Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher agree on Liverpool star who should be axed for Rio Ngumoha
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Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard has urged Arne Slot to start Rio Ngumoha over Cody Gakpo following the Reds' defeat to Wolves, echoing Jamie Carragher's earlier assessmentSteven Gerrard has shared his thoughts about the Liverpool team(Image: Simon Stacpoole/Offside, Offside via Getty Images)Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard has urged Arne Slot to drop Cody Gakpo in favour of Rio Ngumoha. Gerrard has called on Slot to replace Gakpo with Ngumoha after another impressive cameo from the bench.READ MORE: New date for first Liverpool game at new Everton stadium confirmed as two more fixtures movedREAD MORE: Dominik Szoboszlai brushes off Wolves defeat with Vinicius Jr gift amid Real Madrid linksResponding to Virgil van Dijk's critique of the side following the loss to Wolves, Gerrard commented on TNT Sports: "He's right because for 65 minutes, Liverpool were desperate tonight, really poor. [They] didn't create enough, didn't play at the right speed or the right tempo, they didn't have the right quality."[Slot] has to start Ngumoha now, he has to start him because he's coming on and doing more in a short cameo and in a short space of time than Gakpo is doing in 65/70 minutes.
Earlier this season, Ngumoha made history as the Reds' youngest-ever goalscorer with a late decider against Newcastle United back in August.Gerrard's suggestion that he should start ahead of Gakpo echoes Carragher's earlier evaluation of Liverpool's wingers. Reds manager Slot has previously discussed the careful juggling act he's trying to achieve regarding Ngumoha's playing time."Let's be clear, he is a special player that will have more playing time and already has more playing time recently," Slot stated last month.
If he is already good enough to play for us, then he should definitely be, in your opinion.Carragher and Gerrard have called for Rio Ngumoha to get more minutes(Image: Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)"(I'm mindful over lack of under-21s football) 100 per cent - that is what makes it so difficult at the age of these two players (Ngumoha and Trey Nyoni) and where they are at in their development. One of those starts came against Barnsley in the FA Cup third round and he will be hoping for inclusion in Slot's line-up for Friday's cup encounter against Wolves.