Youth Watch: U18s Drop Mini-Merseyside Derby

It’s a big weekend of derbys with Liverpool’s Women’s Team taking on Everton at Anfield on Sunday. On Saturday, the U18s had their own Merseyside Derby as they faced the Toffees. If how things went for the Academy kids has any bearing on what might transpire in a few short hours, I think some folks might want to buckle up for a bumpy ride.

When the full-time whistle blew at Kirkby, the Young Reds found themselves on the wrong side of a 3-nil loss. According to the write-up on the official site, the Reds weren’t really in it as Everton notched two goals in the first half. And while the Reds did threaten to force Everton to live up to the 2-nil is the most dangerous lead cliche, they managed to ice the game with the third goal of the match about half way through the second half.

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We’ve written elsewhere that youth matches are not necessarily about the result as much as the trajectory of the players, so it might be of interest to folks that starlet Rio Ngumoha was not only part of the affair, but that he also had a nearly moment during the match. While that’s certainly not as good as ending up on the scoresheet, it’s still good to know that our attacking player is finding themselves in the right positions to score. The hope, of course, is that he develops into someone who can translate that positioning into goals on a consistent basis.

Which is really the big key. Ngumoha is likely too far off at the moment to predict they’d be able to step into the first team. But as the celebratory sheen wears off from the extensions to Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, the club have a pretty clear deadline for implementing their succession plan, including identifying the replacements.

Matches like this one are vital because developing players into first teamers is central to our model. Here’s hoping a few of the kids that featured today will take big steps forward in their development over the next few years.

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