Lewis Koumas on playing 'the Liverpool way' after Anfield man-of-the-match display
Lewis Koumas celebrated a man-of-the-match performance at Anfield on Wednesday night after Liverpool's 3-1 Carabao Cup third-round win over Tottenham, calling his mother immediately to show her the award. "That was my mum," said the Liverpool forward, who received the trophy from Cody Gakpo and rang his family in the directors' box.
The 20-year-old said he was pleased by the faith Andoni Iraola showed in selecting him for the Tottenham game and credited the manager's tactical demands with his role on the night. Iraola had urged better pressing and tenacity from his forwards following Saturday's draw with Fulham, a critique aimed at more decorated, expensive names, and Koumas applied himself against Roberto De Zerbi's defence by creating space and opportunities for team-mates.
Iraola praised Koumas after the match, saying: "The energy he shows is contagious. I’m very happy for him. He does it in training every day. He is very clear what he needs to do, what the team needs."
Koumas described his approach as aligned with the club's identity and credited the manager's trust for his motivation, saying: "I think how I play is ultimately the Liverpool way. We’ve always been a club where players have to give absolutely everything on the pitch. We’re bringing that back now and the crowd are loving it. A lot of it is about what I do off the ball. 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 moved quickly to integrate Koumas into his first-team plans after arriving this summer, telling Liverpool's then sporting director, Richard Hughes, that he wanted Koumas in the first-team squad and not sent out on loan. Koumas had impressed on Liverpool’s pre-season tour of the US, has made substitute appearances in the Premier League and Champions League this season, and collected his first senior man-of-the-match award in the cup victory.
The forward, the son of former Tranmere and West Bromwich Albion playmaker Jason Koumas, reflected on how unexpected his recent run had felt: "No, I would have woken up! I would have thought I was dreaming. It’s crazy. But 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 and was given his first Liverpool start by Jürgen Klopp over two years ago, marking that full debut with a goal in a 3-0 FA Cup fifth-round win over Southampton. He spent 2024-25 on loan at Stoke, the first half of 2025-26 on loan at Birmingham and the remainder of that season on loan at Hull; he added: "I never showed a weak mentality about how the future would look for me at Liverpool," and cited Michael Owen and Gareth Bale as childhood inspirations, saying "My hunger comes from representing Liverpool Football Club, wanting to give everything for the best club in the world."
Koumas celebrates his 21st birthday on Saturday, the day before Liverpool travel to Iraola’s former club Bournemouth.