Arne Slot has offered his verdict on Rio Ngumoha’s latest Liverpool cameo.
The teenager scored brilliant individual effort as the Premier League champions ended their tour of Asia with a 3-1 win over Yokohama F. Marinos on Wednesday.
Ngumoha’s stock has continued to rise since making his senior debut with a starting berth in the Reds’ FA Cup third round against Accrington Stanley last season.
But while Slot is enthused by 16-year-old’s burgeoning talent, he also sounded a note of caution that the former Chelsea prospect still has room for improvement.
He said: “Rio, again, showed the quality he has..
“That’s nice for us because we have a lot of very good players but to get some brand new players from the academy is helpful.
“It gives energy to the team. It is nice to see young players at 16, 17 or 18 impacting the game.
“But there was also a moment in the game where he should have squared it to Macca (Alexis Mac Allister) or Curtis [Jones], so also learning points for him.
“But if you are 16 and you can impact games like he did, that is definitely a compliment.”
The Liverpool head coach also admitted he has spoken with several potential candidates to fill the vice-captain position vacated by Trent Alexander-Arnold.
“The group doesn’t know yet,” admitted Slot.
“I did talk to the individuals already, so the one that’s going to be vice-captain already knows.
“Everybody likes to have leaders in the team, and in modern football you don’t see that that much anymore.
“I have the privilege that I have a few of them, so experienced players that are not only experienced but understand the game and can be a voice inside the group and during the game. So, that’s always very helpful.
“It’s difficult to say but we are now at the beginning of August, so there’s a month to go. So many things can happen in football in a month, so let’s wait and see
“First, we go back home and then we’re going to play at Anfield next week.”