Stephen Warnock points out Joe Gomez flaws for Liverpool, says he must be more dominant

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Sky Sports pundit and former Liverpool defender, Stephen Warnock, has called on Joe Gomez to improve defensively following the Reds’ 2-1 win over West Ham.

Gomez was at fault for the Hammers’ goal at Anfield – something Warnock pointed out – and was overshadowed by the performance of Nat Phillips on Saturday evening.

With Virgil van Dijk missing, many at Liverpool are looking for Gomez to be the dominant player in the back four for the Reds. However, Warnock, speaking on Sky Sports’ Football Show this morning, has said the 23-year-old needs to be more aerially dominant.

“Joe’s a fantastic player in and around his feet. But in the air, he’s getting his timing off at the moment. If you’re coming past your two central midfielders, who have to win the header”, Warnock pointed out.

“If you look at his body position, it looks like he doesn’t want to win the header. His timing if completely off. Go and win that header. Take control of the situation and be big and powerful.”

Gomez was alongside Phillips, who was standing in while both Fabinho and Joel Matip recover from injury.

And Warnock went further into his analysis and pointed out Chelsea defender Thiago Silva as someone who Gomez could learn from, pointing out a number of big headers the Blues star won at Burnley this weekend.

Gomez needs to do more – TBR View

Nobody is asking Gomez to be Van Dijk but given his experience and how good he was last season, he shouldn’t be the one coming out second best to Phillips really.

Gomez is brilliant on his day but he must adapt now the big Dutchman is out. If that means winning more headers and being more aggressive as Warnock points out, then so be it.

It’s definitely something the Liverpool man needs to work on by the looks of things.