AS Liverpool continue to add chapters to a fairytale of a football season, the latest on a starry night in Salzburg, behind the scenes an individual story is still waiting for its next perfect paragraph.
The Reds added a Champions League last 16 spot to an almost flawless Premier League campaign so far on Tuesday, and now the League Cup, Club World Cup and FA Cup loom large.
With a Super Cup already in the bag, Liverpool could end up with more pieces of silver in their pockets than a social media bot expert in the week of the election. And yet a player earning rave reviews just a short time ago, watches on from the periphery.
Liverpool will be the 1st top-flight team ever to play in 5 competitions in 27 days:
CL: Tomorrow
PL: Dec 14, 21, 26, 9, Jan 2
Carabao Cup: Dec 17
Club World Cup: Dec 18
FA Cup: Jan 5— Bill Edgar (@BillEdgarTimes) December 9, 2019
It could and should have been different. If you were asked at the start of December 2018 to predict the defenders having a major impact on Liverpool’s super start a year on, you would surely have named Joe Gomez. Then, the defender signed from Charlton in 2015 was a go-to choice alongside Virgil van Dijk at the heart of Jurgen Klopp’s defence. The valiant victory over Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield, Chelsea away, Manchester City at home – when it was a big game, Gomez played.
And very quickly that went from bold move to accepted wisdom. Gomez kicked off that season with nine consecutive starts in the Premier League and five in the Champions League, with his first feet up not coming until the end of October. A Gomez-Van Dijk understanding on the pitch was clear and a run of nine clean sheets and just five goals conceded in 14 Premier League matches had the football world talking. The bond off the pitch was obvious, too.
The pair did a string of media appointments together, with Van Dijk revealing in a LFCTV feature: “From day one I had a good understanding with him, this season when we play together you can see the understanding we have. Great guy.” Gomez returned the love, describing the “chemistry” between the two, while everyone else marvelled at a set of skills that seemed to dovetail perfectly: Van Dijk’s strength, Gomez’s pace. Van Dijk’s passing, Gomez’s ability to bring the ball out.
Football, though, can knock you down as quick as it builds you up. Just as Gomez was reaching peak form, a tackle from Ben Mee away at Burnley left him in the treatment room. It was four months and 23 Liverpool games before he would again be considered ready. Since then, matches, regular starts and full 90 minutes have been harder to come by with form, fitness and team-mates’ performances blocking the way.
Joel Matip stepped up last season, and soon it was him earning star ratings. This season, in Matip’s absence, it has been Dejan Lovren who has forged a regular partnership with van Dijk. Gomez has made seven appearances in the 16 Premier League games but has clocked up only 196 minutes – 14 per cent of Liverpool’s total time played.
Van Dijk, by contrast has played the lot. Still only 22, and with a five-and-a-half year deal penned while he was on the injury list, Gomez surely knew his chance would come again. The player capped eight times by England is six years younger than Matip and eight years younger than Lovren. With the Croat leaving the field for the second game in succession in Tuesday’s match, Gomez will be eyeing a start against Watford this weekend. And, crucially, in his favoured position.
Most valuable defenders in the world according to transfermarkt.
€110m – Trent
€100m – Van Dijk
€80m – Robertson
€75m – De Ligt
€75m – LaporteLiverpool defenders are the best in the world in their positions. pic.twitter.com/VIWcd5HndQ
— – (@EnRouteAnfield) December 11, 2019
This season already Gomez has made five appearances at right back and seven in the centre. Across his professional career, the stats read 56 appearances at right back, 42 at centre half and nine at left back, where he made his Liverpool debut under Brendan Rodgers. It’s clear, though, that through the middle is where he belongs, where he is comfortable and where he wants to be long term.
Gomez was again jobbing at right back last weekend, with Trent Alexander Arnold offered the opportunity to rest up. And while he did little wrong, the contrast with Liverpool’s number 66 was clear. In the full-back positions, Gomez looks like what full-backs once were. First and foremost, defenders. He is more than capable of getting forward, of putting a ball in, and he did both at Bournemouth.
Yet those balls are often percentage rather than precision. He looks much more at home, and so much more able to influence Liverpool’s play, through the middle. Now he will likely get the chance to prove just that. It’s been a tough time for Gomez – dealing with a second major injury at Liverpool, playing only a minute in the biggest match in the club’s recent history last June and now having to be patient for his opportunity.
Throw in the Raheem Sterling incident, and the subsequent mindless booing he was on the end of while playing for England, and it’s not gone how he would have imagined it. But that’s the past. Right now, Liverpool are fighting on five fronts. And everyone wants to be a part of a season that could go down in history.
It’s why Adam Lallana stepped up at Manchester United and Aston Villa. Why Divock Origi and Xherdan Shaqiri did against Everton. And why Naby Keita looks determined to take his chance. On Saturday, it could be Gomez’s turn. And he’s more than capable of writing a story we would all love to read.
