Wim Kieft is impressed by Cody Gakpo. The PSV attacker had a rough start to the season, but the form now seems to be back with the winger. The analyst thinks that the approaching World Cup is the ideal stage for the wing attacker to put himself in the spotlight at European top clubs. The fact that Gakpo can compete with Erling Braut Haaland in terms of statistics does not say much to Kieft.
“In the beginning, expectations were very high”, Kieft said on Friday evening Veronica Offside on the revived Gakpo. “And those two games (against AS Monaco and Rangers in the preliminary round of the Champions League, ed.). And you expected him to do it. And that didn’t work. Anyway, he will pick it up again. And that goal he makes (the 0-3 against FC Zurich, ed.), I thought that was a really great exercise. That will be a great player.” Gakpo shook off a defender of the Swiss with a deft movement, only to hit from just outside the box.
Most goals + assists across all competitions in top-flight European football this season:
? 22 – Erling Haaland (19G, 3A)
? 22 – Cody Gakpo (12G, 10A)Cody is cooking. ????? pic.twitter.com/HGS80WA3X5
— Squawka (@Squawka) Oct 6, 2022
“Look, there is now a World Cup coming up. He will be completely the man at PSV, he will really take it all, I suspect,” predicts Kieft. “A nice test next week against Arsenal. Then he might skip that step (to a club like Leeds United, ed.).” Presenter Wilfred Genee then drew the comparison with 22-year-old Erling Braut Haaland, who is a year younger than Gakpo. Like the PSV player, the Manchester City attacker was involved in no fewer than 22 goals: nineteen hits and three assists. Gakpo scored 12 goals and provided 10 assists. The Norwegian superstar needed three games less for that.
Despite the impressive statistics, Kieft doesn’t find it very useful to compare Gakpo with Haaland. “But that’s not fair,” said the former attacker. “Haaland is just a monster. literally and figuratively. He is man, Jesus mina. How many has he made in the last few weeks? He is in another flow then Cristiano Ronaldo. And yet many people had doubts about his suitability for Manchester City’s game. Because there is always so little space. But Haaland is also so great in the box, man. That’s really not normal.”