Jamie Carragher had a brutal assessment of Cody Gakpo's performance in Liverpool's FA Cup loss to Manchester United saying he 'plays likes the game is in slow motion'.
The Dutch forward was introduced in place of Mo Salah after 77 minutes but failed to sufficiently impress as Antony forced the match into extra time. Gakpo managed to pick out Alexis Mac Allister, who couldn't convert his cross, but otherwise had a limited impact.
The Reds were unable to hold out after Harvey Elliott once again handed them the lead as Marcus Rashford and Amad Diallo's efforts earned Erik ten Hag's side a dramatic win. Diallo saw red for his celebration as he removed his shirt to receive a second yellow card.
Carragher believes Liverpool were responsible for their own downfall and particularly targeted Jurgen Klopp's forward line, beyond only Gakpo, for failing to deliver. Though he conceded it was a rare off-day for the club's attackers.
The former Liverpool defender said on X: "Unbelievable game & it’s a great result for Man United but Liverpool only have themselves to blame. Scored three & still the attacking players were all very poor. Can’t complain too much as they’ve been amazing all season. Football bloody hell!"
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Klopp believes his team were on the edge during the game but was pleased with the second half if not the result. The German coach pointed to the volume of football as a reason as to why his team struggled in moments.
He said in his press conference: "Obviously today was on and above the edge, it was really tough for us with the 130 or whatever minutes. United had the clear best start, it was obvious, they scored the early goal.
Jurgen Klopp reacts as he leaves the Old Trafford pitch following Liverpool's FA Cup loss (AFP via Getty Images)"We had to organise ourselves a little bit better, we struggled with the man-marking, didn’t play enough, all these kinds of things. In the moment when we found for the first time a way to play then we get rhythm and then it looked really good. Then we were absolutely deserved 2-1 up. And second half was exceptional, absolutely exceptional what we played here.
"But we didn’t finish the game off and when you leave the door open away from home at Old Trafford, it’s clear they will get chances. They could score the equaliser and Marcus big chance at the end of normal time, so they can win it there. I see that, it’s clear. Then it got really hard for us, then it was really hard for us. That was now the first time that I really saw my team struggling, that’s how it is. We played a lot of football recently.
"Then we go 3-2 up, all good. Then they score, 3-3, 4-3. Come on, easily can accept that, congratulations to United, they fought extremely hard as well. That’s how it is, you want to go to the semi-finals. I think everybody who saw the game today saw two teams who both understood the importance of the occasion and the competition. We tried absolutely everything. Today we didn’t get a lot for it, not to say nothing."
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