‘He showed his quality’ – Slot praises Liverpool youngster but notes areas for improvement | OneFootball

Arne Slot has praised the ‘quality’ of Rio Ngumoha, the breakout star of Liverpool’s pre-season tour, but also noted where he and his side can improve.

Liverpool concluded their pre-season tour of Asia with a 3-1 victory over Yokohama Marinos in Japan.

After the Reds fell behind, it was new signing Florian Wirtz who levelled the score with his first Liverpool goal. Youngsters Trey Nyoni and Ngumoha then both found the net to give the Premier League champions the win.

Aged just 16, Ngumoha has been particularly impressive for Liverpool this summer. Slot said: “Rio again showed the quality that he has and that’s nice for us.

“We have a lot of very good players but to get some very good players from the academy is always helpful, always gives energy to a team as well.

“It’s always nice to see young players at 16, 17, 18 already impacting a game.”

The winger assisted against AC Milan before scoring today, although his manager feels there is still room for improvement.

He continued: “But there was also a moment in the game where he should’ve squared it to Macca or Curtis. So also learning points for him.

“But if you are 16 and you can impact the game like him, that’s definitely a compliment.”

Liverpool will now head back home, where they will host Athletic Bilbao next week. Following that fixture, they will meet Crystal Palace in the Community Shield. Slot’s side will then begin the defence of their Premier League title against Bournemouth in a little over two weeks.

On the challenge faced today, the Red’s boss reflected: “Good game against an opponent that is already in the middle of their season, and used to the circumstances here.

“They made it an intense game for us, which is always nice to have in pre-season. This is what we’re looking for, we want to face teams that can really compete with us. Today was definitely one of them.

“I’ve seen a few very positive things, for example us coming back after going behind and players from the bench impacting the game.

“But what I also saw in the goal we conceded and the big chance in the first half, is that we have to work harder in those moments to sprint back than we did. That also happened when we played Milan.

“It could be the tough training camp, the heat, the circumstances, but that is something we definitely have to improve.”