Pressure is mounting on Arne Slot to freshen up his attack after Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Wolves on Tuesday, with club legend Steven Gerrard insisting teenager Rio Ngumoha has done enough to earn a starting role.
Liverpool’s blunt display at Molineux has intensified the noise around Merseyside about their forward line, particularly after another laboured attacking performance.
The defeat leaves their Champions League ambitions increasingly stretched, with Chelsea having an opportunity to put their case forward on Wednesday night.
Ngumoha’s introduction just past the hour mark shifted the tempo in the Midlands.
Direct, positive and willing to attack his full-back, the 17-year-old offered a dimension that had been lacking.
Gerrard believes his performances have been consistently bright.
“For 65 minutes Liverpool were desperate tonight, really poor, didn’t create enough, didn’t play at the right speed or the right tempo, didn’t have enough quality,” he said on TNT Sports.
“[Slot] has to start Ngumoha now. He has to start him because he’s coming on and he’s doing more in a short cameo in a short space of time than Gakpo’s doing in 65, 70 minutes. He deserves to start now. He’s got to start the kid on Friday night.”
Ngumoha has featured 11 times in the Premier League this season but has yet to be named in the starting XI in the competition.
His impact, however, has been disproportionate to his minutes. A stoppage-time winner against Newcastle earlier in the campaign announced his arrival, and he was again influential from the bench in the recent win at Nottingham Forest.
His only starts have come in domestic cup fixtures, including ties against Barnsley, Southampton and Crystal Palace. Gerrard’s argument is that the developmental phase is over.
“The first half was a complete waste from a Liverpool point of view,” Gerrard added. “No urgency, no ball speed change when you got into the final third of the pitch, there wasn’t much quality or penetration.”
