BBC pundit Martin Keown has heaped praise on 21-year-old Liverpool centre-back Joe Gomez, saying he plays as if he is “set to music”.
He was responding to a fan who asked “should Stones and Gomez be England’s first-choice centre-back partnership?”
Keown, writing in his #TackleKeown column in the Mail, said it would be harsh for Gareth Southgate to leave Harry Maguire out.
However, he said he was “particularly impressed with Gomez against Croatia.”
“I wrote after the game that he plays football as if he is set to music”, Keown said. “He just floats around the pitch.”
“The next step for him is to become more aggressive in the air. When he plays for Liverpool, I don’t like it how he will swap positions to allow Virgil can Dijk to mark the more physically imposing opponent.
“Stones and Gomez take it to another level when it comes to the technical side of the game.”
OPINION
High praise from Keown but Gomez has been a revelation for Liverpool this season. He’s brilliant in the centre with Virgil van Dijk, who is probably the best centre-back in the world at the moment. And he wasn’t too bad at right-back, where he’s played twice in the Premier League this season, including against league leaders Man City. It’s hard to believe the youngster is still only 21-years-old – what a talent Liverpool have on their hands. It’s also hard to believe he’s only been moved into the centre this season, after playing all but one of his Premier League games last season at right-back. The other he switched to the left side. It seems like he’s played there all his life. That versatility makes him absolutely invaluable and could see him go on to be a major player in world football. Hyperbole? Not really, like Keown we think he takes the game to the next level, and it’s where the modern game is going.