Has Ngumoha played much for his age?
· Yahoo Sports
In the moments after Liverpool's late show at Nottingham Forest on Sunday, a specific theme quickly gained traction - why doesn't Rio Ngumoha play more?
Visit fishroad-app.com for more information.
Ex-Red Jamie Carragher was posing the question while the players celebrated in front of their away fans. Former striker Daniel Sturridge left it a while but raised the prospect of more Ngumoha game time on social media later in the day, while fans consistently threw the issue into the mix.
Ngumoha - aged 17 years and 178 days at the time of writing - threatened to leap into our weekly consciousness when - just 16 at the time - he emerged from the bench to net a winner for Liverpool at Newcastle in August. A weekly impact or opportunity is yet to materialise.
Head coach Arne Slot has had his say more than once, stating Ngumoha has played more football than most for a player of his age.
"I don't think there is an 18-year-old or 19-year-old that has maybe played as many minutes as Rio but that last bit I'm not sure about," Slot said.
"That tells you how much of a talent he is and we think he is. He is making progress more and more and that's why you see him playing more and more.
"He gets stronger and stronger. Apart from his moment when he had his one-v-one, there were also one or two other moments where he stands his ground. That is what you need because you face 25, 26, 27, 28-year-old athletes mainly as your opponents because we are a bit of an exception in terms of our age group of players. Most teams have players of different ages and physicality.
"For him to show this already at 17 years of age, it says something about his talent. But as we all know, talent is only the start of his career, you need so many other things."
[BBC]So how much exposure has Ngumoha had in the Premier League? That depends on your preferred metric.
On one hand, his nine appearances this season are seven more than any other player under the age of 18, with Arsenal's Max Dowman, Crystal Palace's Joel Drakes-Thomas and Brighton's Harry Howell all on two appearances. A total of 18 players in Premier League history have earned more appearances than Ngumoha before turning 18.
But appearances could mean 90 minutes of mayhem or a solitary minute awaiting a meaningful touch.
So drilled down, Ngumoha has just 89 minutes of football to his name in the top tier. That's again leading the way this season for those aged under 18, nine minutes clear of Howell.
But, ranked historically, his 89 minutes ranks 55th in Premier League history for players under the age of 18.
Gareth Barry had bagged 2,105 minutes before turning 18, Wayne Rooney 2,037 and Luke Shaw 1,950.
Naturally, a theory exists whereby those who start young - Michael Owen, Fernando Torres and Raheem Sterling to name a few - perhaps show the impact of injuries and load by their mid-to-late 20s.
Any club would be wise to guard against this in the hope of ensuring longevity and asset value.
So is Slot getting it right in terms of balance? Are you surprised with how Ngumoha ranks historically? Is he good enough already to play more, or is an impact role fitting for now?
[BBC]