Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has hailed Joe Gomez for an ‘incredible’ performance against Southampton on Wednesday night.
Liverpool are into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup just days after lifting the Carabao Cup at Wembley Stadium.
The Reds were given a scare early on as Southampton caused real problems, but Lewis Koumas found the opener with a dream first senior goal.
Substitute Jayden Danns put the game beyond Southampton in the second half, scoring twice in front of the Kop.
Liverpool’s youngsters are again making headlines but it was a more experienced player who really caught Jurgen Klopp’s attention.
Jurgen Klopp on Joe Gomez
Liverpool fans were a little confused then the starting lineup dropped on Wednesday evening.
Some thought Conor Bradley was playing in midfield, others thought he would play wide with Harvey Elliott supporting James McConnell and Bobby Clark in the middle.
In the end, it was actually Joe Gomez playing in midfield with Bradley at right back.
We are used to seeing Gomez as Liverpool’s defensive utility man; right back, centre back, left back – it doesn’t matter, Gomez can do it.
Playing as a holding midfielder is something a little less common though with Gomez put somewhat out of chis comfort zone against the Saints.
There were some tough moments but Klopp was impressed, telling beIN Sports that he thought Gomez was simply ‘incredible’.
Klopp noted that Gomez had probably never played as a number six before but turned in an ‘exceptional’ performance whilst anchoring the midfield with two youngsters ahead of him.
Klopp also feels that Gomez has ‘saved’ Liverpool this season, praising his willingness to play in different positions to help the team.
“Ryan is out for a weeks and Wataru cannot play, so Joe Gomez had to play six today, never played that before in his life, as far as I know, as an adult at least,” said Klopp.
“He had an incredible game. He saved our backside this year already 15, 20 times, playing left back in a way which I didn’t see a lot of players playing, now playing six is absolutely outstanding – with two kids in front of him. They had not the greatest timing of all-time, so there was a lot of space to cover – that was exceptional,” he added.
A bargain £3.5million signing from Charlton Athletic in 2015, Gomez has been outstanding this season and just so versatile.
Every top team needs players like Gomez, players who will put their own wishes to one side in order to do a job for the team.
That was the case on Wednesday and we may even see more of Gomez in that role moving forward after Klopp’s praise.
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