Steven Gerrard has urged Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola to keep faith with Lewis Koumas after the Wales international impressed on his first Premier League start against Manchester City.
With Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak absent, Koumas started for the Reds against Enzo Maresca's side at Anfield on Sunday. Despite Liverpool losing 3-0, the 20-year-old caught the eye during his 75 minutes on the pitch before being replaced by Rio Ngumoha.
Gerrard's verdict on Koumas
Speaking on The Overlap Daily, brought to you by Sky Bet, Gerrard said: "I came through Liverpool's academy with his dad. His dad was an awesome player, two-footed, different type of midfielder, Jason Koumas."
"I had some great days with him when we were young kids, when football was fun, before it becomes serious. Unbelievable player, great family."
Gerrard added: "Delighted for him, and I'm an academy boy. Roots. I love seeing young kids get opportunities and take them, and he was thrown in at the deep end yesterday. I know he's had a couple of pockets of minutes, but yesterday was Man City at home.
"What a game for your first Premier League start. And you know what, he'd done himself proud, he'd done the academy proud."
Room for improvement
While Gerrard praised Koumas' display, he also noted areas for development: "He was a little bit loose at times, so there's a lot to work on, a lot of potential there. But in terms of rolling your sleeves up, being up for it, fighting for your team, representing the supporters, representing the academy, he didn't look like an academy player out there, he played like a man."
"I'm proud of him. I really am. I'm delighted that he took his chance. And what he showed me as a Liverpool fan yesterday is he can be part of this group moving forward, because he will improve."
"And if you get the right coaching around him and they don't just allow him to be part of a team, improve him individually and let him be part of our squad, I think there's a future for him."
Carragher also impressed
Jamie Carragher also praised Koumas, saying: "We need [Bradley] Barcola and we need [Florian] Wirtz to step up and help [Victor] Munoz and [Lewis] Koumas at the top of the pitch."
"Koumas and Munoz were better than the two £100m players. That can't be right. It's not right. It wasn't a decision for anyone in the stadium when Liverpool went down to 10 men."
Liverpool face LASK in the Champions League on Wednesday night before hosting Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday. Wales are next in action against Norway on Saturday, December 14, before taking on Portugal three days later.
