Arne Slot warns Cody Gakpo that things will be different under his rule

Arne Slot says things will be different at Liverpool for at least one player going forward. He won’t be doing things the way Jurgen Klopp did.

One of the great criticisms of Jurgen Klopp's use of Cody Gakpo was that he never really had a set position for him. Gakpo had thrived at PSV Eindhoven on the left but has never been there consistently for Liverpool.

In truth, that was partly because Liverpool's formation wasn't the same as PSV's. Klopp clearly felt Gakpo suited being a midfielder or a centre-forward just as much as he did a winger in his system and played him across all three positions.

➡️ READ MORE: ARNE SLOT'S GRAVENBERCH PLAN

But that won't be the case under Arne Slot. The new head coach made that very clear this week in an interview with Viaplay.

"I think he’s played in a lot of different positions over the past few years," explained Slot. "I think that’s partly because Jürgen’s team and Pepijn’s team had a lot of position changes. So, as a left winger, you could also play as a left midfielder or even a striker.

"There were a lot of position switches happening. I feel like my style of play is a bit more fixed in terms of position, although there are a few roles that can interact with each other. Generally, you see wingers hanging out more on the sidelines, so it’s not surprising in the previous setup that if you could play in various positions, you could also start as a left midfielder and often drift out wide on the left, and vice versa.

"For us, it's a bit more about fixed positions, and I think Cody's best position is as a left winger. But he’s got some serious competition from Luis Diaz. So, if both of them are doing great, as a coach, you might feel tempted to choose one of them. I want to try out a couple of different positions, but I really think both of them are best as left wingers."

Arne Slot wants fixed positions

This is directed at Gakpo, who really did move about the most, but there are a few other players who will feel this change. Diogo Jota is another who moved about the pitch a lot under Klopp, as did Darwin Nunez.

Dominik Szoboszlai, too, played across several positions and it'll be interesting to see the plan with Joe Gomez. The defender was used as a right-back, left-back and defensive midfielder at times last season - and that's despite him seeing himself as a centre-back.

Change is coming, then. Let's cross our fingers it's for the better.