Topic: European and World Champion and all round Big Man Joseph Dave Gomez

[Coolie High]

He’s everything we thought he would be when he first signed, and at 18 was already looking like one of our best players in an unorthodox left back position, two major injuries later and he has still gone on to be nearly on par with the best cb in the world, incredible  player.

[farawayred]

Who da big man now?

[redgriffin73]

Sterling must be looking forward to potentially giving Joe a guard of honour next week.

[Fordy]

He was outstanding last night.

[rakey_lfc]

I thought he was unbelievable last night, won everything and great with his passing. Him sitting slightly deeper allowed Virgil to come higher up the pitch too.Would love him to get a goal before the campaign is over but this lad genuinely loves defending!

[Lofty Ambitions]

Sterling must be looking forward to potentially giving Joe a guard of honour next week.

[Lofty Ambitions]

I thought he was unbelievable last night, won everything and great with his passing. Him sitting slightly deeper allowed Virgil to come higher up the pitch too.Would love him to get a goal before the campaign is over but this lad genuinely loves defending!

His first game, too. after the break. A couple of rusty moments perhaps, but he shrugged those aside, and soon became the Joe we all love to see to play. Long may he reign!

[Petadroli]

He handled the threat of Ayew exceptionally well. Ayew is no slouch and is very good at holding up play - he rarely managed to do that and largely that's because of Joe Gomez. The quality of this young man is astounding. With Virgil, Matip and Gomez we have three top quality CBs. I don't think any team in the League can match that.

[Hendollama]

What a player. Better and better as a defender.
Remember arguing with a friend about Big Joe. He kept laughing at my claim that Joe is easily top 5 for CB's in the PL. IMO he is already world-class.

[CraigDS]

And that's why we have no interest in Koulibaly 

[duvva 💅]

What a player. Better and better as a defender.
Remember arguing with a friend about Big Joe. He kept laughing at my claim that Joe is easily top 5 for CB's in the PL. IMO he is already world-class.

Top two I’d say and he plays next to the best

[pathetic]

Dare I say it, he was better than Big Virg yesterday. No slight on VVD as Gomez was on top form yesterday.

[Hendollama]

Top two I’d say and he plays next to the best

And I would agree with you right now. We have got two brilliant centre backs right now.

[El Lobo]

Top two I’d say and he plays next to the best

True, he does sometimes

[Ray K]

About 45 seconds before the last goal, he made an interception near the sideline that, if I tried it, would probably have ripped my hamstring from the bone. Joe, being Joe, it was absolutely effortless.  I remember Jockey at his peak, and everyone said about him that he made it look all so easy. That's Jomez. And has just turned 23...

We have a couple of Rolls Royce footballers at centre back. Or a Rolls and a Bentley. Whatever luxury car models you'd prefer.

[sinnermichael]

Richard Jolly
@RichJolly

Joe Gomez has lost as many Premier League games as a starter under Brendan Rodgers (2) as under Jurgen Klopp. He played for Rodgers for four months, for Klopp for four years and eight months.

[Sangria]

About 45 seconds before the last goal, he made an interception near the sideline that, if I tried it, would probably have ripped my hamstring from the bone. Joe, being Joe, it was absolutely effortless.  I remember Jockey at his peak, and everyone said about him that he made it look all so easy. That's Jomez. And has just turned 23...

We have a couple of Rolls Royce footballers at centre back. Or a Rolls and a Bentley. Whatever luxury car models you'd prefer.

Sports cars. How many frontline CBs are there in the world who are as quick as Van Dijk and Gomez?

[Oskar]

His ability still isn't fully appreciated beyond Liverpool supporters because VVD is so brilliant.

If Joe Gomez isn't already one of the best centre-backs in the world, he's very close to that level. He's so far ahead of the other English centre-backs that it's a joke at this point - still only 23, a European Champion, a Premier League Champion, possesses every attribute you could want in a centre-back, learning from the very best in the world at his position and plays for the best manager in the game.

[PaisleyPrint]

 

True, he does sometimes

 

[Red Beret]

Thread title needs updating. 

[Jookie]

Gomez is such a talented young footballer and has the potential to be the best centre back in the World. I'm struggling to think of many better centre backs in World football that are 25 and under. Think Gomez would be at the top end of that group that includes Niklas Sule, Dayot Upamecano, Matthijs de Ligt, Caglar Soyuncu, Martin Skriniar. Just below that I think Jonathan Tah and Lucas Hernandez are 2 very talented young centre backs who could grow immensely over the next few years.

Gomez is as talented, and currently as good as, any of those centre backs listed above. He has the huge advantage that lightening quick compared to most of those centre backs. He's probably more talented on the ball than most of them. Only real area where others excel over Gomez its his aerial ability. Joe is not bad in the air at all but he's not going to a dominating centre back in the air they way VvD is or how Sule might be.

There's a lot of talk on these boards and from Liverpool supporters generally about succession planning. Whilst a lot of the focus is on the age range of midfield and attack, I think defensively we should be sorted. Having Gomez (23) and TAA (21) in the squad means we should have 2 World class players within the defence, who won't hit their peaks for another 3 to 5 years. That's a hugely comforting thought when you think of the level those individuals may be at in a few years time if they avoid injury and continue to develop.

[CraigDS]

I see no reason why he couldn’t learn to be aerially dominant. Maybe not as much as someone like VVD is, but up there.

He’s a decent size, he’s strong, he’s got a good leap on him - he just needs to work to bring it all together.

[Jookie]

I see no reason why he couldn’t learn to be aerially dominant. Maybe not as much as someone like VVD is, but up there.

He’s a decent size, he’s strong, he’s got a good leap on him - he just needs to work to bring it all together.

He can definitely improve his heading. It's not poor currently but something he can improve on. Distribution also. Though again it's still good at present.

I just wonder if his height (about 6ft 2) means he could never become completely dominant centre back in the air. Not in the way in which someone like van Dijk or Hyypia dominate(d) for us aerially on set pieces etc.. Not many players cn do this so it's probably an unfair standard to hold him up to when he's dominating in other areas (pace and reading of the game).

[duvva 💅]

True, he does sometimes

I meant Lovren actually

[Dynasty]

He's so underrated by the media and neutrals. I get all the focus is on Virgil who is immense but Gomez and Matip are class, any side in the league would take them. We are so lucky to have all 3!

[Curtisinho]

His ability still isn't fully appreciated beyond Liverpool supporters because VVD is so brilliant.

If Joe Gomez isn't already one of the best centre-backs in the world, he's very close to that level. He's so far ahead of the other English centre-backs that it's a joke at this point - still only 23, a European Champion, a Premier League Champion, possesses every attribute you could want in a centre-back, learning from the very best in the world at his position and plays for the best manager in the game.

Just to emphasize this point, I've argued in favor of Gomez many a time against others and it's always the same 'he only looks so good because he's next to van Dijk'. Interestingly enough, because telling them to actually watch Gomez and see how amazing he already is doesn't really work, here are just some pure statistics:



As you can see above he's second in the league in loose ball recoveries (ahead of van Dijk) behind Kortney Hause. Liverpool have never lost a PL game in which Joe Gomez has started at CB. Since the beginning of the 2017/18 season their record with Joe Gomez at CB is 20 wins, 2 draws, with conceding 0.4 goals per game and having a 64% clean sheet rate; in the same time period without Joe Gomez at CB they've got 35 wins, 6 draws and 2 losses allowing 0.7 goals per game with a 39% clean sheet rate.

When Joe Gomez returned from injury this season this is how the team's performance changed (not updated to the end of the season, but I believe a 14 game sample):

Gheerbrant attributes a significant drop in shots faced (10.4 to 7.1) by Liverpool, shots on target faced (2.9 to 2.0) and expected goals value (1.01 to 0.70) of those chances to Gomez returning to the team, compared to the 14 games he didn’t feature in earlier this year.

Joe Gomez also as highlighted above has the highest recovery rate on the team ahead of van Dijk, he also plays the most passes per 90 mins on the team. His dribbling stats are also really impressive; much higher than van Dijk's or Matip's and also at a higher success rate. Joe Gomez also leads Liverpool in interceptions per 90 (along with the highest number of passes/crosses blocked per 90 of the centrebacks).

To me anyone deriding his class, or not recognizing the world class talent Joe Gomez already is needs to have their eyes checked or their glasses cleaned.

[Alan B'Stard]

He can definitely improve his heading. It's not poor currently but something he can improve on. Distribution also. Though again it's still good at present.

I just wonder if his height (about 6ft 2) means he could never become completely dominant centre back in the air. Not in the way in which someone like van Dijk or Hyypia dominate(d) for us aerially on set pieces etc.. Not many players cn do this so it's probably an unfair standard to hold him up to when he's dominating in other areas (pace and reading of the game).

Cristiano Ronaldo is the same height and he is dominant in the air against the tallest of CB’s. It can be taught.

[farawayred]

Cristiano Ronaldo is the same height and he is dominant in the air against the tallest of CB’s. It can be taught.

It's a talent, I think. Luis Garcia was small by current standards, but his jumping for headers was explosive, winning balls against the tallest defenders. I don't know what goes in that explosiveness...

[RichardM]

It's a talent, I think. Luis Garcia was small by current standards, but his jumping for headers was explosive, winning balls against the tallest defenders. I don't know what goes in that explosiveness...

Aggression is key. Suarez won so many headers he had no right to win. Likewise I've played with plenty of 5'10" players who regularly compete with 6'4" CBs purely due to timing and aggression.

[tubby]

Aggression is key. Suarez won so many headers he had no right to win. Likewise I've played with plenty of 5'10" players who regularly compete with 6'4" CBs purely due to timing and aggression.

Yup, compare Origi vs Firmino.  Bobby wins way more headers against bigger opponents than he should, whereas Divok doesn't have that aggression and loses out.

[Samie]

Where as you would just roll over them Fatty.

[tubby]

Where as you would just roll over them Fatty.

Eat ball
Roll down pitch
Roll through goal
Win match

[Welshred]

It's a talent, I think. Luis Garcia was small by current standards, but his jumping for headers was explosive, winning balls against the tallest defenders. I don't know what goes in that explosiveness...

Fabio Cannavaro was also very decent in the air and he was tiny

[Boaty McBoatface]

A good early judgement of the flight of the ball is key, this then helps the timing of the jump. Joe sometimes takes a little too long judging the correct flight so gets caught under it, a little too often for a world class centre back. But, it's something that can be coached and improved with experience. It's easy to forget how early he is in his centre back career.

[Paul1611]

I can take tonight’s result but I’m pissed about how that little runt sterling gave joe the runaround, to the point of a half time sub.  We played sterling well before this 😟

[Morgana]

I can take tonight’s result but I’m pissed about how that little runt sterling gave joe the runaround, to the point of a half time sub.  We played sterling well before this 😟

Love the guy, but I  feel like he suffers sometimes when under the media (incl. social media) spotlight. All eyes were on him and Sterling today to see if they would further the narrative from our 3-1 victory last year and then the England bust up. Could it be that this was on Joe's mind a bit? Then again, not one member of that defence covered themselves in glory tonight. Virgil was okay, but not great by his usual standards. Robbo was comically atrocious. Then lo and behold Trent started to emulate him. They'll all get it together for the next game though. Not worried. 

[jillcwhomever]

More likely due to the fact that Sterling wanted to make a point to him, I wouldn't put it past the ego-eccentric man that he is. Joe seemed to be a yard short of pace last night, like a few in the line up. Added to the fact that Trent was being taken to the cleaners that side kind of collapsed under the pressure. I am not too worried about it, pretty sure they will be much better in the next game. We are not going to be meeting any team who can play like City did yesterday.

[tubby]

He was left 1 vs 1 against Sterling quite a few times in the first half, situations we should be looking to avoid.  The whole team was wide open throughout the match.

[Prof]

He was left 1 vs 1 against Sterling quite a few times in the first half, situations we should be looking to avoid.  The whole team was wide open throughout the match.

We went toe to toe with them. The first goal was crucial and we should have scored it.  The penalty was frustrating because we never get them given to us for the fouls on salah in particular, but Joe gave the ref the decision to make.

Outside of that both teams were often one pass away from being in on goal, and their execution was better in those key moments than ours.  Small details, and when you're two up, there's a lot less pressure than being two down.  They could sit back a bit more and counter which suited them.

[Fordy]

He was extremely poor by his standards last night. He has an chance to show he will be VVD long term partner for the next 3-5 years with Matip being injury prone and Lovern in the last year of his contract it really is down to him.

However, can't be putting in many performances like that 1st half or we could be in the transfer market.