'Priceless' Joe Gomez now compared to Real Madrid stalwarts

Joe Gomez has been compared to particular Real Madrid players by Liverpool great Steve McManaman. The defender is enjoying a great season.

Joe Gomez has been earning plenty of praise lately for his efforts in defence. In fact, there's an argument that Gomez has the toughest assignment in the Liverpool squad right now.

Jurgen Klopp primarily uses Gomez as backup to Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back. That's not the job it used to be, however - it's a role where the player starts at right-back but needs to drift into a holding midfield role when in possession.

But Gomez is also backup at left-back. The defender is right-footed and not exactly a natural replacement for an attacking wing-back-style left-back. It's a role he performs well, though - Gomez was fantastic against Arsenal when coming on as a sub there.

And this is all while also being a centre-back option. He's essentially become Klopp's go-to for filling holes in defence and there have been plenty of those this season.

That's why Steve McManaman has been singing Gomez's praises this week. He talked to the Liverpool Echo about the defender, comparing him to two Real Madrid stalwarts.

"I wouldn’t like him to go anywhere else," said McManaman. "If he wants to play every single game, that’s a problem. It is probably to his detriment that he can play three or four different positions as, when you do that, people start thinking you can do everything.

"He can play left-back, but not as well as Andy Robertson. Robertson is left-footed and wants to get forward more. That’s not Joe’s fault. He is a great defender and always does an incredible job for Liverpool.

"I would be gutted if he left because people like Gomez are absolutely priceless to you at a football club. If you go back to Real Madrid, they’ve got Lucas Vasquez and Nacho, who have both been at the club for over ten years. If you speak to any of their team-mates about what they think of them, they adore them.

"That’s why they’re still there. Teams need players like that and they are just as important as the superstars."

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It's been a wild ride for Gomez at Liverpool. As McManaman says, he's now the reliable utility player but go back a few years and he was the young centre-back who looked likely to succeed Virgil van Dijk at the back.

Injuries have sent his career in varying directions, essentially, and have always halted him at the worst moments. Those injuries have been so prominent, in fact, that the idea of Gomez now being one of Liverpool's most reliable players represents an enormous turnaround.

But that's what he's become and right now, Gomez feels like one of the most important players in the squad. As things fall apart, he's always there to stitch them back up immediately.