'He was a joke': West Ham striker now reacts to 25-year-old Liverpool player's performance on Sunday

 

Michail Antonio has told The Footballer’s Football Podcast that Joe Gomez was unbelievable for Liverpool in their win over Manchester City on Sunday, describing the centre-back’s performance as a joke.

Gomez has rightly been receiving a raft of plaudits after the Reds’ win at Anfield. Obviously, Mohamed Salah’s brilliant goal gave Jurgen Klopp’s side a superb win which may well ignite their season at long last.

There were impressive displays all over the pitch. But it is hard to argue with anyone who felt that Gomez was the star of the show for the Reds.

Joe Gomez was unbelievable

Along with Virgil van Dijk, the 25-year-old did superbly at keeping Erling Haaland quiet. They were plenty of moments of excellent last-ditch defending. And the display would have evoked memories of how good Gomez and van Dijk were together a few years ago.

Liverpool’s next opponents are West Ham. The Hammers travel to Merseyside tonight. And ahead of the game, Antonio has outlined just how impressed he was with what he saw from the centre-back.

“Gomez was unbelievable. He was a joke. You can’t just put it out there and say VVD, you have to give Gomez a shout as well,” he told The Footballer’s Football Podcast.

“They had him. There were so many times where balls were put in the box, but they were just there constantly with him.

“There was a couple of times you thought he was going to get a tap in, but they were just there constantly. Those two played so well. They shut him out.”

It has been a long road back for Gomez. There was a time when he formed half of arguably the best centre-back pairing in the league.

Unfortunately, a long-term injury really cost him. He was not able to regain his spot immediately upon his return.

He is still going to face a battle to be a starter week-in, week-out. Liverpool also have Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konate in the ranks.

But Klopp is going to have a hard time justifying making a change should Gomez maintain his performance levels from Sunday.