Arne Slot spots Cody Gakpo 'overthinking' after change in Liverpool forward

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Liverpool IconLiverpool FC NewsFeaturesArne SlotCody Gakpo scored his third goal since November in Liverpool's 5-2 victory over West Ham on Saturday, with Arne Slot explaining the forward had been "overthinking" and making different decisions during his goal droughtArne Slot has offered his opinion(Image: Getty Images)Arne Slot believes Cody Gakpo was being influenced by his goalless run as he acknowledged the Liverpool forward "needed" his strike against West Ham.Gakpo netted only his third goal since November when finding the back of the net in the 5-2 Premier League triumph over the Hammers at Anfield on Saturday.The Netherlands international, who had previously spurned a simple chance, has been subjected to abuse on social media by a portion of the Liverpool support in recent months, largely due to his lack of goals. While rejecting claims that Gakpo was battling with self-belief, Slot hopes the goal will help settle the Reds winger.READ MORE: Arne Slot welcomes Jeremie Frimpong 'problem' after Liverpool injury returnREAD MORE: Arne Slot offers verdict on Champions League race after major Liverpool boost"I was happy because it was the 4-1 goal so that gave us an even more comfortable cushion, but even more happy for him to score because I think he needed that goal," said the Reds manager, whose side travel to rock-bottom Wolves on Tuesday."I don't think his confidence was gone or away in that regard, but I did see a few times recently that he maybe made different decisions than I'm used to from him."That doesn't always have to mean it's a lack of confidence.

But when players are not scoring for a longer and longer (time) they start to think more about their direction, and overthinking is not the best thing you can do.Cody Gakpo of Liverpool celebrates his goal against West Ham at Anfield on Saturday(Image: Getty Images)"I think that's something different to confidence. These players, whether it's Cody or Mo or whoever, they know they can have a certain spell without scoring."They've had it before in their careers and they know they will eventually start scoring again."There are periods of time where you don't put that much effort in and the ball just falls to you and you can score, and there are periods of time in your career where you try so hard, so hard and try too hard and overthink, and that's usually not the best thing to do if you want to score a goal."Slot had previously expressed his desire last week for greater goal output from his attacking players, with Hugo Ekitike, who netted the opening goal against West Ham, enduring a four-match barren spell, while Mohamed Salah remains without a Premier League goal since November."I don't judge them only on the goals they score," the Liverpool head coach remarked on Monday."I judge them on different things as well."Attackers are also judged on the fact if we keep a clean sheet as defenders are judged on the fact if we can score from open play because they have to create promising situations for our attackers."But for our attackers, I know how they think and what they want, and that is scoring goals."Arne SlotCody GakpoLiverpool FCWest Ham United FC