Rio Ngumoha’s time is now - but is Cody Gakpo as much of a problem as Liverpool fans make out? | OneFootball

There was one deafening narrative that prevailed from Liverpool’s scrappy late win at Nottingham Forest: start Rio Ngumoha, please and thank you.

“Ngumoha did more in 15 minutes than (Mohamed) Salah and (Cody) Gakpo did in the entire game before that,” Jamie Carragher asserted after full-time at the City Ground. The electrifying 17-year-old had come off the bench with his side sluggish and drawing with a club in the thick of a relegation battle, and provided more attacking impetus than any of his more senior colleagues managed in the 77 minutes prior to his introduction. His impact was undeniable.

Carragher’s plea was anything but a hot take. Fans and pundits echoed the call for Ngumoha’s rise up the pecking order, but the teenager’s promotion into the starting XI will need a sacrifice. That, for Reds supporters, seems a no-brainer - and it’s not the Egyptian who felt he’d been “thrown under the bus” three months ago.

Cody Gakpo has been one of, if not the fall guy of Liverpool’s dismal title defence. Half of a left flank that has been full of problems this season, Gakpo is regularly the subject of widespread online fan resentment, perceived a blatant weak point of an imperfect team.

Arne Slot, however, has not budged over one of his more favoured starters, to the wrath of this vocal section of the fanbase. The Dutch winger has started 29 out of his 35 appearances in all competitions under his countryman this term and boasts most minutes of any forward in the Liverpool squad.

Ngumoha’s cameo at Forest has once again stoked criticism against Slot’s selection choices vis-a-vis Gakpo, deemed a blockage to the pathway a late-summer transfer decision was meant to provide for the youngster. But is the scathing heat actually warranted, or is Gakpo really just a scapegoat?

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Is Cody Gakpo as much of a problem as Liverpool fans make out? (REUTERS)

It’s important to note that sentiment towards the winger has undoubtedly been overblown by the toxicity of football social media. A lot of match-going fans, while frustrated by his downturn in performances this term, are not this viscerally enraged by Gakpo’s continued involvement.

You don’t need to reach that point of extremities to deserve being benched, of course - and the case for such a demotion is definitely there.

His play-style has been the first point of attack. The argument that Gakpo is a “one-dimensional” footballer is used on a weekly basis by his critics. His trademark strategy - cut in from the left and shoot with his right - has become painfully predictable from a viewing perspective and a simple test for any professional right-back who has studied his match footage.

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Gakpo's 'cut in and shoot' move has become painfully predictable (Getty Images)

Persistence would be justified by results but, on the surface, results are non-existent. Looking at his shot map this term, not a single one of his five Premier League goals has come from the left, despite him firing 40 shots off his designated flank. The vast majority of efforts are either blocked or missed, with only seven posing real danger to the goal; five were saved, while two hit the post.

His conversion rate - significantly down from last season - has good reason to be maligned. What Gakpo doesn’t get credit for, however, is forcing the issue.

Something Liverpool have lacked this season is urgency going forward. It’s part of the reason why their expected goals (xG) per 90 has almost halved compared to 2024/25. Gakpo is not part of the xG problem.

The 26-year-old fires off the second most shots per 90 (2.76) out of any Liverpool player who has featured for over 1,000 minutes this term, only behind summer recruit Hugo Ekitike, who has comparably been hailed as a revelation at Anfield - and rightly so. With only a handful of strikes to his name, it’s therefore no surprise that Gakpo is underperforming his xG, whose end product has a lot to be desired. But for what it’s worth, at least he’s getting into positions where he can pull the trigger.

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Gakpo does force the issue even if his end product isn't there (Getty Images)

Moreover, Gakpo possesses a role in Slot’s setup that is crucial to build-up. At around the halfway stage of this season, he was in the 90th percentile among wingers for progressive passes received per 90. Slot’s system funnels the ball to him more than almost anyone else on the pitch, which has given him the scope to create an average of 1.88 chances per 90, more than the likes of top-six attacking counterparts Leandro Trossard, Matheus Cunha and Pedro Neto. But it should be higher.

His pass completion rate ranks comparatively low, demonstrating that he is not the right profile for this position. He is a finisher, not a creator, and it’s logical explanation why his “cut in and shoot” often ensues when he receives the ball. He doesn’t possess the technical attributes to progress play further.

So while Gakpo is a problem, it isn’t necessarily his fault. He has been shoehorned into a role that doesn’t suit the player. It doesn’t suit Federico Chiesa either, who has long been promoted by fans as a capable alternative.

Maybe Ngumoha, a prospect compared to Neymar during his youth days, is the answer. The former Chelsea youngster has that spark that Liverpool fans have yearned for since last summer’s departure of Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich, who despite his own finishing shortfalls offered a wow factor that Gakpo does not.

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Rio Ngumoha impressed off the bench against Nottingham Forest (Getty)

However, the burden of a role that Gakpo is clearly struggling in could be too much for a player in the embryonic stages of his senior career. Ngumoha wouldn’t just be required to fearlessly drive at opposition defenders like he loves to do; per Slot’s system, he would be at the heart of passing play and build-up.

It may be too much, too soon - but that should not stop Slot from rolling the dice. The Reds manager was guilty of changing too much last summer when “if it ain’t broke” probably should’ve been the mantra for his title-winning side. It’s obvious he now has something to fix.