Cody Gakpo
Speaking to Gakpo, it becomes
abundantly clear that he thinks incredibly
deeply about football, his own game
and how he can impact matches. Next
season, if he stays at PSV, he will be
reunited with a former coach from his
youth days. Ruud van Nistelrooy, who
has been named as Roger Schmidt’s
successor at the Philips Stadion.
He will take over in the summer.
“He was in the academy; in the
Under-15s, U16s, U17s and U18s, and
we’d do individual training. The strikers
would go with Ruud, the midfielders
with Mark van Bommel and the
defenders with Andre Ooijer.
“He did a lot of work with us on
finishing and in certain situations, and
wasagreathelp;wegotalong really
well as a coach and player on the pitch,
but away from the pitch, too. I have a
really good connection with him and I’mglad he is going to be the new coach.”
Gakpo will also be working with a
new coach at international level soon,
too. Having made his debut under Frank
de Boer at Euro 2020 – an11-minute
cameo in a 3-0 victory over North
Macedonia – he has continued to
feature under his successor, Louis
van Gaal. Having been diagnosed with
prostate cancer, the 70-year-old will
step down after this year’s World Cup
to be replaced by Ronald Koeman.
“The Euros were a great experience,I was very happy to be there. It is natural
you want to play every game. But I was
the new guy; I understood my role,
trained hard and made a good
impression.
The notoriously authoritarian Van
Gaal has described Gakpo as a “great
talent” with “a lot of experience to gain”,
and handed him his first three starts at
the end of 2021. Gakpo netted his first
international goal in the 4-0 win over
Montenegro, yet fell foul of the coach
a month later in the victory over Latvia.
According to reports, sub Noa Lang, the
Club Brugge star, swapped wings with
Gakpo without the consent of the coach,
who instantly swapped them back.
“The new coach is very demanding
with what he wants and the players try
to deliver, nobody has a problem with
that. He is an amazing coach, who tries
to help us reach a new level. I’m grateful
he’s chosen me in
thelastfewDutch
squads and I’m
hoping to go to
the World Cup.”
Big moments
feel sure to be a
part of Gakpo’s future, but his mindset
is strong. Like any player, he dreams of
reaching the very top, but is continuing
to ignore all the talk and thrive on the
pressure.
“Every player wants to play at the
highest level possible,” he concludes.
“When you see things like the Champions
League, it is fantastic to watch. I’d love
to reach that level, so it is about working
hard to reach my goals. Hopefully I can
get there with PSV; we don’t know
what the future holds.”academy and add it to your game.
“My family support me through the
good and bad; I still work on my game
with my dad. When we have time, we
go and play in a park somewhere and
he explains things to help me improve.
He will tell me what I’ve done well, what
I can work on and we train. They help to
protect me from pressure and attention,
so the only pressure I feel is the
pressure I put on myself.”
Although he was a PSV supporter
growing up, Gakpo looked further afield
for influence and he still does today.
Among his heroes was Thierry Henry,
who he tries to model his game on.
“I still watch Henry on YouTube,”
Gakpo says with a smile. “He was one
of the best players when he played.
I followed him when he was at Arsenal
a little bit, but I was young. When he
went to Barcelona, he played with
[Lionel] Messi and
[Samuel] Eto’o.
I really looked
at those players.
When I got older
and physically
matured I thought
about who I could learn from the best.
“Of course, you want to look at Messi
or [Cristiano] Ronaldo, but they have a
different body type to me; Henry is much
more similar. He was tall like me and
also played a similar position, a little bit
on the wing, up front or in a free role.
I still have a lot to learn from him, but
that is why I watch his clips again and
again. You can see how he handled
certain situations, and you can compare
yourself quality-wise but also physically.
I want to improve, so I look at him.”
“The Premier League is a great competition
with great intensity...it is an impressive league;
I love watching it”Idol...Gakpo
bases his game
on Thierry
HenryOranjestarlet...Gakpo celebrates his first Netherlands goal in a 2022 World Cup qualifier against Montenegro