The Quiet Pillar: Joel Matip’s Unsung Role at Liverpool
Matip after the Carabao Cup Final Win against Chelsea 2022
Carragher had Hyppia, Hyppia has Henchoz, VVD had Matip. The story of Matip is an allusive one to stay the least. A man who’d always been forgotten as the man who made VVD look irreparable in their best years, winning everything is there to win. However, his ending to his career was a gaping hole that left him in pain, one where he left on the bitter taste of injury and mishap. So the Story of Matip and his role as a wheel in the sportscar in the team where he was unappreciated is a confusing and sorrow one.
Making his stamp on his senior career in Schalke 04 in 2009, after Coach Felix Magath put his faith in his “Enormous Potential”. And it payed off. He was apart of that magical Schalke side that were semi-finalists during the 2010–2011 season of the UCL including talents such as Manuel Neuer, Raul and Huntelaar, even scoring a renowned goal vs Inter Milan in a 5–2 win in the San Siro. In spite of that, his Schalke career turned stale with multiple appointees as the manager role changed hands numerous times, never finding a stable role, with this lack of stability Matip decided to leave in 2016 on a free to Jurgen’s rebuild of Liverpool down at Merseyside.
He hit the run going with multiple good performances with Liverpool from 2016 to 2018 as he helped fixed Liverpool’s poor defensive record but a thigh injury would rule him out for the rest of the season making him miss the run in for the UCL final, stunting his development as a reliable, consistent assets for the Reds’. Fortunately, he returned as a mainstay for the 2018–19 season being pivotal in the run in for the UCL win, even assisting the goal for Divorce Origi in the Final.
But it came at a cost. He started the season with a bullet header against City but that will be his highlight as he was plagued by injuries in the 2019–20 season where Joe Gomez replaced his spot with flying colours as he was the accomplice to Van Dijk’s and Klopp’s 2020 Premier League title.
It didn’t end there against Spurs’ in December 2020, he had an ankle ligament injury meaning he won’t play for the rest of the season due to it. His comeback did come at a point, winning Premier League Player Of The Month of February for his performances but was felt in heart-breaking fashion as he missed on the Quadruple on that season.
It didn’t get better for Joel, in the 22–23 season marked another season plagued by injury as Konate or Gomez arised as his preferred successor as Liverpool declined heavily in a season where they finished 5th and knocked out the Champion’s League in embarrassing fashion. The failure and heartbreak aggravated as his 23–24 season meant he was on his last year on his contract. As an act to extend his stay he put a string on solid performances against Spurs’ and Newcastle but was stopped in an agonizing ACL injury against Fulham in December 2023. This injury meant his era at Liverpool FC will come to an end without seeing him in action until his departure alongside Klopp, Thiago and Adrian.
The manner he left and later retired in the following months meant that he was forgotten towards the last 3 years of the Liverpool career to some, other may seem him as an everlasting memory of Klopp’s first crucial defensive signing. His legacy is a warm one as he alevated Liverpool to new heights and witnessed the building of Klopp’s 2.0 team. For the Liverpool fans’ we were sorry to see him go in a tragic fashion but he’ll be forever in our hearts.
Thank you for reading don’t be scared to comment who’d you want for me to write about, until next time. Goodbye reds.
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