12 Jun 2019 19:16:27
controversial and likely to receive a nice amount of dislikes.

disclaimer: joe Gomez is capable of being a top 5 in the world cb.

content: we can not count on him - yet - nor can he be counted in our starting cbs. due to his injuries.

acl - 234 days out 15/ 16
Achilles tendon - 128 days out 16/ 17
ankle - 121 days out. 17/ 18

with a couple of months missed with other issues.

which for me means. give him a new contract and lock him in. just don't go into the season without bringing in a cb to rival him and Matip for the slot next to vvd because he is in the pecking order.

he needs a full season without injuries, playing cb and covering the full back positions before we can be secure that he is capable of playing a full season and these injuries are well and trully behind him.

just feel that Matip can't be trully trusted either with injuries.

Now this isn't prepare for injuries and all the responces about predicting etc.

It's fact both are hugely injury prone. massively. having 2 out of your 4 who have missed entire season's is just asking for long term trouble.

1.) 12 Jun 2019
12 Jun 2019 19:42:29
We all know joe and Matip and lovern are made of glass and we know Joe has great potential! But for me we all said it last season if vvd had of been injured we’d of been up the creek without a paddle! We need a injury free decent cb I’m not sayin de Ligt or so but I’m sure there are reasonable priced others who can push joe and Matip!

2.) 12 Jun 2019
12 Jun 2019 19:55:48
So we're ignoring the fact that his last injury was caused by a player and that he was otherwise healthy? funny that. He was growing, injuries happen. Very common for young players. The idea of bringing in another defender and pushing him back will only harm his development. There's no other way to swing it.

Why you'd want to do that to a defender who "is capable of being a top 5" is beyond me. I doubt we could even get a replacement in who's better. Not without spending absurd sums of money we don't have on a position we don't need. Matip and Lovren are both solid backups. If one leaves we replace them. Our defence was the best in the league. This is absurd.

3.) 12 Jun 2019
12 Jun 2019 19:57:06
I don’t think he is injury prone, two (at least) of those were unlucky. And I’d want him with VVD to be our cb pairing for years. But I’d agree that if matip or Lovren leave we need a cb and ideally one good enough to challenge Gomez. Hopefully the scouts can find a gem out there.

4.) 12 Jun 2019
12 Jun 2019 20:49:14
Not controversial mate you raise a valid concern Gomez will have to prove his fitness but he's only young which is the good news. He's also been unluvky but he will have time and dw I'm sure he's signed a long term contract recently.

I'd disagree about him covering full back though I'll put lightly that I don't think he's been great there and we all know his main position his CB he's proved himself in the 10-15 odd games he played there this season just let him grow there anf get some proper full back cover to push Robbo and Trent.

I agree with you there as well Jay if VVD was out for a run of games do a Lovren+Matip pairing again fill people with confidence even with Alisson behind them? I think we need a dominant experienced 3rd CB who can push Gomez but not get in the way of him progressing and step in if VVD is unavailable. Eamon, KB is not saying to replace Gomez of course not but imo you have to hedge not only against his injury record so far but Matip/ Lovrens who are not young plus healthy competiton can only help him. The problem is the CB market is not great and I think that Klopp sees Lovren as that guy in fact I'm sure Lovren would havs started the season if he weren't injured.

5.) 12 Jun 2019
12 Jun 2019 21:32:01
Lets not get carried away here lads. First leg of CL tie against Munich the CB pairing was Matip and Fab and they coped admirably. The need for a new CB only materialises if someone goes. The debate about the need for a top class forward has more merit.

{Ed002's Note - I thought de Ligt was nailed on - and that came from TFKFB.}

6.) 12 Jun 2019
12 Jun 2019 21:41:35
Matip and vvd were quality.

Joel performed superbly and played a huge part in us winning the cl.

It's not his or Joe's quality but there injuries that are the issue.

I'll just ask to see were people are at.

if there was a cb avaliable, with vvds quality. would you want him?

if not why not?

7.) 12 Jun 2019
12 Jun 2019 22:04:13
Matip and Gomez both compliment van Dijk so a youngster to replace Lovren for me.

8.) 13 Jun 2019
12 Jun 2019 22:33:19
I'm with you. he has all the tools, what wee haven't seen is his maturity and ability to handle pressure and rigors of a full season. physically he hasn't held up but that may develop fully for him in his mid-20s. I think we have a great player in Joe and, whether we get another "top" CB or not, hope he stays part of our squad.

9.) 13 Jun 2019
12 Jun 2019 22:55:09
KB its not as simple as that mate it's not feasible that a player of that quality is available and if they were the cost not just financially but at the detriment of addressing other areas of the squad would be too high. We can't afford both.

Imo we aren't anywhere near the point that we need to take Gomez's injuries as big a factor as you're making out. I'll repeat I believe we need a reliable experinced 3rd choice who can step in if VVD is out.

10.) 13 Jun 2019
13 Jun 2019 00:12:45
You can't buy players 'just in case someone gets injured' otherwise you have to buy someone for every position because anyone can be injured anytime.

It's not like any of these players are contributing to their own injuries by living/ training poorly and therefore increasing their chance of injury.

11.) 13 Jun 2019
13 Jun 2019 01:08:48
OP, there is NOTHING to prove that Gomez is "hugely injury prone". That is simply baseless. Gomez has been injured majority of the time by OTHER players. It's not like he is just pulling up with consistent niggles for no reason. Perspective is needed here.

Second of all, Gomez is still young and his body is still maturing and trying to find itself esp. at the highest level where the demands are immense physically which takes it's toll on your body. He also has to consistently get back into shape after these injuries which won't help his overall physical development. This is perfectly normal with young players growing up in the game of football.

As for him playing FB, he should be nowhere NEAR there, IMO. He should fully focus on being the best CB he can be and not be burdened with playing at FB where it is more demanding physically esp. if we want him to mature physically at his best position which is CB. We need to get specialists as options at the FB positions. Enough of this chopping and changing positions cos just cos someone can play another position should NOT mean he should be considered as cover there, IMO.

12.) 13 Jun 2019
12 Jun 2019 22:40:35
De ligt is nailed on Edo2, He will join Liverpool alongside Koulibaly, you know just in case of injuries.

13.) 13 Jun 2019
13 Jun 2019 04:35:30
its always best to be prepared Greenflash, meanwhile over at old Trafford phil jones is awaiting the arrival of harry Maguire to form a rock solid all English centre back partnership that will leave the top strikers in the league quaking in there boots!

14.) 13 Jun 2019
13 Jun 2019 04:54:35
When the need has come we have played fab and Gini as center backs and they have played well.
4 cb, there is no point in spending on another one.
Attack needs backup. We need two players this season an AM who can also work the wings and a Backup GK as migs would leave and i don't think we will see karius back.
I am quite satisfied with shaqiri and lallana playing that AM role and if migs can stay put we don't need that keeper either.

15.) 13 Jun 2019
13 Jun 2019 08:44:46
Spot on. that's why im in a spot mate. we have to think of the possibility that he'll be injury prone.

16.) 13 Jun 2019
13 Jun 2019 07:24:13
Well whether you are injured via contact or contact you are still injured. Every player goes through similar types of non-contact and contact situations. So, ergo, if a player is more often injured then potentially he is more injury prone than other players. Either way Gomez' injury record kinda speaks for itself. Hope his body matures, I'm sure it will.

17.) 13 Jun 2019
13 Jun 2019 21:43:03
Faith, that is a very simplistic way of looking at such a nuanced issue even for you. Gomez is NOT more often injured than not. That is simply not true. For a young player who is still developing physically, it is normal for his physical make-up to not be able to absorb different levels of physical impact from opposing players during challenges and tackles. Therefore, he is simply going thru the growing pains of physical development, that's it.

They said the same thing about Ronaldo9 (O Phenomeno) when he was even younger than Gomez who at 19, was already bossing defenders bigger than him. They thought he was injury prone cos he kept having nagging knocks on his knees. It was simply a case of his body adapting to his abilities and skills as in pace, acceleration, stepovers, change of direction (at pace) etc.
By the time he was 21, he was in full control of his capacities cos his body had already matured. The same is the case with Gomez at least for the time being. We will see what happens.

18.) 14 Jun 2019
14 Jun 2019 19:19:40
redwolf - we are saying the same thing. I'm just no averse to the term injury prone. it m ain't hurting anyone. Oh and his injury record goes - cruciate, Achilles, ankle, ankle, ankle missed almost 600 days of the season since 2015. Again it speaks for himself. agree on the hope that his body matures.

19.) 15 Jun 2019
15 Jun 2019 10:33:01
Joe has been unlucky. ACL and fractures can happen to anyplayer at any time. I've done my ACL once in both knees but otherwise never had any injury problems. Regular muscle injuries would be more worrying for me. I feel Gomez will be ok in his career, lovren on the other hand has injuries that will repeat.