Michael Owen calls on Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo to ‘stamp his authority’ more to become a regular starter after his brace in the Reds’ 4-0 win against LASK, as Joe Cole urges the forward to ‘take charge of games’

Michael Owen has called on Cody Gakpo to do more to prove he deserves to be a regular starter for Liverpool after he starred in his side’s 4-0 Europa League win against LASK on Thursday.

Gakpo netted the Reds’ second and fourth goals in a resounding victory but Jurgen Klopp has preferred to use the likes of Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz ahead of him in league matches recently.

Owen feels Gakpo’s performance at Anfield showed how talented he is, but he wants to see the Dutchman hitting those heights consistently.

‘He’s a good, solid player. I’d like to see him really stamp his authority on this squad and get a regular starting place,’ Owen said of Gakpo on TNT Sports.

Since arriving at Liverpool in January, Gakpo has been used as a central striker, out wide and as a creative player in midfield.

Gakpo fired home goals in both halves as the Reds cruised to a routine victory

Michael Owen wants to see Gakpo ‘stamp his authority’ more to become a regular starter

Owen’s fellow pundit Joe Cole pointed out that Gakpo’s versatility is a good asset to have, but the former Liverpool striker believes the 24-year-old must make it his mission to nail down a position in Klopp’s starting XI.

‘Versatility is great, but if he’s going to be a top player for Liverpool, I think it needs to be Jurgen Klopp saying “in the team, in this position”,’ Owen added.

‘At the moment he fits in a little bit. He’s got to do his talking on the pitch with games, like he did tonight.’

Joe Cole has also called for Gakpo to ‘take charge of games’ with his pace, strength and skill

Cole also thinks Gakpo can find another level, and has called on the forward to combine his physical strength with his technical ability to dominate matches.

‘I’d like to see him take charge of games. He’s a big boy, we saw in the second half him driving past players. I’d like to see more of that,’ Cole said.

Gakpo won a penalty that Mo Salah converted in between his two goals, and Cole was blown away by the pace he showed to earn the spot-kick, which is another strength that he feels needs to be demonstrated more often.

‘I’ve not seen that,’ Cole said as he spoke about Gakpo’s pace. ‘How often have we seen Cody Gakpo like that? He looked blistering.’