Jurgen Klopp was full of praise for his squad on Wednesday evening after Liverpool beat Chelsea. The Reds ran out 4-1 winners, with goals from Diogo Jota, Conor Bradley, Dominik Szoboszlai and Luis Diaz.
The boss was particularly happy with his squad depth after the game. He raved about the options at his disposal – and had a particularly interesting quote about Joe Gomez.
“For us it’s important because we could not have put this string of results together without these boys,” Klopp told Match of the Day. “Without [Jarell] Quansah, Conor and Bobby [Clark], they really helped us through this period.
“Joe Gomez has created his own position if you want. It’s really good, really happy for the boys.”
Gomez has been a revelation this season, with Klopp previously calling him a ‘life saver’ in how he’s covered for injured players. We’ve seen him fill in at right-back for Trent Alexander-Arnold, centre-back for Joel Matip and, most impressively, at left-back after both Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas were ruled out.
Of course, Gomez has had to play the left-back role differently to Robertson or Tsimikas. He’s not a flying wing-back looking to cross the ball but more of a defence-first full-back who looks to drift inside off the flank to play as a pivot between the lines when Liverpool have the ball.
It’s worked wonders since he’s been there – Liverpool have looked incredibly strong both going forward and in defence.
And so the Reds now have this very unique player in the squad. They can throw Gomez in across the back four and change how they operate in each role. A player who seems comfortable no matter what you ask him to do.
Now, if only he could bring that attiude to scoring goals.
