeman (per the ECHO), “You have to understand that Gakpo is still a young player.” “When he first arrived at Liverpool, the squad was having trouble, so it was challenging for him to have an immediate influence.
 “If you join a club that is performing well, you will have the opportunity to enter the game at the correct time, but Liverpool needed a rapid fix, so that was challenging.
“Give him that time to grow and adjust to the Premier League because it’s a different level,” you must say.
“The intensity is much higher than he used to play in Holland, but he’s young and he will learn and he will be better, and he has a great future,” I recall from my time in England. You can tell he’s good.
Your initial thought might be to try to refute Koeman’s theory by defending Liverpool. After all, Gakpo didn’t endure much hardship before finishing the previous season on a profitable note.
But in actuality, Koeman is correct, and Jürgen Klopp is aware of this since he applied the same idea to explain Darwin Nez’s troubles in the previous campaign.
In April, Klopp said (per Goal), “It’s not helpful to go through a debut season when it’s difficult for the whole team.” “How can a striker excel when the entire team is having trouble? Though not impossible, he has had some incredible moments.
