Joe Gomez has been in brilliant form for Liverpool this season (Photo: Getty)
Micah Richards believes Joe Gomez should be in the England squad for Euro 2024 following his impressive performances for Liverpool.
Gomez looked to be the future of England’s defence after playing a key role in Liverpool’s Premier League title-winning campaign in 2019/20.
However, injuries have plagued the 26-year-old ever since, significantly reducing his game time and hurting his performances.
As a result, the versatile defender has just 11 caps for his country, the last of which coming way back in October 2020.
Though he did not start this season in Liverpool’s first XI, the Reds’ injury crisis has seen him fill in across the back-line, most notably at left-back where he has been brilliant in the absence of Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas.
His efforts have helped his club win the Carabao Cup, while they remain in strong contention for the Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League.
Many have called for Gareth Southgate to recall Gomez for the Three Lions when he names his squad on Thursday ahead of the March internationals.
Gomez’s last appearance for England came against Wales in October 2020 (Photo: Getty)
England take on Brazil and Belgium in the next fortnight, which will be Southgate’s last chance to assess players before this summer’s Euro 2024.
And former Manchester City and England right-back Richards thinks Gomez should be on the plane to Germany, saying on The Rest is Football podcast:
‘I really enjoyed Gomez before he got injured. He had a bad injury and he took a while to get back to his rhythm with [Joel] Matip and [Ibrahima] Konate playing alongside [Virgil] Van Dijk.
Luke Shaw faces a race against time to be fit for Euro 2024 (Photo: Reuters)
‘If you’re going to tournament football, you want people you can rely on. If you’ve got a player who can play in a variety of positions, it certainly does help. But he doesn’t really drop off in any of the different roles he’s chosen to do.
‘We’re not blessed for centre-halves. Would I trust Joe Gomez? 100 per cent, I would definitely have him in the squad.
‘I see him as a centre-half who can cover for full-back. We don’t know what’s happening with Luke Shaw’s injury, [Ben] Chilwell’s just coming back from injury. For England, I think he’d be a good choice.’
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Shaw and Chilwell have been England’s undisputed first choice left-backs for years, but the Manchester United star now faces a race against time to be fit for the Euros, while the Chelsea vice-captain has started just nine Premier League games this season because of injury.
Centre-halves Harry Maguire and Marc Guehi may be sidelined for the March friendlies as well, while Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp recently shared his disbelief that Gomez wasn’t getting picked for England.
After Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with title rivals Man City on Sunday, Klopp simply said: ‘Joe Gomez. Gareth, honestly?’
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