£44m Liverpool player showed Arne Slot why he can't be dropped again with impressive Palace cameo - opinion

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Arne Slot chose to bench Cody Gakpo in Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace, opting for a Florian Wirtz start instead.The Reds were dominated in the first half by Oliver Glasner’s side as they went 1-0 down before a resurgence in the second half, which saw Federico Chiesa convert to level the score.However, after Milos Kerkez gave away a throw-in, Palace took a long throw, which was successfully converted by Eddie Nketiah in the final seconds to net the winner at Selhurst Park.The problems in the opening 45 minutes were numerous for Liverpool, who struggled with the compact, composed threat of the Eagles, which forced multiple individual errors from the away side.One change Slot had to make at half-time was bringing Gakpo on for Conor Bradley to move him out onto the left, pushing Wirtz back into his more natural midfield role, after the German star struggled to get a foothold in the position.Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty ImagesArne Slot cannot drop Cody Gakpo for the next gamesIt was an experiment from the Dutch manager to see if the 22-year-old could fit into a different role and get the best out of him, but in the end, he never really had a chance to show how well he could perform.Instead, Slot decided to overload the midfield and take more of a box shape with Kerkez filling in as a makeshift winger.But this decision ultimately caused the biggest issues for the squad, leaving them too tight and narrow, which allowed the Palace players to find success out wide with the Liverpool full-backs pushing so high.READ MORE: Martin Keown slams Liverpool ace after ‘nightmare’ performance against Crystal PalaceWhen the Dutch winger Gakpo made his cameo, there was a stark change in the tempo and the chances created by the team, despite them still looking second-best.While he may have had a minimal amount of touches, the fact that he was able to stretch play down that left-hand side led to opportunities upfront for the Chiesa goal, which was vital in giving the team hope.He had taken some shots on as well, with two of his efforts not on target but showing a desire to be creative up front.Gakpo also lost possession four fewer times than his German counterpart, showing he had more strength on the ball.The choice not to start the 26-year-old was one of the big mistakes in the starting XI, given it was known how Palace like to play, especially with their excellent wingers and overlapping full-backs.This proves that not having a player who provides that much-needed stretch of space is detrimental to the side.Arne Slot needs to move on from Florian Wirtz on the left wingWhile Wirtz does need to find the position he is most suited to within this setup, drifting to the left is not the way forward.He should play in any midfield position, but mainly the No. 10 role in midfield, even if it means benching a player like Alexis Mac Allister, who is still not 100% fit.As the German is not able to provide that width and falls back into midfield more naturally, it just means more work for Kerkez, so it defeats the purpose of having him out wide.Gakpo and Chiesa should be the main choices on that side, and the Italian should definitely be given regular starts to get him used to playing in this side to be an even better option for Slot.