MICHAEL Ngoo is an interesting conundrum for Liverpool FC.
The tall Londoner has played regularly for Hearts since moving to Scotland in January, following fellow Liverpool loanee Danny Wilson. Michael’s five goals and all action performances have made him a bit of cult favourite.
While his awkward running style and ungainly movement can make him stand out for the wrong reasons, there’s little denying he’s been a success in his loan spell.
With Hearts’ financial issues and threat of administration it’s unlikely he will go back to Edinburgh next season.
However, the 20 year old believes he’ll return to Merseyside a much improved player.
“I go back to Liverpool at the end of the season and start pre-season with them,” he confirmed.
“I think being at Hearts has benefited me. I’ve improved mentally, as well as improving as a player, and the fans have been tremendous with me. I’ll be disappointed to leave, but I’ve learned a lot here. It’s been a great experience. Not many players come out on their first loan and get to play at Hampden in a cup final, so it’s been a tremendous experience.”
Some of the difficulties Hearts have experienced have helped Michael mature as a player, and be tougher mentally.
“There have been highs and the lows since I’ve been here on loan. You have to be strong to continue to perform on the pitch with everything that’s going on and with the injuries we’ve had and the players we’ve had missing.”
“But we are all together and we are still fighting. A lot of the players see me as a senior player and this has improved me as a person. It’s made me a strong person. Being at Hearts is something I would never ever regret. I’ve learned a lot and it’s been tremendous.”
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Ngoo returns to Liverpool with high hopes but he still has a lot to learn. Being successful at Hearts is nothing like as hard as being successful at Liverpool. Michael still plays with his head down too often, and his range of passing needs much improvement.
He also has the unenviable task of convincing Brendan Rodgers that he should have a plan B type of player. Rodgers already shipped out Andy Carroll at the beginning of the season and has been decidedly non-committal when discussing Ngoo.
Ngoo’s closest similar player is former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch. There were a lot of doubts when Rafa first signed Crouchy, but after a very slow start in which it seemed he may never score he slowly won fans over as a pragmatic, if far from exciting, option for the Reds. Crouch had, and has, better technique and awareness than Michael, but Michael has an ability to run with the ball and dribble past players in a manner few other tall players can.
If Andy Carroll does move on in the summer, there may be more of a chance for Ngoo to see how he performs in early cup competitions as a different ‘type’ of option. Both Adam Morgan and Samed Yesil didn’t take their chances when they were started in less important first team cup games. Both are still clearly talented but weren’t quite ready to perform. Despite Yesil’s injury this season both will be a year older next season and keen to make an impact.
I’m not personally convinced Ngoo will make it as a Liverpool regular, but after his successful loan spell he surely deserves an opportunity to try.
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Give the kid a chance.
Move him on,seel him and add d money to d 20M to get Quality players for next season
Deserves a chance in cup games
Better than Borini
I think he should be sent on load to a championship team, now that he has played in the Scottish Premiership, playing in the second division in the England could do him much good good in his development, providing that he is loaned out to a team that like to play football the “right way” and not just kick it long and rush to get the knock downs and second balls. I think the likes of Suso, Morgan, Ibe, Yesil, Coady, Sama, Robinson and Flanagan should be sent out on loan to play in front of real expectant crowds than stagnating in the reserves.
Well said. I think all the players you mention would benefit from playing regularly, all with it in Championship. I agree also that the danger with Ngoo going on loan is that given his height teams who want to lump it forward are tge teams who will more likely want him. If they’re the only clubs interested in loaning him he’s better off with us. Also, depending on who we buy in the summer, Suso may be useful for the first team.
Pls d lad should b gvin a chance to prov he’s worth. Either in caring cup or fa cup.. To boost hs moral.
Yup, agree.
He should b giving a changes 2 prove himself
I hope so, but worried Rodgers will ship him off without even trying him. Wouldn’t mind if he went on loan again at a higher level than Scotland, e.g. championship.
Ngoo needs a chance in first team as do Morgan and coady
Rodgers is giving too much time to his useless pets Allen and Borini while we have some exceptional talent not getting opportunities
Ngoo should be given a chance but disagree about Morgan and Coady. They are average players who wouldn’t be mentioned if they weren’t local lads.
We have already discovered that your knowledge of football is zero . Your opinions are based from ignorance
I doubt you have ever even seen a u21 game or have ever been to anfield
I’ve watched every U21 game bar half a dozen over the last 4 years or so, and neither Morgan or Coady were ready this season. Adam is an excellent poacher, but inconsistent. He’s a talent for sure, with good movement, technique, and work rate but he is poor at holding the ball up, bringing others into play, decision making, creating chances for others and dealing with physical defenders. Yesil is a better player at the moment. Adam has a chance to make it, but he’ll need to be a lot better to make an impression next season.
Connor is no doubt a strong leader, has flexibility in his game and physically good. He’s a good temperament too, but his technique and range of passing have been a big issue, but having trained with 1st team this season that seems to have improved. If we don’t sign a decent defensive midfielder I’d much rather see how Connor performs if given the chance when Lucas is rested rather than Allen being played ahead of him.
These two aren’t amongst our best young players at the moment. However young players have the capacity to improve markedly over a summer and pre-season so let’s see what happens…