Rio Ngumoah

[red g]

He is weeks off 17 and a quick google search says Aaron lennon has the most PL games with 14.

I wouldnt be surprised to see him starting a few PL games this season. Way to young to be playing week in, Week out but a couple of injuries and he may well get a run of games.

[Sus]

I understand this take but Kaide Gordon was absolutely ****ing miles away from this kid.

This is the most exciting thing I've seen come through attacking wise since Owen.

I can see him being integrated into the squad soon enough. Thankfully we can hold him back to little cameos here and there while he develops.

Fair enough. I think he’s a super exciting talent and hear everyone’s perceptive on the differences to Gordon

Really hope he is different and comes through this season, would be amazing

[RedReet]

Seen it referenced in an article earlier, but wasn't sure if the journo was just a Duran Duran fan.

What's the last line BTW?

[Buzzo]

Need this to work just for this song.

[ame]https://twitter.com/marckenny/status/1952651602893865439[/ame]

[peterbread]

It looks like both Rio and Nyoni are going to be part of the first team squad this season which I’m excited about. Neither has looked out of place in preseason. Let’s see how they go. Nyoni feels like one that’s going to go a bit under the radar as he does plenty without it being spectacular unlike Rio.

The level of players coming out of the academy has gone up but most are sold for good money as they’re not good enough. Hopefully the next step has started with players like these two and we start to have a few more come through. Doesn’t matter if they were brought in at 16 or have been there from the start.

[RedReet]

Doak is a good example and everyone was excited about him two years ago. But there were plenty of caveats, good for his age, needs more end product etc. Rio rammed that down our throats after 1 game. If we signed him at 20 and he performed as he has, everyone would be saying he's a worldie. The only caveats with him are, he's too young, we've been here before which are basically preconceptions and nothing to do with his ability on the pitch.

[peterbread]

True it’s very easy to get caught up in the home and excitement of young players. I don’t think Gordon is the right example because he never showed much. Maybe Doak is a closer example. He looks a very good young player but doesn’t look like he’s going to make it here. That also might be down to his position as he’s not going to get much game time while Mo is still around and performing like he is.

I think you also have to look at how Slot does things and he’s seems a lot more ruthless and if you’re not top quality he’s not interested. The fact we’ve sold plenty of players that might have been kept under Klopp while Nyoni and Rio are being moved into the first team squad might show they’re both a level up on the others we’ve seen recently.

Only time will tell.

[RedReet]

I can see him playing mainly as a sub over the season and starting in cup games. Manage his minutes but get him the experience he needs. Good time to do it from the start with his form and confidence and see how he goes. If he struggles he goes back to the u-21’s if he’s up to it build him up slowly over the season.

I don’t think you’d see him start many games this season but play him as a sub and if possible limit his time to 20-30 minutes.

It's not even a case of giving him a few minutes here and there as it could help with his development, it's genuinely a case of get him involved as there is every chance we are a better team with him in it.

I think we could see another Owen / France '98 situation next summer.

[labourRed]

I feel like we’ve been here before with these young stars, I remember Kaide Gordon from a couple of years ago

Still a long way for him to go before he becomes even close to an average PL player, and he needs a bit of luck with injuries

So I’m treating any progress this season for him as a bonus

I understand this take but Kaide Gordon was absolutely ****ing miles away from this kid.

This is the most exciting thing I've seen come through attacking wise since Owen.

I can see him being integrated into the squad soon enough. Thankfully we can hold him back to little cameos here and there while he develops.

[RedReet]

I feel like we’ve been here before with these young stars, I remember Kaide Gordon from a couple of years ago

Still a long way for him to go before he becomes even close to an average PL player, and he needs a bit of luck with injuries

So I’m treating any progress this season for him as a bonus

I get carried away with every young player who puts in a few decent performances, but I can't remember one ever putting a consecutive run of games when they have arguably been MOTM each time. It's not that Rio looks amazing 'for his age', he's been destroying every defender he's went up against.

This is nothing like the Gordon situation IMO.

[Sus]

I feel like we’ve been here before with these young stars, I remember Kaide Gordon from a couple of years ago

Still a long way for him to go before he becomes even close to an average PL player, and he needs a bit of luck with injuries

So I’m treating any progress this season for him as a bonus

[peterbread]

I can see him playing mainly as a sub over the season and starting in cup games. Manage his minutes but get him the experience he needs. Good time to do it from the start with his form and confidence and see how he goes. If he struggles he goes back to the u-21’s if he’s up to it build him up slowly over the season.

I don’t think you’d see him start many games this season but play him as a sub and if possible limit his time to 20-30 minutes.

[RedReet]

It's absolutely realistic. He is a perfect option to come off the bench against tired legs. There is no way Slot doesn't have him in the match day squad for the start of the season.

Why wouldn't he, he's been arguably our best player pre season? Who cares if he's 16?

[BigChief]

Not sure playing for the first team this season is realistic. Even if he plays two or three cup games maximum where does/should he actually spend the rest of his playing time? U18 is pretty pointless. Is U21s too demanding for his fitness since young uns can go through early career burnout?

[Exiled_red]

Do we think he will play much this season?

We have had quite a few young 'uns who have bene blighted later in their career with injuries (the likes of Owen and Fowler. Gerrard had quite a few problems early on too, but got over them). But I guess you get some who are fine.

Problem is he kinda looks ready, and if he does come into the first team and performs then it becomes harder to leave him out. Totally different player to Gakpo though, so I think he could probably be seen on the bench a lot. Probably depends on Isak, and where Ekitike fit in if we do sign him.

It makes a bit of a mockery of a £400m + spend when we are most excited about a child we signed for a packet of peanuts. I wonder if that in some way takes some pressure off of Wirtz and Ekitike?

I know young players often start and even do well in preseason and then don't really feature in the first team much, but given how heavily he has been involved and how well he has done I would imagine that he will definately be involved in cup games. I think that his position and the nature of his game also lends itself to making sub appearances for the last 10-15mins against tired defences. I think he is also helped by the fact we are currently still one forward down on last season (last year we had a regular rotation of 5 plus Chiesa,) this year that have 4 plus Chiesa and Rio so I would expect some level of involvement for him. I guess the key thing is how Slot manages the squad this season and longer term not over playing him