John Aldridge says Liverpool have an ‘unpredictable’ player who Arne Slot isn’t using enough

John Aldridge has called for Arne Slot to make more use of one ‘unpredictable’ player in Liverpool’s first-team squad in the second half of the season.

At the outset of the campaign, Rio Ngumoha was making quite a name for himself with some show-stopping displays on the pre-season tour to the Far East and, of course, his stoppage-time winner against Newcastle in the Premier League in August.

However, the 17-year-old has been used sparingly despite those eye-catching heroics, being handed just two senior appearances amounting to 18 minutes combined since the end of October (Transfermarkt).

Aldridge calls for Slot to use Ngumoha more frequently

In his latest column for the Liverpool Echo, Aldridge lamented how ‘static’ and ‘predictable’ Slot’s team have become, and he wants to see the teenage winger being utilised more frequently to give the Reds an added spark up front.

The ex-LFC striker wrote: ‘We’re too predictable and easy to play against. Rio Ngumoha is one of those players, if you bring him on for 15 minutes, teams don’t know how to play against him. What he does, no-one knows. He probably doesn’t even know. He’s unpredictable. He has pace and trickery and can hurt teams.

‘Gerrard, Rooney, Owen, Fowler, they all played at that age. Maybe Arne is trying to protect him by using him sparingly. We’ve not seen much of him this season but if you’re good enough, you’re old enough. I would like to see him used more.’

Ngumoha could inject a spark into Liverpool’s attack in tight games

We can entirely understand the logic in Slot being careful in not overburdening Ngumoha, who it must be remembered is still a minor. Irrespective of how gifted they might be, no 17-year-old should be landed with major responsibility for one of the biggest clubs in world football.

However, Aldridge makes a fair point in arguing the case for giving the teenager more frequent runouts off the bench, especially in games where Liverpool are struggling to break down deep-lying defences who are easily coping with a Reds attack lacking a cutting edge.

We all saw the impact that the youngster made against Newcastle, and while it might be fanciful to expect that in every game (he hasn’t scored in eight subsequent appearances), he has the skill set and self-confidence to give opposition defenders the runaround in the closing minutes of matches.

Ngumoha could well be handed a start in the FA Cup clash against Barnsley next Monday (he made his senior debut in the third round of the tournament against Accrington Stanley this time last year), and a standout performance in that fixture could persuade Slot to call upon him more frequently.

The Fulham match on Sunday would’ve seemed like the ideal scenario to throw him on for the final quarter-hour or so when Liverpool were struggling to find a winning goal.

If (as seems likely) we find ourselves in a similar game state in the coming weeks and months, we’d echo Aldridge’s call for the 17-year-old to be thrown into the fray and given the opportunity to replicate his St James’ Park heroics.

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