Liverpool U21s 5-0 Wolves U21s: Match Report & Rob Page | OneFootball

Liverpool Under 21s were in action on Sunday afternoon after the first team made their safe progression through to the quarter finals on Friday night, with Rio Ngumoha – himself a regular for the Reds U18s and U21s only a matter of months ago – collecting the Man of the Match award after a mesmerising left-wing performance. 

Rob Page’s side were in no mood for complacency as a lineup consisting of Trey Nyoni, Calvin Ramsay and Kieran Morrison, all fresh from Arne Slot’s control, set about dismantling Wolves inside the opening 30 minutes. 

The young Reds were fired into the lead when Clae Ewing produced his best Andy Robertson impression from the edge of the area before goals from Will Wright, Calvin Ramsay, Morrison and an own goal ensured Page’s charges were out of sight in the blink of an eye, five-nil up at the break and top of the league on goal difference. 

Despite their dominance and the man advantage, Wolves’ goalkeeper Alfie Brooks kept the score down with a string of superb saves in the second half, one eye-catching stop in particular to deny Kyle Kelly.

‘UP THE RIO NGUMOHA REDS!’ | WOLVES 1-3 LIVERPOOL | DAN’S MATCH REACTION

Speaking after the match, Page was understandably delighted with the performance…

On the result: “Even before the sending off, I thought we were completely on top, dominant in every aspect. So we ask them to be ruthless, so not to take their foot off the pedal and make sure we get the result with a good performance as well. One thing I asked them today was whether they’ve bought into the mentality aspect of it, absolutely. I think everybody can see a change in that. It’s a little bit more real as to what they’re going to face, whether it’s with the first team or other clubs elsewhere when they go on to have a career. And I want to have a little bit more control of the game with possession, with some of the players we’ve got on the team, you know, we should be having more control of games, and I thought we’d done that, I thought we were excellent at that, even before the sending off.”

On the pressing style: “We’ve spoken about it for a couple of months, but it’s that counter press when you lose the ball, that reaction to get after it. I’ve just said to them, when you win a game of football, playing like that, it’s enjoyable. It’s got to be enjoyable on the pitch. When you’re winning a ball high up the pitch, and within two or three seconds, you’re getting a shot on goal, and you’re creating opportunities. We could have had another three goals today, barring three world-class saves by their keeper. It could have been eight on another day, but they’ve bought into it. They love playing that way, and I just said to them, I’m proud I’m still on the side watching them represent the club doing it that way.”

On the set-piece routine for the second goal: “We do a set-piece meeting before every game, so I deliver the game plan and then Mozza (Mark Morris), the goalkeeper coach, delivers the set-pieces. And one thing we noticed was when they zoned the back post, we could definitely exploit the space behind, beyond that last man in the zone. So, yeah, it worked a treat today.”

On the importance of winning: “I can’t speak about last year, but for me, it’s getting the balance right. We want to win games in football, but I’m also here as a job to develop players, and I think we’re getting the balance right at the minute. You know, we had four on the bench last week against Wolves. So, you know, I know Rio’s now an established first-team player, certainly after this performance the other night. And no doubt you drop back down when he needs minutes, and Trey is a top, top player, and it’s great that we can give him minutes, and then you’ve got Nallo, and you’ve got Kieran, and you’ve got Rambo, so there’s five, do you know what I mean? So I think we’re getting the balance right and like we’ve always said, myself, Al and Jay, we’ve had conversations where if you keep developing the best individuals, they will inevitably make your team better and then if you’ve a good team going out with principles of play and counter pressing and high energy, then you’ve the recipe for success.”

On the fitness concerns: “Noah’s fit. He was a strange one, actually. He had a fitness test, or he felt something in his hamstring on Thursday, I think it was, before the game on Sunday. So I think he ended up training on the Saturday. My message to the players is don’t give your jersey up too easily. If you’ve got the jersey, you’d have to carry me off the pitch, you know, to give that jersey up. And I think sometimes, at Academy football, maybe. It’s too easy to give up, and I don’t think I ever played in a game where I was 100% fit. There was always something in your carrying, and I think they’ve got to have that mentality. If they’re going to have a career elsewhere, they’ve gotta have that mentally. Harsh lesson for him to learn, but now Amara’s got back in, and we’ve got Mor coming back in. Mor’s training with us every day now, so we’ll build his fitness up gradually, and hopefully we’ll get to see him in the next couple of weeks.”

On being top of Premier League 2: “We don’t look at tables and where we can finish, and it’s all about the performance and how we want to be represented, what we want to look like, and I think if we continue to develop that the results will absolutely take care of themselves.” 

On the intensity of his side: “Coming from an experience of being a manager, a league club manager, having worked with lads in League One and League Two at the time before I went on to work with Wales, I thought there was a lack of intensity, a lack of realism in. So I wasn’t a fan of going to get young players from under-21s. I want managers to look at our team today, and I think they will. We’ve had a couple of performances, we’ve had behind-closed-doors friendlies against the likes of Wrexham and Sheffield United. And a lot of the first-team players, and we’ve more than matched them and held our own. And I want managers to look at us and go, right, it’s a bit more real. So we will go and have a look at what Liverpool has got. And if Liverpool don’t see them to develop for themselves, then we’ll absolutely take them because they give performances that they’ve done tonight.”

On James McConnell: “Macca’s had his first day back on grass yesterday. So he’s coming on as planned.” 

On the proof of first team pathway: “They’re looking at it now and seeing Kieran get his opportunity and rightly so, his attitude has been first class, you know, he’s kept the armband today, even though Amara was fit, he has kept the armband because he’s given that level of performance week in, week out. And not just on the pitch, but he does off the pitch as well. I’ve seen a complete change in his professionalism, and he deserves an enormous amount of credit for that. And I think, like I said, having that little bit of a taster with the first team is giving him even more importance to continue in the way he’s developing. So there’s definitely a pathway there for him.”

On Morrison keeping the armband: “It was just a decision we made. Amara’s been sent off; we’ve missed him for three games. Kieran stepped up for the armband, and he would have been asked to take the armband off, Kieran, when he’s in such a good place. And like I said, he’s leading by example at the minute, he is on the right path.”