Liverpool youngster Pedro Chirivella has been discussing his positive start to the season this week, as the teenage midfielder looks to establish himself as a key member of our Under-21 squad.
The young Spaniard, who was tipped back in May by the Daily Mirror to be the next big thing, accompanied the first-team squad on our pre-season tour of the Far East and made a handful of appearances – featuring against the Malaysia XI, HJK and Swindon Town.
Speaking about the experience, the anchor man admitted he was delighted just to be included. He told our official website: “I’d trained with the first team for a couple of days in the first week back and then the day before we were due to fly, Mick [Beale] told me I was going. He was really happy for me and my family.”
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However, with pre-season now at an end, the focus has returned to helping our Under-21 side go one better than last season and win the Premier League’s junior division.
The Reds narrowly missed out last season, finishing second behind Manchester United, but unfortunately started their new campaign with a defeat – going down 1-0 to Chelsea.
“I thought we played very well, and the team was strong,” said Chirivella, whose teammates included fellow tour members Joe Maguire, Daniel Cleary, Harry Wilson and goalkeeper Ryan Fulton, as well as Jerome Sinclair, Cameron Brannagan and Samed Yesil.
“Chelsea had a very good team as well, they are one of the best youth teams in the country, but I thought we were really unlucky and didn’t deserve to lose the game. We created a lot of good chances and their goalkeeper was their best player, so that shows how good our our team performance was.”
Next up for our youngsters is Everton on Wednesday August 19 at Southport’s Merseyrail Community Stadium. It’s a game which, even at that level, will hold a little bit of extra significance.
“Playing Everton is always really nice for us,” he added. “It’s the most important game of the season because of the rivalry and it’s a derby and hopefully we get the victory.”