Stuart Pearce expressed his concerns for Liverpool enforcer Joe Gomez despite believing the player is the real deal.
Jason Cundy stated that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Joe Gomez returning to fitness was a massive boost for Liverpool and added that Gomez was the real deal, and this prompted a response from Pearce.
The former Premier League defender agreed with Cundy that the Reds centre-back was the real deal but admitted he didn’t think he had gotten back up to speed just yet.
“Oxlade-Chamberlain coming back is a massive boost as is Gomez, as I think Gomez is the real deal,” said Cundy on talkSPORT (17:38, Friday, August 23rd).
Pearce replied: “I do too but I..I don’t think he is in the swing of things at the moment.”
OPINION
Pearce is basically a registered member of Gomez’s fan club as he never steers away from a chance to praise him. The retired defender previously tipped the Reds to win the title this season on talkSPORT and highlighted Gomez’s return to fitness as being a factor behind his prediction, before appearing on Sky Sports earlier in the summer in order to back the 22-year-old to cement his place in Jurgen Klopp’s first-team. Yet it seems Pearce doesn’t believe the Reds have seen the best of Gomez this season thus far, and it’s a fair opinion to have. The 22-year-old has featured three times this season, he played no part in the Reds’ 2-1 win over Southampton and has only shown glimpses of his ability. Gomez averaged a rating of 6.81 in the 4-1 win over Norwich City, as per WhoScored, and made two tackles as well as blocked one shot to deal with the Canaries’ attacks. However given that the Reds were mostly comfortable in that game, due to establishing a noticeable lead, you didn’t really get to see how Gomez dealt with being put under immense pressure. Yet despite this, the 22-year-old still had odd moments during that game, mainly Teemu Pukki’s goal, where you questioned his positioning.
