“Ain’t nobody
Like Joe Gomez
Makes me happy
Makes me feel this way.”
The 2,700-strong travelling Kop belted it out. Time after time. Unsung hero? Not anymore.
Joe Gomez felt the love at Craven Cottage and rightly so. Liverpool’s longest-serving player was pivotal as they secured their passage to the Carabao Cup final with a hard-fought 3-2 victory on aggregate over Fulham.
Rewind a month and Jurgen Klopp was faced with a serious headache. Having already lost Andy Robertson to a dislocated shoulder, his understudy, Kostas Tsimikas, broke his collarbone against Arsenal, leaving the manager without a recognised senior left-back.
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A weakness for opponents to exploit could have derailed Liverpool’s pursuit of glory on four fronts, but Gomez, who has played at centre-back for most of his career, has filled that void magnificently.
During Gomez’s six-game stint starting at left-back, Klopp’s side have been unbeaten, collecting nine points out of nine in the Premier League, advancing in the FA Cup and setting up a Wembley showdown with Chelsea on February 25.
Gomez, 26, hasn’t just ‘done a job’, he has excelled. Rock-solid defensively but also contributing so much with the ball at his feet, Gomez has embraced the ‘inverted’ role in the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold, where he has been tasked with stepping into midfield to give Liverpool an extra body centrally when they are in possession.
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“Joe is a life-saver,” Klopp said. “He played exceptionally again today. He’s a real defender and he comes inside. He’s doing that really well.
“People forget how important Joey was in the best years we had. He’s a top-class player.”
Gomez expertly nullified the threat of Bobby De Cordova-Reid, regaining possession on six occasions. He also completed 38 of his 45 passes (84 per cent).
Robertson was watching on from the bench, but there was no need to throw the Scotland captain, who resumed full training on Monday, back into the action. The biggest compliment you could pay Gomez is that Robertson has a battle on his hands.
Gomez is enjoying his best run of form since he starred alongside Virgil van Dijk in Liverpool’s Premier League title-winning campaign of 2019-20. He looks sharp, focused, and full of self-belief.
Before his spell at left-back, he had been valuable to Klopp as an option on the right, enabling the manager to push Alexander-Arnold into midfield at times. His reliability is twinned with remarkable versatility.
“Without Joe, nothing would’ve happened in pretty much the last 13 weeks since Robbo was out,” Klopp added.
”Yes, because he could play there (left-back), but also the things we could do with Trent when we brought Joey on. I don’t know how many games he’s played now this year, but I would say 20-something already.”
The answer is 29 appearances in all competitions this season. For context, only once in a stop-start Anfield career spanning nine seasons has Gomez clocked up more than 31 outings in a full campaign.
What a journey it’s been for him since that £6million ($7.6m) move from Charlton Athletic in 2015 — he’s the last of Brendan Rodgers’ signings still at the club. There has been the buzz of winning the biggest prizes with the first iconic team Klopp built, but also the heartbreak of so many crushing injury setbacks.
There have been times when he seriously considered moving on in search of more regular game time after falling down the pecking order, but, on each occasion, he opted to stay and fight his way back into contention.
Eyebrows were raised when Liverpool gave him a five-year contract in the summer of 2022 following a season when he only started four league matches, but he has repaid that faith. Crucially, he has stayed fit.
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That fresh-faced teenager who arrived from south-east London is a father and a senior player in the dressing room. He spends his spare time watching NFL and NBA games, steering clear of social media comments and enjoys reading self-help books. He has a close bond with Van Dijk, whom he views as a “big brother”.
Ideally, he wants to be playing at centre-back with the captain, but you won’t catch him moaning about being asked to operate out wide. There’s no ego. For the staff, he’s incredibly low maintenance.
His mission to score the first goal of his professional career goes on after two hopeful long-range attempts failed to trouble Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno. “For my taste, they were from a bit too far out, but it’s still all right,” Klopp smiled. When Gomez finally breaks his duck, the scenes are going to be special.
Liverpool could have avoided a nervy ending to the semi-final after Issa Diop cancelled out Luis Diaz’s opener if they had been more clinical on the counter-attack. But their defensive resilience came to the fore as Gomez, Van Dijk, Jarell Quansah and Conor Bradley stood firm. They had some assistance from substitute Ibrahima Konate after Klopp switched to a five-man back line late on.
🔴 The goal that puts @LFC 3-1 up in the tie!#EFL | #CarabaoCup pic.twitter.com/QrOTd0t7c1
— Carabao Cup (@Carabao_Cup) January 24, 2024
A year ago, Quansah was preparing to make his debut on loan for Bristol Rovers in League One — a chastening 5-1 defeat against Morecambe. Bradley was also playing in the third tier at that time with Bolton Wanderers. Now that exciting young duo are heading to a Wembley final with Liverpool.
“I’m proud of these guys,” said Van Dijk. “It’s only the beginning for them and they must feel it that way as well, but to be going to the final is a very good thing and shows what kind of progress they have made.”
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During a season of such thrilling possibilities for Liverpool, there has been a steady stream of feel-good stories. The resurgence of Gomez is right up there.
He shuns the limelight and likes to keep a low profile, but you can’t go under the radar when you perform like this.
With each booming rendition, the away supporters at Craven Cottage left him in no doubt about their admiration for how he’s come to the fore.
(Top photo: Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
