Stop Sleeping on Angel Gomes! He’s the Truth. (England 2-0 Finland)

yesterday Adel Gomez's performance was one that England have missed for years on years it's the profile of player that England might have had in some of their previous cohorts but they've never necessarily chosen a player like him and allowed them to excel in that sort of base of Midfield we've seen it briefly with a player like Adam wter particularly in that performance against Bosnia we've seen it with players like Michael Carrick who are English and capable of playing in that sort of tempo controlling base of the Midfield dictating manner but again not selected and England have had this sort of problem for years they've often opted to go for players who are extremely physical able to cover ground and played a little bit more on their showman ability to hit long passes indel Gomez is a different player he's a very intelligent player and he's a player who for years has been able to express this quality often overlooked because of his short height and his stature all of those criticisms about his height and his stature are fairly unfounded because of what he actually does bring to the game and how he compensates for that lack of height rolus is another player who in very much the same way are not liabilities in their game despite their height enel Gomez is a player who Manchester United didn't keep a hold of and by the way I think he's a player who would perfectly fit into this 10 hog team at the moment and is like a very viable solution he uplifts their Midfield in a massive way because they rely on secure tactical ball quality against ridiculous pressure in that Midfield they lack sort of left footed profiles and Angel Gomez is actually brilliant on both feet as we saw in the game just now United let him go which I think is an incredibly foolish decision but it's one that's been massively beneficial for Angel Gomez's development and Angel Gomez has gone to Leo he's gone to France and he's been able to thrive Excel there if you're able to excel in France I know people have termed a farmers League Etc in the past I think that's incredibly foolish it's one of the most physical leagues one of the most fast-paced leagues in World football in terms of physicality is arguably up there with the Premier League it has a shout of being more physical honestly I think if you look at some of Lon Messi's first few games there he was used to being kicked and battered in La Liga but I think there was a little bit of a period in which you know Messi had to kind of you know get to grips with that physicality and he's a player who's brilliant in tending with that physicality Angel Gomez and his development in France the ability to be physical despite his height has allowed him to come up with creative ways of mitigating short stature and in England we're not necessarily creative enough in trusting players who don't fit like a certain archetype that we have in our minds for Guardiola he seems to mitigate some of their weaknesses if they've got you know sufficient enough strengths to play on we've got players like Bernardo Silva and Rico Lewis I think uh Angel Gomez actually fits into that mold between both of them fairly well Angel Gomez is a player who what we saw yesterday was this ability to be very you know nippy Have This brilliant anticipation win balls and pick pocket off players um arriving close to them and using his body pushing against their weight from a lower position but using his body to pick pocket the ball at times maybe over B big distances you wouldn't want Angel Gomez to be that sole player and I think pairing him with de r a player who can cover big space incredibly well is a really smart way to balance profiles you got the height in there with Declan rice able to win aeriel Jews and things and Adel Gomez able to dictate the play on the ball if we talk about his on ball ability and and what a performance it was from that standpoint 130 touches in the game 94% pass accuracy on 124 passes what sort of England midfielder can you name in the last 5 10 years that has put up a stat line like that I know it's only Finland look I'm not getting it carried away but I've seen numerous games from Angel Gomez that look like this game he can put up these dictating Midfield performances in a similar way to sort of veratti did the ability to Showcase his quality and France the ability to and and by the way I think Angel Gomez is a little bit more proactive and willing in his defensive contributions than verti I think what Angel Gomez does in a similar way to verti that's really impressive is the ability to pass on all angles he's got access to the inside of the field access to the outside of the field he's very sort of Twitchy uh in his movements he he turns in and out and he deceives the opposition really well he he might bring his body inside look to play a p the entire opposition shifts one way as soon as they do shift pass it to the other side without having to manipulate his whole body without taking that time he's very good in those initial buildup phases because of that and he's not just a player who passes sideways and backwards I know often times you get defensive midfielders or Central midfielders who put St lines like this who are just at the base of the Midfield passing it to the players around him but we saw yesterday in particular as well inel Gomez's ability to once he does assess the field assess the pitch if there is the opportunity to you know push it through the lines he does hit it directly in a way where technical attackers can easily receive in the stde he doesn't sort of blast at them but he plays a really crisp really Direct in between the lines and he's maximizing the ability of England's attackers particularly I think someone like filen in a number 10 position might be able to benefit massively from a passer like Angel Gomez in there well carsley does really well is look at the profile of his players and focus on the qualities that they do have and then give them the freedom to play Within that when you do watch football the players that often receive the passes and are trusted with the ball in difficult situations are the ones that the players um respect the most and that tells us as fans as analysts as coaches from the outside who scales well within the sport of football Gomez is a massively valuable solution for England I've been calling for it for years him and Warton are absolutely that sort of second Midfield profile that I think Eng should be using myu for me somebody should be playing a little bit higher up Rico Lewis I think by the way can play in that Midfield role as well but brilliant from fulber as well let me know what you think of Angel Gomez I'll catch you in the next one peace