Eight weeks is a long time in football.
After a disappointing showing against Newcastle United in August, the Rio Ngumoha at right-wing experiment was deemed a failure. The Englishman got the nod to start the first game of the season, but was replaced after an hour following an underwhelming outing. Ngumoha attempted just one take-on, had one touch in the opposition box and failed to create a single chance.
Iraola’s decision to move the teenager over to the right to accommodate the potential arrival of Bradley Barcola was criticised. Many viewed him as a generational talent on the left and felt the switch was going to be detrimental to his development. It looked as though they had a point, with Ngumoha used sparing after the draw at St James’ Park.
Ngumoha was given the odd start here and there, but it wasn’t quite clicking. This past week changed everything. The Englishman starred on the right against LASK last week, completing seven take-ons and creating one chance, with five touches in the opposition box. He followed that up with a decisive showing off the bench against Brentford at the weekend, to aid Liverpool‘s comeback. Ngumoha completed all of his take-ons and won the foul for Vitaly Janelt‘s second yellow card.
Buoyed by these showings and full of confidence, Ngumoha ran riot against Villarreal in the Champions League. From not being cut out to play on the right, the general consensus now is he should be the starting right-winger for Liverpool moving forward. On current form, it’s hard to argue against it.
The case for Rio Ngumoha
Learning on the job
Iraola rightly heaped praise on Ngumoha after Liverpool overturned a 2-0 deficit to beat Villarreal 4-3 on Tuesday night.
“I am very happy with his attitude because he tries to improve the things we think he needs to improve,” he said.
“He is eager to add more things to his game. He has changed sides a lot, he has played a lot on the right. Lately he is feeling so comfortable now and is having some shots with the left foot. He hasn’t scored yet but he is getting there and if he adds small things to his game it will put him in an even better position.
“The good thing with Rio is he is still 18. He is not the full package. He can add things, fortunately for us. Hopefully he can continue in the same way. He’s not always going to be like this. He will have ups and downs in the process. But I’m happy because attitude-wise I think he’s in a great place.”
This change wasn’t going to have immediate results. A bit of patience was always going to be required. In the fast-paced world of football, that isn’t always there. The Reds are now starting to reap the rewards though.
Against Villarreal, Ngumoha assisted twice and completed nine of his 10 attempted take-ons, with 12 touche sin the opposition box — the most in the game. He was unstoppable on the right flank and gave Sergi Cardona all kinds of problems.
With Liverpool struggling in the first 30 minutes, the plan to get back into the game was to give the ball to the youngster and hope he could create something. More often than not, he did just that.
Predictable but unstoppable
Villarreal knew that as soon as Ngumoha picked up possession, he was going to look to carry the ball forward and then get it into the box.
The opposition knew the playbook. His teammates knew the playbook. The fans at Anfield knew what to expect. And yet the La Liga side were powerless to prevent it. Time and time again, the versatile winger would pick up possession, stand up the left-back before blitzing past him and crossing the ball. Sometimes it’d be blocked and the Reds would win a corner. The one time it wasn’t, Alexis Mac Allister was there to tap the ball in to give Liverpool the lead.
Mac Allister praised his teammate after the game, too, saying: “Rio was amazing.”
The very best players in the world are predictable. We all know Raphinha and Lamine Yamal are going to cut back onto their favoured side and look to curl the ball into the net. We all know that as soon as Erling Haaland gets a sight at goal he’s going to shoot. Yet Raphinha, Yamal and Haaland keep scoring at an alarming rate.
Ngumoha isn’t yet in that sphere but in three successive games now, the opposition have been unable to stop him influencing the end result despite the fact he’s not done anything out of the ordinary.
Scaling new heights
When Ngumoha arrived at Anfield from Chelsea, it was viewed as a coup. But how often have we seen highly-rated youngsters fizzle out and fail to live up to the billing? Ngumoha could’ve been disillusioned by Liverpool’s spending on their forward line and forced a move. He could’ve kicked up a fuss and ended up in limbo after Iraola told him he wanted to round out his game on the right.
He knuckled down though and put in the work. The teenager is seeing the benefit now and Liverpool are no doubt ecstatic. Ngumoha could save the club £100million next summer. If he cements the right-wing position as his own, the Reds are set for the next decade as long as they stay competitive and compensate him accordingly.
Yamal is the only other teenager to have two assists in the Champions League this season. If Ngumoha has a career like his, Liverpool are in for a treat.