• You may have to login or register before you can post and view our exclusive members only forums.
    To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Cody De Facto

Forums Unread posts
Farkmaster

Farkmaster

Part of the Furniture
Member
You could make a post like this about virtually any of our forward players, but I suppose I've decided Gakpo is not eating his fair share of shit. It's remarkable to me, it's like his chief ability is to escape attention, within games, and without.

Gakpo is at an age where this is it. This is peak gakpo. We've got him, for his prime years. 26 years old. There were rumours we were going to sell him this summer. Obviously we sold our older, better left winger, instead.

So gakpo got a contract. And nobody really cared, did they? Not because he's shit. Not because anyone thinks he might push on even further, and find a new level, but because, well, he was more productive last year. Well, maybe not because of any of that, maybe he just escaped attention again.

The worry was he wouldn't have any competition really, and therefore he might get complacent. Maybe he has. I'm not sure. My problem with him is that I actually think he is quite consistent, he will score more if we can overlap enough to get him in the box, where, as I've said, he'd be working all the time if he was born at any other, less stupid time in world football.

Instead he's out left. A winger with no left foot. An inside forward with a decent shot and a decent cross, but without any real spark or lots of tricks. He will work off the ball, but when we are struggling to try to put an attack together, for a guy of his size, he's just nowhere near the outlet ball we need.

But he will score if we are playing well. So will Salah, so will wirtz. Who is going to help us play well though, when we aren't? Who wants to step up and do that? Not gakpo. He might be noticed, and we know what the bible teaches about vanity.

I'm not talking about dribbling past two and scoring either. That's not going to happen is it? Is it too much to ask that he be a pain in the fucking ass sometimes? Or just figure out how to be an outlet ball. A dump the ball to the guy on the left has been a feature of our play for the better part of a decade. As has, at times brilliant attacking football. The dump part is useful though, because things don't always go your way. He just cannot do it. Push him against the line and you'll be fine.

A few weeks ago I asked who was going to step up and be the old Salah or firmino, or mane. Now I'm wondering if anyone could just show a bit of personality and be a Diaz, or even Nunez for godsake. With Cody, I'm barking up the wrong tree on the personality front.

Isak isnt going to hit the ground running, so ekitike stays central. Throw chiesa on the left. Put Rio out there. Put the fear of god into the man. Cody can't be the defacto starter.
 
We needed a winger in the summer if the plan wasn't to play Ekitike there. Fofana was right fucking there, waiting and begging to move to a CL club.

Just said it in a other thread, we need 1 direct winger if the other is going to cut inside and cross/shoot every move. Rio or chiesa needs to start.
 
He looks good from time to time but isn't top class. Anyone playing up front for us is going to get chances and therefore their fair share of goals and, he does. But, he doesn't turn a game where we're struggling. He doesn't lift the team when they're flat. If you put him in an average team, he'd do ball all. He's OK, nothing more. And yeah, the cutting inside thing is getting on my tits as well. I'm sure we'll go on a roll at some point and he'll bag a few but, you know.
 
Part of his and Salah's issue at the moment is that we are taking forever to move the ball quickly through midfield to the forward line, so by the time Gakpo or Salah get it, the opposition defence are all in front of them, and all either can do is try and cut inside or shoot (or in Mo's case, try and do that inside of the foot cross which he has taken to doing now). Both of them aren't great at holding onto the ball either.
 
What irks me with Cody is that it's just the same shit time after time. I'm not expecting him to transform himself into some tricky winger, but there's no versatility or unpredictability in his game whatsoever. He needs to be using his fullback more, he needs to be mixing up his positional play, and he needs to be making new runs off the ball. If an opposition analyst writes a report about him, it could be about 50 words long. All that is fine when the side is clicking and he can get on the end of one of Salah's crosses, or he's getting the space to cut in and shoot, but that's all he's got.

With Salah's legs going, and not replacing Diaz, then I'm fast becoming of the view that we need to be using Ngumoha far more than we are, or even should be, because nobody in our attack offers what he can. There's no one fix, but I think the sooner we revert back to last year's set up and tell Ngumoha to replicate Diaz's role, the better. We need a tactical reset.
 
Brizzle said:
I’d prefer to see him in the box. He has a powerful finish and is strong with his head. Our LB should be hugging the touchline and Cody getting in the box. We need him on there, not trying to curl on in the top corner 6 times a match
Click to expand...
Yes I currently prefer trying Rio or Chiesa out there, however let's not ignore (not you) Gakpo's output last season, especially so when he gets to that back post for a header. We seem to have lost that and a lot of that is down to Salah's stunningly crap form.

The reason we have looked so shockingly impotent in recent games is that both wingers have been utter bollocks and this has affected our strikers (Isak and Ekitike) having to feed off scraps.
 
I was told all last season Gakpo was the better winger. “Oh but look how many less minutes he played and the numbers he still put up compared”, fuck off you benders.
 
The fact that Kerkez is playing like he's scared doesn't help. I actually think he is a bigger problem. Gakpo looks much better when Robbo is playing and providing some support down the left.
 
It's amazing what two defeats can do to bring to the surface all those doubts that are buried when we win and now need a hate figure.

What has Cody ever contributed since joining?

Reference to the Romans skit etc
 
jexykrodic said:
It's amazing what two defeats can do to bring to the surface all those doubts that are buried when we win and now need a hate figure.

What has Cody ever contributed since joining?

Reference to the Romans skit etc
Click to expand...

I don't hate him, and I don't think he is shit. I just think we have a lot of players who will contribute when we are playing well, and not a lot of players who will contribute when we won't.

The player who used to have gakpos position offered the latter, due to being a superior dribbler, occupying positions wide, and being a more aggressive defender. I could have almost made the same thread, but about how criminally this forum underrated diaz.
 
He went on a decent run of form last season before his injury….he was finishing chances with conviction was aggressive in the press and took players on.

Ever since he’s gone back to the Cody we’ve known since he arrived. One who fades in and out of games and looks a one trick pony.
 
Fabio said:
Agree. Kerkez frequently tries to make the overlapping run and gakpo seems more intent on cutting inside
Click to expand...

Which isn't getting the best out of Kerkez either. The man is a beast getting up and down the line but we have him either stacking the middle and struggling to progress the ball or getting ignored when he does run down the line.

Almost every single one of our players is struggling at the moment. Part of it is individual but there's a lot of tactical questions too.
 
He's super predictable, but you could overlook it last season as the goals rolled in. They've dried up now. Seems like we have a lot of things to fix ATM.
 
localny said:
He's super predictable, but you could overlook it last season as the goals rolled in. They've dried up now. Seems like we have a lot of things to fix ATM.
Click to expand...

Right, but this is my point. There is pressure on wirtz to get clicking. There is pressure on Salah, or there should be because he's been fucking awful, Ekitike was pilloried rightly for being an idiot when he's the only one scoring.

But here was have a player that has zero excuses. No contract issues. No upcoming move. No fitness issues. Prime of his career. And he just skates by for the most part, because we've accepted his ceiling. Has he?
 
KopRed said:
The fact that Kerkez is playing like he's scared doesn't help. I actually think he is a bigger problem. Gakpo looks much better when Robbo is playing and providing some support down the left.
Click to expand...

Kerkez does provide support for Gakpo but Gakpo rarely uses him.

Gakpo is ordinary. It's not his fault but that's just what he is.

He's just not regular starter for us in a million years. His role last year suited him & us but we've fucked it with the left hand side & add a declining Salah to the right hand side it's shafting us badly. Ekitike & Isak are & will be feeding off scraps in many games because of this.

Everton have a better left wing than us.
 
Number21 said:
Kerkez does provide support for Gakpo but Gakpo rarely uses him.

Gakpo is ordinary. It's not his fault but that's just what he is.

He's just not regular starter for us in a million years. His role last year suited him & us but we've fucked it with the left hand side & add a declining Salah to the right hand side it's shafting us badly. Ekitike & Isak are & will be feeding off scraps in many games because of this.

Everton have a better left wing than us.
Click to expand...
I think Gakpo’s stats the last couple of season would disagree with the fact that he’s ordinary
 
This, in contrast, is a bold title. Cody de facto? Like facts are being released. Well known but so far unheard of facts. I mean, he does have a solid right foot. And is a striker. I hope it doesn't turn into Cody de Gakpo. The title thread, I mean, and only as far as the thread is concerned. He also runs a whole lot and is fast.

Salah on the right. And Gakpo on the left does make sense in terms of bombing forward. And I'd put Chiesa between them, but a bit deeper.

And then Ekitike and Isak can also bomb forward like that. And probably even better and more unpredictably. I mean both of them are better than Gakpo. But Chiesa perhaps cannot play so, so many minutes. The real problem is that there's nobody like him in the squad. Like him and at his level. I see Chiesa as like a Ferrari but in terms football. Not speed or car-racing.

AND THEN, a REALLY exciting option would be to play Szoboszlai, Wirtz and Mac Allister AS THREE 10s (a German 10, an Argentinian 10, and a Hungarian 10), in THAT midfield. Kick Gravenberch out in games / when we must win. But the problem are full backs. They'd have to really be full backs. In and under that set-up Chiesa would be a lazy maestro with everyone else compensating in terms of physical application and exertion. That's how football is and used to be played. It is just that now 10s are out of fashion and don't really exist at top clubs even though everyone still wants to be a Number 10. Perhaps laziness goes together with great, mercurial creativity that pops up in critical moments. But must be carefully reserved. Or reserved with great care.

ps And Wirtz and Szoboszlai are both major investments. Unlike Gravenberch and aaaaaaalso Mac Allister.* Let Jones and Gravenberch fight it out for scraps.

* There's usually a reason for such things.


View: https://youtu.be/_gJdT5Vn11w?list=RD_gJdT5Vn11w
 
Are we actually basing Gakpo on this 1 game? Or an imaginary last season where he was "shite and shouldn't be a starter" but we still won the league?

I didn't watch the Galatasaray game but by a few accounts Gakpo did create a big chance or two? He did not start against Palace and we have had the worst half I have seen in a long time. So how do we explain that?

Maybe knowledgeable posters here should start with some constructive posting about if not Gakpo then who? Because I am frankly tired of the constant bashing. It just goes from 1 player to another.

The entire team is shite at the moment, deal with it and stop acting like pussies.
 
KopRed said:
Are we actually basing Gakpo on this 1 game? Or an imaginary last season where he was "shite and shouldn't be a starter" but we still won the league?

I didn't watch the Galatasaray game but by a few accounts Gakpo did create a big chance or two? He did not start against Palace and we have had the worst half I have seen in a long time. So how do we explain that?

Maybe knowledgeable posters here should start with some constructive posting about if not Gakpo then who? Because I am frankly tired of the constant bashing. It just goes from 1 player to another.

The entire team is shite at the moment, deal with it and stop acting like pussies.
Click to expand...

Explain to me where I'm basing this all one one game, or I'm bashing him?

I'm looking for someone to step up in attack. I've been waiting all season. No, it isn't just him, but he's getting regular starts, and there are options. My point is he needs to be challenged.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom