Two facts have to be taken into consideration before you start criticising David Ngog. One: the player cost £1.5million, two: he has scored six goals in nine starts. If we leave the blatant dive against Birmingham City out of the equation, and focus on his footballing abilities, Ngog’s season has been an unqualified success. Rafa Benitez has really had to back the 20 year old to succeed this season considering the lack of transfer funds to purchase another striker in the summer, and the fact that Fernando Torres has been constantly hampered by injury.

Leading the line on your own is difficult at the best of times but with his limited amount of experience in top flight Premier league football and the fact he only started 5 matches in his only other season with the club, two of which were in the Premier League, Ngog has played with remarkable poise and ability. His height at 6ft 3 has no doubt helped him settle into the lone striker role, and his hold up play has been very good during his spell in the team. With Fernando Torres out for a long period of time this season, the responsibility of scoring goals was heavily placed on Ngog’s shoulders. Six goals is not a bad return by any means and certainly when you consider it is only his second season in England.

Even at £1.5million in the summer of 2008, Ngog’s purchase seemed to be somewhat of a risk. He had only scored one goal in first team action during his time at Paris St Germain and spending over a million on a player who was unproven in his own country, let alone in another, appeared to be curious purchase by Rafa Benitez. The facts are though that Ngog had only started 8 games in his professional career and Benitez was backing the knowledge of his scouts who had watched the young French striker regularly at youth level for France where he had scored at least a goal every other game.

What Benitez saw in Ngog were a combination of attributes which were ideal for the Premier League. Height to win aerial duels and bring the ball under control for hold up play, speed to run the channels and get in behind defences, and composure in front of goal to finish off attacking moves. The then 19 year old was no doubt a raw talent but the Liverpool manager had seen enough to be convinced he could make it at the top level.

The lack of competitive football and the fact that he had only had 16 starts in the first three years of his professional career was only going to hamper his development, and with financial constraints on the club, Benitez has backed the player to learn and grow while in the first team this season. The player has certainly progressed but it is clear that there is room for improvement. Despite an excellent first touch to bring the ball under control, Ngog’s second and third touches can be wayward when he either attempts to lay-off the ball or runs into space himself and overruns the ball. The crucial thing here is that his first touch is good, meaning there is nothing wrong technically with his game. The wayward passing or running into dead ends all can be corrected by game time.

Experience is the key here, understanding the movements and runs of your team-mates, anticipating where the ball will be passed to, to latch onto balls, and creating space for yourself, all come from playing more and more first team football. Decision making is crucial at the top level and it is a football intelligence which can be, and needs to be, developed if he wants to be a top class striker. This is the sort of area where problems need to be ironed out rather than there being any fundamental technical problems with his game. The six goals he has scored during his opportunities in the first team demonstrate clearly his abilities and although he may need a few chances on goal to succeed at the moment, he is getting in the right positions to be able to either convert or miss them.

Although David Ngog is currently not the perfect striker and is by no means the finished product, he is more than worth his £1.5million transfer fee, and although he should not be the only one to be backup for Fernando Torres, he provides a good option and could develop his game under a class striker such as Torres in the coming years to be a potent attacking force.