Gomez - Youth is Pushing him Forwards

I’ve been kind of reluctant to put down in words something that’s been on my mind whilst watching Liverpool’s first three matches of the season. When players and the team are going through a good run of form it seems that anything you say which isn’t 100% positive is interpreted as a negative by some people. I really don’t want to be negative in this piece but I do want to bring some realism to discussions about this player.

During the first three matches of this season Liverpool have been defensively excellent, three clean sheets and we hadn’t really given away any clean cut chances until the Arsenal game when Simon Mignolet, who was being decreed as an imposter at this time last year, showed that he has truly left the poor form of them days behind him by proving equal to the gooners most dangerous efforts. Martin Skrtel has shown us that he just might be able to break from his form history of being good one year and poor the next. Nathanial Clyne has come into the side and immediately looked like he has been at the club for years. Dejan Lovren, whilst not yet looking the €20m powerful leader we were promised last summer has at looked like he might just have something to offer the first team. On top of all these players as the pick of the bunch is an 18 youngster signed from mid-table Championship side Charlton Athletic for a fee in the region of €3m – Joe Gomez.

It’s a wide held belief that, in spite of what the manager may claim now in hindsight, Gomez was signed with the intention of loaning him out to gain further first team experience. That he managed to do enough in training and pre-season friendlies to not only convince the manager to keep him within the club to develop, but also to put him in the starting line-up for the first league game of a season which saw the manager on the brink from the first whistle was an incredible testament to his character and ability.

Gomez has taken to this challenge better than I think even the most optimistic of supporters may have thought possible. He has looked assured in defence, comfortable in possession and he has looked dangerous going forward. It used to be that I could sound like an auld arse here and say “haven’t seen potential like that since….” But in fairness its only a couple of years since Raheem Sterling was showing incredible potential as an 18 year old at the club so I won’t go down that route. Sufficed to say Gomez has bags of potential.

However, as with any 18 year old the important bit when eulogising over their performances is to remember their age and inexperience. At the moment he is playing to an incredibly high level but as we have all experienced when watching young players trying to adapt to senior football it is perfectly natural for them to be inconsistent. Right now his form shows no sign of dissipating but that is often the case with developing players. Another truism for developing players is that inevitably their form hits a patch where they find it hard to perform at all. This period often turns out to be the acid test in that those who recover their form after this period go on to have careers in the higher echelons of the league whereas those who don’t tend to transfer downwards until they find their level

Gomez has a number of attributes, both developed and achieved, which are helping him to shine at this level. His height, strength and pace give him an immediate means to level the playing field against older more experienced players somewhat. His technique and tactical awareness ensure that he not only functions within the team he positively influences performance. I believe that, at this point, his lack of experience and youth are also contributing to his rich vein of form. He clearly has a lot of self-belief so his confidence is high from the get go. He has yet to receive a rinsing from any opponent thus far so he is unaware of the dangers which lie ahead from unforgiving opponents when they identify a weakness.  At some point in the future this will come and it is at this point we will find out if Gomez will go on to be truly world class or if he will simply become a good level defender.

At the moment I am thoroughly enjoying watching this guy play and I’m very much looking forward to seeing him develop but when I keep hearing people talking incredulously about his performances “In spite of his age” I can’t help but feel that we need to remember at this early stage perhaps his performance isn’t in spite of his age, maybe it’s because of it.

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