Liverpool’s Secret Weapon Is Hiding in Plain Sight - Unleash Rio Ngumoha
The numbers, the eye test and the impact all point to one conclusion: Liverpool’s 17-year-old winger deserves far more minutes
Ngumoha’s Impact Off the Bench Is Impossible to Ignore
After yet another blistering cameo at the weekend against Nottingham Forest the entire fanbase is talking about Rio Ngumoha again.
Rightfully, so. He completed more dribbles (2) in just over 13 minutes on the pitch than Cody Gakpo and Mo Salah who both played 77 minutes. He also created more big chances (1) than the duo combined.
Even based on the eye test, Ngumoha’s direct style of play was evidently more effective and changed the dynamic of the game putting Forest on the backfoot and creating the conditions for Liverpool to score the winner.
Liverpool have since tried to downplay the clamour for Ngumoha to play more. Club mouthpieces cite how he is the 17-year-old with the most minutes in the Premier League, but fail to mention how Ngumoha doesn’t even get into the top 40 U17 players for minutes played in Europe’s top five leagues during the last calendar year as per Wyscout.
Nobody is disputing that his minutes need to be managed carefully. But should he have played more than 383 minutes in all competitions so far? Should he have been given the opportunity to make a 25-30 minute cameo at least once in the Premier League this season? Absolutely.
