Iraola tells Ngumoha to shut out the noise after Villarreal heroics

Andoni Iraola has told Rio Ngumoha to block out the growing attention around him and keep his focus purely on performances, after the teenager was named man of the match in Liverpool's 4-3 Champions League win over Villarreal.

Ngumoha supplied two assists in that midweek victory, arriving days after he had come off the bench to alter the course of the game against Brentford. The 18-year-old has been on an upward curve since leaving Chelsea's academy for Liverpool in 2024 and making his first-team debut in last season's FA Cup, but Iraola believes the past few weeks have taken him to a new level.

"I think every player has to focus on performances, on keeping doing well and improving the things he can improve," Iraola said, quoted by Independent Sport. "The outside noise, when it's good, when it's bad, I think it affects – obviously – but we have to therefore not be affected by those things."

The head coach added: "When you do well they are going to praise you, when you do bad there are going to be critics but don't let those things affect too much the performance, which in the end is the most important thing."

The Villarreal performance was Ngumoha's fifth start under Iraola, according to Guardian Football, and came on the right flank at a time when questions had been raised over how he would cope there, particularly after Liverpool's £123m signing of Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain increased competition for wide places.

Those questions were answered on the night. Ngumoha repeatedly cut inside off the right to shoot with his left foot and produced a driving run that set up Alexis Mac Allister's second goal of the match, details the Guardian reported Iraola singled out as evidence of his progress.

The win itself was far from comfortable. Liverpool found themselves 2-0 down inside the opening half-hour, with Virgil van Dijk implicated in the first goal conceded, before recovering to see out a 4-3 scoreline, according to Yahoo Sports.

That stuttering start fits a pattern this season. Iraola took over from Arne Slot at the beginning of the 2026-27 campaign and, despite performances that have often been unconvincing, has lost only one competitive match in charge, Yahoo Sports reported.

Against that backdrop, Ngumoha's emergence has offered Liverpool a rare source of consistent encouragement, with Iraola now keen to ensure the scrutiny that comes with it does not disrupt the teenager's development.

Liverpool have not disclosed their next Champions League opponents in this reporting, but the message from the head coach is clear: Ngumoha's job is to keep performing, not to read what is written about him.