Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher in full agreement on Liverpool star who must be dropped

Liverpool legends Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher have shared their thoughts on the team

Liverpool legends Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher have now both called for Cody Gakpo to be dropped for Rio Ngumoha. The young winger was impressive after replacing Gakpo against Wolves on Tuesday, despite the Reds falling to a 2-1 defeat.

Mohamed Salah looked to have salvaged a point for Arne Slot’s side at Molineux, cancelling out Rodrigo Gomes’ opener, only for Andre’s last-gasp strike to seal an unlikely win for the home side. It was a huge blow for Liverpool in the battle to secure Champions League football.

However, the squad have an immediate opportunity to get their revenge as they prepare to face Wolves in the FA Cup fifth round on Friday night, three days after their last visit to Molineux. Gerrard has called on Slot to name Ngumoha in his next starting XI after another eye-catching cameo.

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Responding to Virgil van Dijk’s criticism of the team’s display against Wolves, Gerrard said on TNT Sports: "He's right because for 65 minutes, Liverpool were desperate tonight, really poor. [They] didn’t create enough, didn’t play at the right speed or the right tempo, they didn’t have the right quality.

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"[Slot] has to start Ngumoha now, he has to start him because he’s coming on and doing more in a short cameo and in a short space of time than Gakpo is doing in 65/70 minutes. He deserves a start now. He's got the start the kid on Friday night."

The teenager replaced Gakpo in the 65th minute and offered more of a threat from the flank. Earlier this season, Ngumoha became the Reds’ youngest-ever goalscorer after netting a late winner against Newcastle United in August.

Gerrard’s demand for him to start ahead of Gakpo echoes Carragher’s previous verdict on Liverpool’s wide options. Following the recent win over Nottingham Forest, Carragher believed that the team’s wingers had been ineffective until the youngster was introduced off the bench.

"Ngumoha did more in 15 minutes than Salah and Gakpo did before that,” Carragher told Sky Sports. “He changed the game and needs to be starting games.”

It remains to be seen whether the two Liverpool icons’ demands will be answered on Friday. Liverpool boss Slot has already explained the difficult balance he is striving for in terms of Ngumoha’s game time.

"Let’s be clear, he is a special player that will have more playing time and already has more playing time recently," Slot said last month. "If everyone thinks he is so good, then he should be in something to talk about again. If he is already good enough to play for us, then he should definitely be, in your opinion.

"(I'm mindful over lack of under-21s football) 100 per cent - that is what makes it so difficult at the age of these two players (Ngumoha and Trey Nyoni) and where they are at in their development. (They are) good enough to come in or to play for us, to be on the bench, (with) our squad not being big enough.

"So we always need them on the bench and that also means that if you look at his playing time and Trey’s playing time, overall that has not been enough to develop a player ideally in a better way. But that is the downside of having injuries, the downside of they are a bit too good (for the U21s).”

Ngumoha has started in three of his 17 first team appearances so far this term. One of those three starts came against Barnsley in the FA Cup third round and he will be pushing to be in Slot’s lineup for Friday's cup match against Wolves.

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