Joe Gomez Shines as England Lose to Spain

The Liverpool defender was a bright spot in an underwhelming display

So the international break is upon us, and Liverpool players are here, there and everywhere. Generally, supporters groan at the frequency at which these breaks lead to injuries, and they have a point. Take last March, for instance, as Joe Gomez picked up an injury that saw him miss most of the rest of last season.

We’re only at the midway point in this international break, but thus far Gomez has avoided such bad luck, instead really impressing for England in their 2-1 defeat to Spain at Wembley. While the result was not what the young defender will have wanted, he looked very sharp, playing as the right sided centre back in a back three and bringing the ball out well along with looking comfortable with more traditional defensive responsibilities. Gomez was one of England’s best performers on a night where things just didn’t quite seem to go the home side’s way.

Unfortunately the same can’t quite be said of Jordan Henderson. While we here at The Liverpool Offside are very fond of the club captain, Saturday night was not his strongest performance. In a system that asks him to do a lot of work covering for Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard, Henderson struggled to really stamp his authority on the midfield, and his work on the ball was not hugely productive. Henderson was substituted for Eric Dier after 63 minutes and England looked a better side afterwards. Having missed much of the preseason, it still looks as though Henderson isn’t yet at his sharpest.

England next have a friendly at home to Switzerland, and it is likely that Trent Alexander-Arnold will feature in this game.

The international break is frustrating as a Liverpool supporter and there’s no getting around that. There is a bad history of Liverpool players getting injured with England, though things have improved somewhat from Roy Hodgson’s ridiculous over-intensive training. Nonetheless, we always want to see our players doing well, getting recognition and building confidence with which they can bring back to Anfield.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com