Historically, Liverpool’s players have never really been appreciated by the England national team. Even someone like Steven Gerrard played the majority of his career for England out of position, and was never able to bring out his best form for the Three Lions.
Others like Jamie Carragher and Robbie Fowler, were pretty much completely ignored by England for the majority of their careers. More recently, we’ve seen the likes of Joe Gomez or Trent Alexander-Arnold go through a similar treatment. For some reason, it doesn’t matter who the England manager is, he just doesn’t seem to rate Liverpool players. Even if those Liverpool players are winning Champions League medals and are performing to the highest level in the Premier League.
Harvey Elliott is another great example. He’s been in superb form for Liverpool and England’s U21 side, yet he’s seen multiple youngsters be promoted to the senior squad recently while Southgate continues to overlook him. For what reason, it befuddles us. By every metric, Elliott deserves to have earned at least one senior national team call-up by now.
Why Darren Bent thinks Joe Gomez deserves to start for England
One player who has unexpectedly come back into the England side recently is Joe Gomez. Southgate had omitted him from his squad for years, but recalled him into the England team this month. Gomez even featured in the friendly against Brazil at Wembley.
Now speaking on Ben Foster’s YouTube channel, Darren Bent revealed that he didn’t just want Gomez in the England squad, he thought he could even be in the starting XI.
“He could be a centre-back you know,” Bent said. “Him and Stones. He’s got the pace, he’s versatile. He could be the one, Joe Gomez.”
In all honesty, we have to agree with Bent. Gomez may have been playing as a full-back for Liverpool this season, but he is still a fantastic centre-back as well. As Jay Spearing said recently he has been ‘incredible’ and has really gone under the radar.
But while others like Harry Maguire, who Southgate seems to prefer at the moment, always have a mistake in them, Gomez is not prone to errors. He’s also got the speed as Bent said to handle any opponent in world football. It just makes sense to have him starting for England.