Jurgen Klopp believes a fit and firing Joe Gomez will add real strength and depth to Liverpool's stretched defence.
The Reds boss has entered the new campaign with a worryingly familiar injury crisis, with no fewer than nine players on the sidelines, following the weekend injury to Thiago. Three of those are defenders, with Champions League final-starting Ibrahima Konate the biggest casualty, along with full-backs Calvin Ramsey and Kostas Tsimikas.
Yet Gomez provides the perfect solution. He has played all along the backline in his seven years at Anfield, and has had a full pre-season, after some worrying injury problems of his own previously. Gomez committed his future to Liverpool when he surprisingly signed a new five-year contract in the summer, despite strong interest from Newcastle and Aston Villa.
And Klopp believes that at still only 25, he will now have plenty of opportunities to return to his place as the recognised partner in central defence to Virgil van Dijk, which formed the backbone of the 2019-20 title-winning season.
“Joe is most important he stays fit. It is not that he was fit from the first day and I just didn't pick him for quality reasons, that was never the case,” he explained. “When he was constantly fit he played an awful lot of games. If he stays fit then everything will be fine, he is an outstanding player.
“Now it is all OK for the moment. Joe committed his future to the club so I can’t see why this year should be so important for him to prove himself. I wanted him to stay here, he is a top player and he will play games for Liverpool Football Club, definitely.”
Konate’s injury is a blow, with the manager indicating he could well be out for beyond a month with a knee injury he picked up in pre-season. But Gomez’s return to full fitness, after a serious knee ligament injury which kept him out for the best part of the campaign in 2020-21, offers Klopp the strength in depth he desires, and the chance to carefully manage Joel Matip’s game time.
“The good news when you have a massive blow like it is with Ibou, you need to have solutions. An we have those,” he said. “Yes Joe needs rhythm like we all rhythm, we try to give him that, that's clear. Now it is all ok and he will play the games for sure.”
Thiago’s injury is something of a worry for Klopp, especially given injuries to midfielders Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Curtis Jones. Jones should be back soon, along with Naby Keita, who has been out for a fortnight with illness. Klopp though, is waiting on scans on Thiago’s hamstring problem which saw him subbed early at Fulham. It is his first hamstring injury since one sidelined him for almost a month back in 2017, and the Reds are hoping his absence will be shorter this time around.
