Michael Owen says Joe Gomez made him ‘nervous’ with defending in the 32nd minute against Everton on Saturday. Liverpool did get away with it.
Michael Owen admits that one Liverpool player makes him ‘nervous’ to watch at the moment – Joe Gomez. The centre-back did have a poor moment in the Merseyside derby on Sunday.
Gomez failed to deal with a ball in the box, offering a very poor ‘clearance’ that simply fell to Neal Maupay. Fortunately, the Everton forward could not get a shot off before Virgil van Dijk got involved.
“Joe Gomez, makes me nervous if I am honest,” Owen told Premier League productions. ”That’s a left foot clearance and he is trying to go with his right foot.
“Then mis-kicking and basically the ball stopped ten meters away from the goal. It’s not ideal.”
Owen ‘nervous’ with poor Joe Gomez defending
It wasn’t great from Gomez and he only got away with it because Van Dijk covered so well. But that’s the beauty of having a world-class defensive partner, of course.
Though, we do think that was just a blip. Gomez was actually fantastic on the day, putting in a near-perfect performance. He won five tackles in the game from five attempts, put in three clearances and another three interceptions.
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It was also Gomez who played in Darwin Nunez when the striker hit the bar. Overally, this was a very good performance from the centre-back and one that showed him back to his best.
Was it a nervy moment? Of course, it was. Gomez should have dealt with it far better but we’re willing to look past that. The rest of his display was so good that we’re coming out of that game feeling great about the 25-year-old.
If he can get back to his top level this season, Liverpool are all the better for it. It feels like he might just do that.