Liverpool youngster Lewis Koumas won't get matchball…

Liverpool youngster Lewis Koumas won't get matchball despite scoring FOUR times in youth game

Four goals, a thumping victory and a first start for Liverpool under-18s, Saturday couldn't have gone much better for Lewis Koumas.

But there was one thing missing for the 16-year-old Reds youngster. And for good reason.

"All the boys who score three goals at this level don’t get the matchball because it’s not a real game," says U18s boss Marc Bridge-Wilkinson. "When you score three in the first-team you get a matchball. First-team games only!"

Not that Koumas will mind too much given his resounding statement as Liverpool opened their U18 Premier League North campaign with a 6-2 romp against Middlesbrough at a baking Academy in Kirkby on Saturday afternoon. And what made the contribution even more impressive was the youngster has barely featured as a number nine having more regularly played in midfield coming through the ranks.

"How often have we played him there? In pre-season maybe twice," says Bridge-Wilkinson. "He’s a good footballer. He’s very good at running without the ball, he is very good at running forwards. His movement and timing is excellent, and he likes to finish.

"He’s played in wide positions, as a midfielder, he’s even played at full-back for different age groups and he has played as a number nine as well but I don’t think he has ever played there consistently.

"It was a fantastic performance, because to score four goals at this level is something that doesn’t happen too often. But there are still big strides we can make. We can still help him improve further."

Koumas, as is so often the case with Academy players, has benefited from a growth spurt in the last 12 months. "He looks like a man doesn’t he?" adds Bridge-Wilkinson. "It comes at different times for a lot of these boys, Louie I presume must have had it last season. For others it will come. It is just adapting to what they need and where they are in their growth and also where they are as players.

"It would be hard not to play him as a number nine again. It was an outstanding performance."

With 16-year-old summer signings Ben Doak - who scored the other two goals - and Trent Kone-Doherty impressing on the right and left flanks respectively, Liverpool had simply too much firepower for Boro, continuing the onus in recent seasons on attacking football at U18 level.

"Both were very good," says Bridge-Wilkinson. "They both gave a good account of themselves. We know what they are capable of and we know this is not the end of the journey, this is just the start. It is really nice to see them out there but it will be great to get back in on Monday and go through some work which can hopefully help them improve further.

"The exciting thing for us as a group is that we know we’ve got players who can score goals. So Ben, Trent, Ranel (Young), Louie, Figgy (Keyrol Figueroa) can score goals as well. We’ve got boys in the group that will score goals and chip in. So it’s not going to be about any one individual, it is going to be about creating chances for whoever is in the right position."

Only five of the 16 players involved in the matchday squad had celebrated their 17th birthday, and Bridge-Wilkinson adds: "It’s quite an immature group of players, they are quite young at the minute. They have not got too much experience. There’s loads of innocence and that’s brilliant because that innocence of youth, that energy and enthusiasm just allows them to develop quicker. We’ve got lots of work to do but it is a really nice start."

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