22 Nov 2012

'He's a funny player' - BR hails 'unorthodox' LFC youth striker. First-team ready?

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has done a fantastic job bringing young players into the first team squad, with Suso, Raheem Sterling and Andre Wisdom all benefiting from the manager's refreshing approach this season. There are plenty of other promising players in Liverpool's youth set-up, and after watching the LFC U21 team draw 3-3 with Chelsea earlier in the week, Rodgers singled out Michael Ngoo for special praise.

Rodgers went down on his day off to watch the U21s, and at half time, he was clearly impressed with Ngoo's contribution. He enthused:

"I love his [Ngoo's] attitude.

"He’s a funny player, Michael. He’s unorthodox, but effective, and he’s a real nuisance around the six yard box

"He hasn’t been up to train with us as much as he would’ve liked, but he gives 100% every single game.

"He’s going to have a good career in the game".


Ngoo put in a very good performance in front of the boss, and got on the scoresheet as well. Rodgers further hinted that he may feature the youngster in his squad for tonight's Europa League game with Young Boys, and with the Reds needing strikers, it would be good to see how Ngoo fares on the big stage.

Last week, John Aldridge called for Ngoo to be given a chance in the first team. He told the Liverpool Echo:

"Michael Ngoo might get a senior call-up. Ngoo is a powerful lad with a presence about him. He has had a really good season for the under-21s and, despite his size, is better on the floor. I believe he could do a decent job"

You can watch the highlights of the U21's 303 draw with Chelsea below:




Jaimie Kanwar


20 comments:

  1. Sound like Ngoo is a goner to me. What Rodgers is really saying is that he hasn't selected him for the first team as much because he feels he's not good enough but he will be able to play professional football and have himself a career at a smaller Premiership or bigger Championship club. I think he should stick to Morgan and Yesil or whoever he feels could make the grade eventually. By switching between those two, Ibe, Sinclair and Ngoo none of them will get enough chances to prove their worth.

    On a sidenote, whatever happened to that kid everyone was raving about a couple of years back...Linfield or something like that? He was our main striker when we won the youth cup twice in a row.

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  2. Nevermind, found him through Google. He's at Accrington Stanley. Lindfield it was..

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  3. Id be interested to see Ngoo feature at some point. He certainly has s presence and offers something different to the other strikers. On another note Jamie, what's your scaremongering with regards Assaidi all about??

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  4. He's twenty and he has Suarez and three players his age ahead of him and another one coming in in January.

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  5. It is arround 10 games 'till January...

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  6. It's not scaremongering at all; it's legitimate interest:

    * There is no official statement from LFC anywhere to state that he is injured, either last week or this week.

    * Rodgers was specifically asked about injuries in his last three press conferences: Last thursday; post Wigan, and yesterday. He made no mention of Assaidi but mentioned everyone else who is injured and/or recovered.

    * Why would he not say anything about Assaidi if he is, in fact, injured?

    * There is no proof to support the fan rumour that he got injured/failed a fitness test pre Wigan.

    All the evidence suggests that he is not injured, and there's some other reason he was dumped from the weekend squad.

    This is interesting to me, which is why I question it.

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  7. The "mystery deepens" post indicates he's not in the current squad though! It was reported on radio merseyside on Saturday around 2 pm, which is reliable, about a slight shoulder injury that wasn't worth risking, so it's not a fan rumour. Rumours from fans are more likely to consist of something less straight forward than a simple injury such as the suggestions your post stirred up i.e his attitude.

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  8. With respect, I do not believe that Radio Merseyside's info is legit. Again, why would Rodgers not mention it when *specifically* asked three times about injuries? Why would he hide it? The answer is, he wouldn't.

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  9. I wouldn't believe any of your comments are legit either you persistent Liverpool player bashing idiot, why the hell can't you just write something positive....

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  10. He didn't have an opportunity to mention it prior to the Wigan game if the reports (of which I trust) are true. It must be legit in my opinion as it's a pointless thing to make up. I expect Assaidi to be involved later.

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  11. He had an opportunity to mention it *after* the game in the post match press conference, and again in his press conference yesterday.

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  12. He did but I wouldn't read anything into it.

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  13. I don't think he looks ready for the 1st team yet. I've watched him a fair bit on LFC TV and he's not a technically gifted or promising type of player, also no pace at all. Think of a young Heskey and you wouldn't be far off.

    He does look like he could develop into a big, strong, hold-up player, but that's not the type of player BR wants upfront - Carroll being the example of that.

    I think if we can develop him to a decent enough standard to send him out on loan with a view to a permanent deal, it would be good for him personally and also show our youth set up can contribute to the club coffers.

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  14. Looks like Assaidi has been found in respect to some people's missing tag or has recovered for others who suggested so, he may also have strengthened according to other theories while he may have mended his bad attitude according to others enough for him to be picked tonight against Young Boys.
    The mystery deepens.

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  15. No pace? are you having a laugh this guy ran through Chelsea midfield and defence like they weren't there in one of the matches I watched.

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  16. So he had one good moment running through an U21 midfield, Dagger runs through midfields now and then but he's not blessed with pace. It's easy to look fast if you get the drop on players not expecting it.

    Maybe he's not the slowest in the U21's, but he's not quick enough for our 1st team attack.

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  17. He doesn't need to be lightning, just look at Berbatov and even Fowler they weren't the quickest in their prime.

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  18. I've seen him play & I like him. He reminds me of Kanu, he's quick (not blistering) but he's very strong. By the way his ball control & ground game is way way better than Carroll, he's very skillful!
    I definitely think he could do a job, the same way Kanu did in a very quick Arenal team.

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  19. That's fair enough, but they are / were exceptional players.

    Kenwyne Jones and Carlton Cole are also not the quickest.

    My point is which of the 2 sets of players is he more likely to reach the same level as.

    Yesil and Morgan look more like the type of player BR will bring through to the first team.

    I'm not slating Ngoo for what he's achieved in the U21's, something like 8 or 9 goals and a few assists, but he's over 6ft tall and playing against kids that look like... well, kids.

    I just don't think he'll get the chances at LFC that he might get elsewhere.

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