Tony Cascarino has become the second person to compare Liverpool centre-back Joe Gomez to legendary England defender Bobby Moore.
Gomez, 21, has established himself as Virgil van Dijk’s first choice centre-back partner at Liverpool this season and is also flourishing under Gareth Southgate with England.
Where did the Joe Gomez and Bobby Moore comparisons begin? Four key points
1. After a hugely impressive start to the season for Liverpool, BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks claimed that the former Charlton defender was ‘the nearest thing’ he had seen to Bobby Moore in years.
2. Gomez played down the comparison whilst on England duty in September and said it was ‘a lot to live up to’.
3. The centre-back has continued to impress for club and country and set up England’s vital equaliser against Croatia with a fantastic long throw last week.
4. With Liverpool keeping the joint most clean sheets in the Premier League so far this season (7), former Republic of Ireland striker Cascarino has become the latest person to compare Gomez to Three Lions legend Moore.
Many are tipping Gomez to become England’s go-to defender in years to come and Cascarino is no different, claiming the Catford born centre-back is already world class.
Writing in his column for The Times, Cascarino said: “Mark my words, Joe Gomez is destined to be England’s first-choice centre half for the next ten years.
“When the national manager comes to pick his defence, the Liverpool man will be the first name down.
“It will be Gomez, then either John Stones or Harry Maguire alongside him.
“For me he is up there with Raphael Varane, of France, as world class.”
After signing for Liverpool as an 18-year-old in 2015, Gomez’s impressive start to his Reds career came to an abrupt halt when he picked up a serious knee injury whilst playing for England U21s in October of the same year.
2. Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk
"Gomez's awareness, distribution from the back and recovery speed are perhaps his most impressive attributes and the 21-year-old looks set to go on and become a top player for both club and country." pic.twitter.com/cQ938LXJJq
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) October 31, 2018
The ex-Charlton defender was initially used as a left-back at Liverpool under previous manager Brendan Rodgers, but has settled in to his favoured role as a centre-back this season.
“Gomez has everything you need in a centre half and more — pace, strength, heading ability, composure and a long throw, too, to provide set-piece chances,” Cascarino continued.
“He has a mentality that reminds me of Bobby Moore, in that he does the simple things so well.
“He sees the ball and goes and wins it. He spots danger and cuts it out.
“He sees a pass and plays it. Simple.”
READ MORE: One of football’s good guys: Has any player enjoyed a greater rise in 2018 than Virgil van Dijk?
What is England’s long-term centre-back partnership?
Gomez would have been a part of Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad earlier this year but was ruled out after undergoing surgery towards the end of last season.
England used three centre-back’s in Russia but have since changed to a 4-3-3 system, meaning the likes of Gomez, John Stones and Harry Maguire are vying for two centre-back spots.
Stones and Maguire were outstanding for England last summer, but if Gomez continues to develop at this rate then he will soon become one of the first names on Southgate’s team sheet.
He looked at home alongside Stones in England’s last match against Croatia and, at the moment, you would say that will be Southgate’s preferred partnership going forward.
Stones has become a regular for Manchester City this season and both him and Gomez are playing their club football under managers that endorse the style of play that Southgate is implementing at international level.
The post Liverpool defender Joe Gomez compared to Bobby Moore for the second time this season appeared first on Squawka News.
From Squawka NewsSquawka News https://ift.tt/2PMDsFF
No comments:
Post a Comment