Gomez: Long term setbacks played on my mind

Joe Gomez has opened up on the toll that injuries have taken on his mindset throughout his Liverpool career.

The central defender came to the club in June of 2015 from Charlton when Brendan Rodgers was still the man in charge for the bargain basement fee in todays Football landscape of £3.5 million.

The following eight seasons have been littered with euphoric highs and excruciating lows for the 26 year- old.

With the departure of Jordan Henderson, Roberto Firmino and James Milner this summer, Gomez takes the mantle of longest serving player in the current squad.

In those eight completed campaigns, Gomez has made 174 appearances for the club.

But incredibly, he has missed a total of 233 games through injury which has ranged from a Cruciate knee injury in his very first season at the club which was followed by a long term Achilles issue in his second meaning that in his first two seasons, Gomez had played a grand total of 10 games.

After putting together a solid body of work in the 2017/8 campaign, a sense of great frustration once again emerged in December 2018 when he suffered a ankle fracture against Burnley just when he was getting some confidence in his body and continuity in performance which saw him out of action for the best part of five months.

We often see the perks of what it is like to see a Footballer but never the flip side which is the gruelling recovery session from long term injuries and If you manage to overcome that, it can only benefit you in the long run.

Speaking to CALM (per the Echo), Gomez reflected on his journey and what it was like in a completely new city while still a teenager.

“The injuries I had were rough at times. I think the first one caught me at a vulnerable time when I had just come up to Liverpool. I was only 18 and had just moved up by myself so it was tough in a sense that I was like on a new journey, living by myself and dealing with that.

“Once I got injured, I had a lot of spare time. I think that's the biggest thing you notice as a player, that when you're on the pitch training you don’t have time to be thinking, you’re just in your subconscious enjoying the game.

The disappointment in missing games never goes away, but Gomez says it makes him appreciate the little things.

“I had a couple of little injuries and then my last one with my hamstring," sustained against Real Madrid in February this year, "was a big one and sort of did rock my world.

“I am drawing on to that to keep me motivated to still do my gym sessions, even when we come back from an away game. I just remember in those moments where it was tough, aside from that, just enjoying it."