Gomez happy to be centre of attention for right reasons
THE final score suggests it was comfortable: the team at the top scored two unanswered goals to continue their relentless march towards the title.
Liverpool were in charge from the 38th minute, when Mohamed Salah whipped a shot with the trajectory of a boomerang into the Anfield Road net; it was a strike that took the wind out of Watford’s sails.
There is an argument to say, however, that the most important action came 60 seconds earlier. Watford, full of spirit, threatened and a careful move ended with Gerard Deulofeu seizing on Abdoulaye Doucoure’s scuffed shot. As Deulofeu shaped to shoot, Joe Gomez arrived on the scene, hurling himself in front of the Spaniard to force a corner. His timing was impeccable — a goal at that point for Watford would have made things interesting, with the stadium unusually quiet, but Gomez’s desire was crucial.
If it has been a serene campaign for Liverpool collectively, with 16 wins from 17 Premier League games and the man who has orchestrated it all signed up to a new five-year contract, there have been difficult moments for certain squad members — none more so than Gomez. He had a spell from September to November when he only played nine top-flight minutes, such was the form of Joel Matip and then Dejan Lovren. The inactivity took a toll, as he never kicked a ball when he went away with England in October.
All that paled into insignificance, though, after an eruption in the dining area at St George’s Park. Raheem Sterling’s attack on Gomez catapulted this quiet soul on to the back pages for all the wrong reasons. He was a completely innocent party in a kerfuffle that led, pathetically, to him being booed when England played Montenegro; innocence, though, did not prevent the situation taking a toll on him and his family — the ordeal left mental and physical scars.
The process of getting back to his peak has been slow but an injury to Lovren in Salzburg last Tuesday has catapulted Gomez back into the team at the most frenzied point of the season. The way he played against Watford suggests he will grasp the chance.
It was not plain-sailing early on — he was the subject of muffled discord when missing a header and then misplacing a pass — but Gomez, who was watched by England boss Gareth Southgate, is composed and the thwarting of Deulofeu saw his belief burgeon. In the second half, when Liverpool were protecting Salah’s goal, his perfectly-timed tackle stopped Ismaila Sarr dead in his tracks, bringing thunderous applause from the fans and a punch of the air from Jurgen Klopp.
With Lovren sidelined and Matip’s rehabilitation from a knee issue being slow, Gomez knows he and Virgil van Dijk will be Klopp’s axis for the foreseeable future. Many thought this would be the preferred central defensive pairing at the start of the season.
He always knew it would be a case of staying prepared for when the big opportunity arrived: now Gomez is ready to make up for lost time.