It was thanks to the return of Luuk de Jong that Cody Gakpo finally managed to glory in a ‘big’ European home game with PSV. The number 11 played against a glorified B-team of Arsenal, that must be said, not only a good game, but with an assist also had a statistical share in the 2-0 victory, so that the Eindhoven club is sure of wintering in the Europa League. . It could have been even better for Gakpo if two goals had not been disallowed for offside.
If you look at the statistics of Cody Gakpo, you will wonder why this native from Eindhoven still plays for PSV. He has made 21 appearances for his club this season and has scored 13 goals and 14 assists. In addition, Gakpo scored a goal and an assist in his last two international matches against Poland and Belgium. Within Europe, only Norwegian striker Erling Haaland – 22 goals and 3 assists in 16 matches – can compete with Gakpo.
Gakpo may have had the most stunning performance against FC Groningen last Sunday. The Eindhoven contortionist was involved in no fewer than nineteen PSV goal attempts in the Euroborg. Gakpo himself tried eight times to score and created eleven chances for teammates. He did not score, but was good for two assists. However, it yielded nothing. PSV lost the competition match 4-2.
‘Phenomeno Gakpo’
Rarely, if ever, has a Dutch attacker been able to provide such figures in recent years. Gakpo’s figures are all over the world. The Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport already called him ‘Fenomeno Gakpo’. The Mexican marca wondered on Twitter if “the new Haaland” had stood up. With a question mark. And that’s telling. Because how are international scouts supposed to value all those goals and effective crosses if they were largely made in a Mickey Mouse competition like the Dutch Eredivisie?
Because when Gakpo was previously on ‘exam’ in the play-offs for the Champions League against Rangers FC, he fell before the eyes of the experts. On an August evening that had to make PSV’s season a success in one fell swoop, Gakpo just played one of his weakest matches. It meant a double defeat for his club. PSV was sentenced to the Europa League and the hoped-for, unfailing offer for Gakpo was not forthcoming. A financial and sporting loss for PSV. And a mental blow to Gakpo.
Gakpo took some time to process the elimination and canceled a transfer at the last minute. A last minute Leeds United’s bid rejected Gakpo. Director Marcel Brands was at peace with Gakpo staying, trainer Ruud van Nistelrooij was very happy with it. To the astonishment of the supervisory board, who had not only seen around thirty million euros in Champions League income pass the club, but now also saw a lucrative transfer fail. It cost technical director John de Jong the head.
Gakpo paid little attention to the administrative clashes and recovered. He shows in the Eredivisie almost every week that he has outgrown the Dutch competition. And also in the Europa League against FK Bodø/Glimt and FC Zurich, Gakpo had his share with three goals and an assist. But these were by no means opponents of international allure.
Self-trained attacker
For example, with a double confrontation against Arsenal, Gakpo took another exam. Could the self-trained PSV attacker be able to take his team further in Europe this time? One step lower than the Champions League, but against a stronger opponent than the Rangers FC. After all, Arsenal are leading the Premier League after 11 games. Perhaps the strongest competition in the world.
A week ago in London, Gakpo failed to score or give a decisive pass. PSV went down 1-0 against The Gunners. On Thursday, Gakpo had the opportunity to take revenge with PSV in its own Philips Stadium. Once again the eyes of the judges in international football were on him. Gakpo was visibly looking forward to the second part of the re-exam this time.
As the proud PSV captain, Gakpo walked onto the field against Arsenal with a large banner in his hand. From the left, he immediately radiated enthusiasm that was contagious to the crowd in the packed stadium. After nineteen minutes there suddenly seemed to be Gakpo’s moment. Joey Veerman set him free with a splitting ball for Aaron Ramsdale. With a beautiful marker, Gakpo worked the ball past the Arsenal goalkeeper into the net. His broad grin quickly turned into a grimace when VAR revealed that he had been offside.
Gakpo thus set the tone for the match in which PSV gave the European prestige some shine again. The vice-national champion really came loose in the second half with substitute Luuk de Jong as declarant and goalscorer. After Veerman’s opening goal in the 55th minute, on a pass from De Jong, Gakpo turned the ball eight minutes later with a corner on De Jong’s head. In the 66th minute, Gakpo seemed to score an all-deciding goal, but again it turned out to be offside. Gakpo succeeded this time, but the highest score and the best statistics were for De Jong this time.
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of October 28, 2022