With a man of the match award in one hand and his phone in the other, Lewis Koumas made a very important call before stopping to speak to the media at Anfield on Tuesday night. What it means to represent your boyhood club, and to shine for it, was apparent for all to see. They were all in the box.
I rang them straight away to show them the trophy and they were buzzing.” What it takes to impress Andoni Iraola and function effectively in the his front line was also apparent from Koumas’s performance against Spurs. The Liverpool head coach had aimed a pre-match dig at more decorated, expensive names when calling for better pressing and tenacity from his forwards in light of Saturday’s flat draw with Fulham. Koumas was not part of that conversation, but as he worked himself to a standstill against the Spurs defence, creating space and opportunities for others to exploit, it seemed the 20-year-old had taken Iraola’s comments to heart as well as on board.
He does it in training every day. He is very clear what he needs to do, what the team needs.” Koumas, who celebrates his 21st birthday on Saturday, the day before Liverpool travel to Bournemouth, Iraola’s former club, took the compliment in his humble, studious stride. We’re bringing that back now and the crowd are loving it.
The gaffer has shown trust to me that I can carry out his plans in terms of how we want to play tactically. I was happy to do that for him. It gives me so much motivation the fact he’s putting me in for a game like this.
I want to kick on now.” Iraola placed trust in the Chester-born forward within weeks of his arrival this summer, informing Liverpool’s then sporting director, Richard Hughes, that he wanted Koumas in the first team squad and not sent out on loan again. Having impressed on Liverpool’s pre-season tour of the US, Koumas, the son of former Tranmere and West Brom playmaker Jason, has made his first appearances in the Premier League and Champions League as a substitute and now has a first man of the match award at senior level. Could he have imagined that at the start of pre-season?
I’m just really happy and very grateful for the opportunities I’ve been given. You never know when your last time on the pitch for Liverpool is going to be. I just try to leave everything out there every time.” Koumas has been capped 12 times for Wales, but has had to bide his time to break through at club level.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
