Joe Gomez

[The_weatherman]

TBH I'd give Robbo minutes tonight and against Norwich, play Bradley as well, but probably start Joe against Chelsea.

[rudedog]

Yeah Joe's played a lot of minutes recently. His utility has become really important so I think his game time needs to be managed

[Buzzo]

Robbos 'iffiness' is a seed planted that turned into a tree without any evidence of growth.

Whilst not at his swashbuckling best, I would counter that his supposed down turn in form coincided with our bedding in of the new system. At the same time we could have argued that Virg was out of form.

That said, in no way do I think he will just walk into the team given the form of Gomez, but it will be great to have these options. I will be looking for many to pounce on every single mis-placed pass as confirmation bias when Robbo next plays. Such is life on a forum

[Doc_Piptorious]

Robbos 'iffiness' is a seed planted that turned into a tree without any evidence of growth.

Whilst not at his swashbuckling best, I would counter that his supposed down turn in form coincided with our bedding in of the new system. At the same time we could have argued that Virg was out of form.

That said, in no way do I think he will just walk into the team given the form of Gomez, but it will be great to have these options. I will be looking for many to pounce on every single mis-placed pass as confirmation bias when Robbo next plays. Such is life on a forum

Said it many times, but I reckon Robertson was simply over worked early on in the season and his body hit a wall as a result.

[danperkins]

He has been way off his best but he has absolutely been over played and over worked. His fitness will be crucial for the 2nd half of the season for us.

[red g]

Be great if he came back in full beast mode.

[baitman]

Said it many times, but I reckon Robertson was simply over worked early on in the season and his body hit a wall as a result.

Even if that is the reason, there is no denying his form drop off.
I can't see him being chucked straight back in as a starter until he has had some sub minutes to get back to form and show he's ready to start.
Gomez has been magnificent, and become a very important player for us.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Even if that is the reason, there is no denying his form drop off.
I can't see him being chucked straight back in as a starter until he has had some sub minutes to get back to form and show he's ready to start.
Gomez has been magnificent, and become a very important player for us.

Not suggesting that he goes straight back into the team at the expense of Gomez though. Gomez has more than earned his starting berth this season.

I actually think Gomez has looked better at RB this season though that is not to say that his appearances at left back have been anything less than excellent when looked at as a whole.


I just think that the calls of Robertson being shot, past it, and the like that we saw on here and on other sites earlier this season were very premature.

And yes his form dropped by his standards, but in my eyes that was down to him having to cover two roles at the start of the season and being run into the ground as a result. The guy was running on fumes imo and that played no small part in him picking up his injury.


A fully fit Robertson being played as an out and out left back is a very different beast to an overworked Robertson who is trying to play both the attacking LB and LCB roles at the same time.

We have fine tuned how our back line sets up over the past two months, but if/when Robertson does return to the starting line up we need to be smarter in terms of rotation and what role we expect him to do. For me he is a player whose strengths you play to rather than trying to pigeon hole him into a dual role that does him (and as a result the team) no favours.

[peterbread]

Not being able to play and watching this team go along the way they have this season would be driving him to get back and be a big part of it. He must be desperate to get out there and contribute. I think we’ll see him find some of that old form like VVD has.

It also might help watching on the sidelines for an extended period of time to get a different view of how the team plays now and how he can fit into the system.

[Norbs]

Said it many times, but I reckon Robertson was simply over worked early on in the season and his body hit a wall as a result.

Yep, and could be another reason why Trent's role was changed, ie to preserve him from fatigue somewhat.

[Norbs]

Not being able to play and watching this team go along the way they have this season would be driving him to get back and be a big part of it. He must be desperate to get out there and contribute. I think we’ll see him find some of that old form like VVD has.

It also might help watching on the sidelines for an extended period of time to get a different view of how the team plays now and how he can fit into the system.

He won't have to worry so much about the injury reoccurring as he would've done with a lower body injury

[Doc_Piptorious]

Another cracking perfromance from Gomez. At this rate he will be in the running for the club's player of the season.

Has been as consistent as Alisson this season and for the most part has been putting in performances of the same level.

[Alex]

It’s an interesting interview. He doesn’t sound the brightest but definitely has a lot of emotional intelligence and has his head screwed on. A nice humble guy. The stuff about the current squad culture is interesting and kind of reaffirmed what I suspected, ie the dressing room had gone a bit stale, hendo and Milner were sucking the fun out of the group. There’s a lot more to squad management that playing football.

I assume you dont hear many with his accent then?

[Norbs]

I'm well offended Bruv

[Shaggy]

It’s an interesting interview. He doesn’t sound the brightest but definitely has a lot of emotional intelligence and has his head screwed on. A nice humble guy. The stuff about the current squad culture is interesting and kind of reaffirmed what I suspected, ie the dressing room had gone a bit stale, hendo and Milner were sucking the fun out of the group. There’s a lot more to squad management that playing football.

Enjoyed it. I thought for a footballer he sounded like Isaac Newton, using words like 'extra-curricular', 'imposter syndrome' and 'serendipitous' was impressive for a footballer....bruv. Thoughtful guy.