Joel Matip started the 2018/2019 season as Liverpool’s fourth choice centre-back, certainly in the eyes of some Reds supporters.
A free transfer from Schalke was never expected to exceed the expectations of him at the time, and after two years partnering Dejan Lovren, he was deemed not good enough to play alongside Virgil Van Dijk regularly.
Fast forward one year and Matip is now an integral part of Jurgen Klopp’s team, and more importantly, his system.
The Cameroonian has shone in recent months, leapfrogging Lovren in the process, and is now battling with Joe Gomez to be the ever-present Van Dijk’s long-term partner.
Gomez started last season in the form of his life, as Liverpool won their first seven games.
In circumstances similar to his spell in the team under Brendan Rodgers in 2015, however, he suffered a long-term injury that saw him miss a sizeable chunk of action.
Since then, Matip has grasped the opportunity with both hands – or perhaps feet! – and left Gomez on the substitutes’ bench.
Matip is no longer the fragile and timid player we often saw in the first half of 2018/19, when he was frequently bullied in the air by players who were much smaller than him, and he constantly failed to deal with balls that should have been dealt with easily.
In this pleasing resurgence, however, Matip has shown that Liverpool’s centre-back options are much stronger than some have claimed in the past.
He produced an arguable Man of the Match performance against Barcelona at Anfield, in which he kept Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez quiet, before playing out of his skin in the Champions League final win over Tottenham in Madrid.
The 28-year-old has also added more goals to his game, making him a much bigger threat in both penalty boxes. His header against Arsenal last weekend highlighted this.
Liverpool are superb at the back these days, boasting the best defence in the Premier League last season, with just 22 goals conceded.
While Matip hasn’t been the most significant player in contributing to this – Van Dijk has by a mile – he has still played an integral role and every week he seems to be becoming even more important.
The former Schalke man has two years left on his current Liverpool contract, with the club potentially looking to extend it.
One thing is for sure, if Matip keeps up his current performances, Liverpool will be in safe hands, with him and Gomez battling it out.
Klopp has a very healthy problem to solve.
