Alberto Moreno: “My critics should shut their mouths now”

Partly out of necessity and partly out of Jurgen Klopp finally seeing something in him, Alberto Moreno was given another chance to secure regular first team minutes at the start of the season. So far, he’s made good on those opportunities. And with Nathaniel Clyne out injured and Andrew Robinson still having some things to prove, Moreno has emerged as Liverpool’s strongest option for wide defenders.

This will come as something of a shock for Liverpool fans and outside observers who have been watching him over the years. Reactions to his play have tended to range from “he’d be decent if given a proper chance” to “get him off the pitch right now and burn his shirt.” When he was dropped from the first team and seemingly on his way out the door, a solid and vocal contingent of Liverpool fans seemed pleased with how things were going.

But now Moreno is back in the team and doing well for himself. And for his part, he couldn’t be happier.

“I am very, very happy personally with the way things are going this season. I spent a whole year pretty much without playing many games at all. It was a bad season for me, it reflects badly on my family, they don’t have a good time either.”

He also said this is a sharp contrast to how he was feeling a year ago.

“Things were bad over the summer. The word was that I would be leaving and that I should leave. However, at no point did I agree with those claims. I wanted to stay here and fight for my place and that is the mindset I had when I came back for pre-season, I wanted to fight for my career and my future at this club. When I did get back for pre-season I wanted to have a chat with the manager and to be fair to him, he sat down with me. I said to him honestly: ‘I want to stay at the club, what can I do to forge a place for myself in the side and I’d like it if you could be honest with me.’ To be fair, he was very sincere, he was very honest, he said: ‘Look, I can’t sit here and promise you a place in the side. I am signing a new left-back.’ It was Robertson who came to the club, but he encouraged me to keep working and see how things go in the pre-season and that is what I did. That focused my efforts on wanting to stay, wanting to work hard. I had offers but at the forefront of my mind was always that I wanted to stay here.”

Moreno also didn’t mince words when he addressed his detractors.

“[Liverpool] is a club I love and a city and a place I love as well. I’ve made a good start to the season so the critics who were saying I should leave should shut their mouths now. I couldn’t be happier.”

So, there you go.