"He is absolutely exceptional" - Jurgen Klopp reacts as Liverpool superstar returns to national team set up after 3 year absence
Jurgen Klopp has given his verdict on Liverpool defender Joe Gomez returning to the England national team fold after a three-year wait.
Gomez has 11 senior caps for the Three Lions but his last appearance came in a 3-0 friendly win against Wales in October 2020. Since then, Gareth Southgate has been more than happy to look elsewhere when choosing his backline.
Gomez has now been named in England's 25-man squad for their friendlies against Brazil (March 23) and Belgium (March 26) at Wembley this month. Reacting to the news, Klopp told Liverpool's official website:
"Joey deserves it, absolutely. What a season he played so far, he is absolutely exceptional. I said a lot of times, without the kids we are not where we are – and without Joey we would be definitely not where we are in the moment.
"He played so many different positions. Really happy for him and I saw on his face he was very happy about it as well. Good news. Now let's play the game and he can go there and then he hopefully comes back healthy and he can play the rest of the season."
Gomez, 26, has been in and out of the Liverpool XI over the last few years given Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip's prominence in the backline. Ibrahima Konate's move from RB Leipzig in 2021 made things tougher for the Englishman.
But injuries to Konate and Matip this season have resulted in additional playing time for Gomez. The 26-year-old has already featured in 40 games across competitions this term, keeping 13 clean sheets.
Gomez has played as a centre-back, right-back, and on a couple of occasions, as a defensive midfielder for the Reds this season.
Jurgen Klopp pleased with Liverpool's dominance in Europa League RO16 encounter
Liverpool smacked Sparta Praha 5-1 in the first leg of their Round-of-16 clash in the Czech Republic. A week later, on March 14 at Anfield, the Reds put six past them to take the tie 11-2 on aggregate.
Sparta were quite impressive at home against Liverpool despite the lopsided scoreline. But the same can't be said for the return leg, where the hosts scored four within the first 14 minutes, kept 78% of the ball, and allowed their opponents just two shots on target.
Speaking about the one-sided nature of the game after the full-time whistle, Klopp said, via the club's official website:
"Obviously we all experienced different atmospheres at Anfield but I’m really happy for all of us, crowd included, that this was not as nerve-wracking as it usually is. Everybody can go home with a normal heart rate and that’s how it should be from time to time. It will not stay like this! Sunday already will be a different game and now we have three days to try to make sure we’re ready for that."
Liverpool's next assignment is a derby game against Manchester United on Sunday (March 17) in the FA Cup quarterfinals.