Is Joe Gomez Klopp’s New Centerback?

The week-long burning of effigies among Liverpool faithful continues apace. The chief culprit is Croatian centerback Dejan Lovren. The Lovrenaissance is a thing of the distant past, apparently.

Joe Gomez took Lovern’s place when the latter came off after just half an hour gone in Sunday’s disastrous trip to Wembley, and if rumors are to be believed, he will be taking his place permanently going forward.

According to the Daily Mirror, Gomez will play a key role in Klopp’s defensive shake-up. Keep shaking ‘em Klopp, there’s a good defense in there somewhere.

Although the young defender looked better than Lovren after replacing him, Gomez was still partially at fault for the first goal by keeping Harry Kane onside, and still conceded two more goals once moving centrally. But, much like the goalkeeper problem, youth might prove to be a better long-term bet.

This rumor comes on the heels of several other pundits and Liverpool legends calling for a similar move to be made.

The defense is a problem of Klopp’s making, leaving the defenders he has in far too much space, far too often, and thus leading to costly errors. Not signing Virgil van Dijk, or any other defender, was a huge and foreseeable mistake. Additionally, Lovren has been fighting a series of niggling injuries, often having (by his own admission) to take many painkillers in order to complete a single outing.

But moving Gomez creates problems of its own. It leaves rightback perilously thin until Nathaniel Clyne is finally fit. There is also the psychological impact, though I can’t imagine it is worse than getting yanked in the first half in a huge game.

Anyway, we’ll have to wait until this weekend to see if there is any truth to this rumor.