Source: Liverpool_Echo
DOMINIC KING: David Ngog is looking the ideal second striker for Liverpool FC
STATISTICS can be made to say anything you want so heres one to mull over; at this stage of last season, Liverpools second striker had scored four goals this year the total is six.[LNB]When Robbie Keane arrived at Anfield in the summer of 2008, with many lauding him as perhaps the final piece in the jigsaw, the promise was of him forming a devastating partnership with Fernando Torres that would fire Liverpool to the title.[LNB]As you can see from the figures above, though, the reality was somewhat different, as Keane failed to get to grips with Liverpools style of play and never looked capable of dovetailing to any great effect with Torres.[LNB]Yes, there were a couple of assists a delightful cross at Goodison Park, for instance, which Torres smashed in to give the Reds a crucial lead but nothing to ever suggest he was capable of filling the legendary number seven shirt.[LNB]True, his effort could not be faulted but the running stood for little as, more often than not, he looked incapable of doing the one thing Rafa Benitez brought him to the club for ie. scoring a considerable number of goals.[LNB]That he went into the Christmas period with just four strikes to his name said everything about the effect he had and it is not being unfair to say that an experienced international should have had double the tally.[LNB]Now contrast that with David Ngog. When it became apparent the young Frenchman who arrived at Anfield a month after Keane would start this campaign as Torres back-up, there were groans of frustration among Liverpudlians, who feared the worst.[LNB]It is no secret that Benitez wanted to sign a second striker in the summer and had the goalposts not been moved, there is reason to believe Stevan Jovetic Fiorentinas gifted Serbian star would have ended up at Anfield.[LNB]You may understand, then, why Benitez glowered more than he has ever done during a game, when Jovetic scored twice at Stadio Artemio Franchi in September to put Liverpool on the road to Champions League oblivion.[LNB]Would Jovetic have made a difference during the time Torres spent fighting to overcome his nagging groin problem? That is open to debate. What we do know, however, is Ngog has slowly started to come of age in the last couple of months.[LNB]He has taken his chances and it is very important for him, noted Javier Mascherano. As a footballer it is not easy to play all the time if people are expecting David to do the same job that Fernando does.[LNB]That is not possible. He is under pressure all the time. But quietly he is doing a good job. When he has had to play, he has scored goals. He is trying to do the right thing and he is doing well for the manager.[LNB]Ngog does not yet have the physical strength or stamina to cope with the intensity of 90 minutes of Premier League combat once every three or four days but, as he is only 20, that will come with time.[LNB]For the moment, however, his efforts have been more than sufficient and what has impressed most of all is that the vast majority of his goals in the last couple of months have been all significant not token strikes at the end of games that have already been decided.[LNB]His effort at Leeds secured Liverpools passage into the next round of the Carling Cup, he showed composure to put Manchester United out of their misery, came up trumps in Debrecen and showed a poachers instinct against Wigan on Wednesday.[LNB]Of course, brows were furrowed with the way he won a penalty against Birmingham City but the young Frenchman will not make that mistake again; he is learning all the time and working with Torres can only be to his benefit.[LNB]Something that could not be said for Keane who would have thought the young man who cost 13 times less than him would go on to have an infinitely more successful Anfield career?
