Liverpool icon sends firm England message after Rio Ngumoha debut - 'Leave him alone'
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Rio Ngumoha made his England debut at the weekend but is not part of the World Cup squad - and Liverpool great John Barnes doesn't think he should be in the Three Lions conversation yetJohn Barnes has told England to "leave Rio Ngumoha alone" as he called on the Liverpool teen to be allowed to develop away from the limelight.The teenage sensation was a rare bright spark for the Reds in an otherwise underwhelming campaign. He was one of several young stars who were called up to Thomas Tuchel's World Cup squad for their warm-up matches, bulking out the 26-man squad.Ngumoha made his debut off the bench in England's less than convincing win over New Zealand at the weekend, being named the Player of the Match.
He's often shown glimpses of quality when given the chance at club level, and that was again the case as he stepped up to the international stage.But Barnes insists Ngumoha should be nowhere near the England squad, instead stating he should make himself a regular at Anfield before such conversations start happening.He said on talkSport: "Leave him alone and let him develop, Theo Walcott went to the World cup at 16, and if you want him to progress you cant over emphasise his importance."He's not even playing for Liverpool, he's a sub for Liverpool, so until he gets into the team consistently and plays well don't put the pressure on him. That's why I'm glad he didn't play a lot last year in a Liverpool team that was struggling, because if they're not doing well and he suffers because of confidence it could effect him."Let him develop slowly, so the fact he's not in Liverpool's team, and I hope Arsenal do the same with Max Dowman, just leave them alone.
If you're not playing for Arsenal or Liverpool regularly, why are you going to be playing for England?"Ngumoha only saw nine of his 29 appearances come as a starter for Liverpool, but he quickly became a favourite and Arne Slot was booed when he took off the teenager against Chelsea last term.England's frontline is not without his quality, but injuries could always play a factor, as in any major tournament. He's had a really good season at Liverpool and the manager gave him his debut and he showed how good he is."Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content.