Liverpool fans stream out of Anfield early during the draw with Chelsea on Saturday afternoon
Carl Recine/Getty Images
By Simon Hughes
On the surface, a large number of Liverpool supporters inside Anfield jeered the substitution of a teenager on Saturday after he requested to be taken off due to cramp, according to his head coach.
Replacing him was a £140 million ($191 million) striker who hasn’t seen enough playing time because of a broken leg. The same coach has been under pressure to get him scoring.
With Liverpool needing a goal against Chelsea, Arne Slot’s decision might have seemed logical, but these are unusual times. After neither Alexander Isak nor any teammate could change the flow or the score, the booing was loud enough for anyone who had left early and was driving away from the stadium to know the final whistle had blown.
This is not the first time Liverpool—or more accurately, the people representing Liverpool—have been booed this season. Three other disappointing results have drawn similar reactions, but this was the first time a Slot decision was jeered while the outcome was still uncertain.
Rio Ngumoha, aged 17, has become a cultural flashpoint in Slot’s struggle to prove he can lead the team forward. By scoring Liverpool’s winning goal at Newcastle United deep into added time early in the season, the winger gave the impression he could deliver the impossible, but Slot has not used him as much as many fans would like since. The match against Chelsea, Ngumoha’s former club, was just his third Premier League start.
Yet when he has played, Ngumoha has shown bravery. He tries to take on full-backs with a flurry of step-overs, which gets the crowd on their feet. His direct style contrasts with a bloodless Liverpool team that struggles to shift gears and often seems predictable.
Rio Ngumoha takes on Chelsea’s Malo Gusto (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Maybe Ngumoha carries too much hope. Yes, he can be exciting to watch, and Liverpool consider his talent so significant that they did not pursue more established players in last summer’s transfer market for fear of blocking his development.
But there are clear gaps in his game compared with the player he is effectively replacing. Luis Diaz, 12 years his senior, has scored 26 goals for Bayern Munich this season. His last campaign at Anfield, 2024-25, was his best statistically for Liverpool, with 17 goals in 50 games.
Would Ngumoha have delivered those numbers with more chances? It is much harder for a novice to fully express themselves when everyone around them is struggling, and perhaps only Dominik Szoboszlai has performed near the level expected of him.
Without doubt, the clamor for more Ngumoha would not have been so intense had Cody Gakpo stepped up as expected, especially after signing a new contract. But the Dutch forward currently has half the goals Diaz scored in his last campaign.
Anfield was not reacting to the decision to bring on Isak, but perhaps to the misplaced idea that Slot preferred to play it safe by substituting a kid instead of Gakpo or, on the other wing, Jeremie Frimpong, who once again struggled to influence the game despite being in decent crossing positions.
This felt like the moment Liverpool fans’ patience truly snapped with Arne Slot. The mutinous mood inside Anfield on Saturday sent a clear message to the hierarchy about the scale of the unrest. Booing does not happen at Liverpool very often, and the club’s supporters mock others for doing so.
