Photo by Jose Manuel Alvarez Rey/Getty Images
Photo by Jose Manuel Alvarez Rey/Getty Images
Lewis Koumas has been an unexpected success story of Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool, with the youngster quickly becoming a genuine option for the new head coach.
After successive seasons out on loan in the Championship, few Reds fans had expected Koumas to stick around this term, but after Iraola took a shine to him in pre-season, he has already made five appearances under the Basque. Plenty more should follow.
Despite his lack of profile at Liverpool before this season, Koumas is already an established international with Wales, but prior to Thursday’s Nations League clash with Portugal, he had been seen as a squad member by Craig Bellamy. That could now change, however, after the 21-year-old delivered a man of the match performance against Cristiano Ronaldo and co.
Koumas delivers mature performance against Portugal
It is not for nothing that Koumas has become an early favourite of Iraola’s. The youngster presses and harries opposition defences like his life depends on it, showing exactly the kind of energy and application which the Liverpool boss wants from his players.
He deserves the praise which has come his way from Iraola, and the Spaniard will no doubt have enjoyed what he saw from Koumas on Thursday as well.
Wales Online report that the Liverpool talent was the ‘star man’ against Portugal, as he started as the centre-forward for Bellamy’s team.
Koumas reportedly ‘led the line with a maturity which belies his 21 years’, showing ‘real strength’ against a Portuguese defence which contained Ruben Dias, Renato Veiga, Nuno Mendes and Joao Cancelo.
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As Liverpool fans have become accustomed to, it is claimed that Koumas ‘worked tirelessly,’ while also being a willing runner beyond the back line.
The one blot on his copybook was that the Welshman could have scored, but he and Leeds United winger Dan James ‘got in each other’s way’ as the goal gaped.
Nevertheless, this was clearly another big step forward for Koumas in what is turning out to be a potentially career-defining season.
As usual, it seems that the academy graduate’s best work came off the ball, as his in-possession stats were not particularly eye-catching. He completed seven out of 13 passes having touched the ball only 26 times, and was not successful in either of the two dribbles he attempted.
Koumas was more than willing to test himself in duels against the more experienced Portuguese players, but ended up on top in only two of the eight he attempted.
As has been the case with his Liverpool career so far then, it seems as though Koumas’ good performance came more from the intangibles he gives: rushing the opponent and providing a distraction to leave space for others. At some stage that may not be enough to keep him in the Liverpool squad, but for now he is giving both the Reds and Wales exactly what they need.