The Netherlands coach explains the reason for the absence of Khakpo’s goals with Liverpool

The coach of the Netherlands national football team, Ronald Koeman, said that the transfer of young international striker Cody Khakpo to Liverpool came early, after the young player failed to score or pass any decisive ball in the first six matches. Khakpo, after his brilliance in the Qatar World Cup 2022, moved from Eindhoven to Liverpool for a large deal amounting to $ 47 million in early 2023.

Koeman commented on the difficulties that Khakbu finds with Liverpool, “He ended up with a team that is not in good shape. If you do not score, you are not important, and you do not win any match, things are difficult.” Liverpool is going through a difficult season in which it ranks tenth in the English Premier League, without winning its last four matches.
Koeman continued, in an interview with former player Andy van der Midy’s YouTube channel, “If one of them was twenty-eight years old, had experience, things would be different.”

Koeman is going through his second experience with the Netherlands national team after the first between 2018 and 2020, succeeding Louis van Gaal, who led the orange team to the World Cup quarter-finals, where it lost on penalties to Argentina, who later won the title. Koeman, the former Barcelona coach, added, “The level in England is better than the Netherlands..they are young players, right? Similar to (Rhine) Khrafenberg, who moved to Bayern (Munich, Germany) and did not play. Things become difficult.”

Before moving to Liverpool, Khakpo (23 years old) scored nine goals and provided 12 assists in 14 appearances for PSV this season in the Eredivisie.
In turn, Khakpo said to the club’s magazine, “It is always difficult to come to a team that was in first place and wins every match, but things are difficult now. For me, it is about proving myself.”