Joe Gomez is the future captain and Virgil van Dijk replacement
Liverpool star Joe Gomez is a future captain.
Joe Gomez has had a meteoric rise in his career since arriving on the professional football landscape with Charlton Athletic at age 17, which was chronicled nicely by Sam Carroll of the Echo.
At 6’2” he is a formidable body in the defensive line and is comfortable on the left and the right. This adds a dimension to his game that is the want of many an Premier League manager, not to mention those managers on the continent.
Gomez has played competitively at every age of England’s national sides; culminating in a winners medal in the 2014 UEFA European U17 Championship, in which he played every minute of every game.
Gomez will be a stalwart for Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions squad for the foreseeable future after making his debut in 2017. With a wealth of talent and experience, he’s the clear first choice option to partner Virgil van Dijk in the middle of Jurgen Klopp’s formidable defense.
The former Charlton Athletic starlet’s arrival at Liverpool in 2015 coincided with Klopp taking the reigns that same year, and in five years he has developed into a fine competent defensive force.
With the gaffer’s defensive background, and the prized experience of VVD to learn from, the star has made the most of his first team opportunity.
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Gomez has been hampered by injury. A serious knee injury and then an achilles issue kept him out the side from October 2015 until December 2017, but that doesn’t seem to have damaged his overall career progression.
The defender has never scored a professional goal and this is definitely the aspect of his game which needs improvement in order to be a bigger threat on corners and free kicks.
Gomez is comfortable with the ball at his feet and is not afraid to bring the ball forward on occasion, linking with the full-backs scooting up the wings or to Fabinho in the midfield. He will need to work on his passing proficiency to master this clinical skill.
Once again, van Dijk can be an apt mentor to these aspects of his game. The one area that he needs defensive improvement from my view is in his positioning, where he gets caught out at times. His youth, quickness, and acceleration helps immensely in making up for these defensive lapses.
Most notable of these came recently against Manchester City where Raheem Sterling managed on at least two occasions to slide past him in the box. One of these led to a penalty as Gomez was left with no option but to grab Sterling around the waist to impede his progress to the endline.
Fouls are no substitute for good defense, as Klopp has preached to every side he has managed. And fouls inside the penalty area to be avoided at all costs.
With consistent improvement, and remaining fit and healthy, Gomez should be a real long-term prospect and asset to be counted on in the Reds defensive make up for years to come. Indeed he could quite easily step into VVD’s role after his playing days at Liverpool draw to a close.
Expect both to be formidable stalwarts in the central defense for the immediate future.
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Gomez is an unassuming and humble lad by all accounts and with the proper development and leadership instruction from James Milner and Jordan Henderson, the defender could easily wind up with the captain’s armband at some point.