Speaking to Joe Gomez, there’s one thing you learn pretty quickly.
He doesn’t do negativity.
“I’m a strong believer in the idea that everything happens for a reason,” the Liverpool defender tells Goal, settling down for an exclusive, in-depth interview on the Reds’ tour of the United States. “I think that’s a good way to be.”
Gomez, cerebral as he is, could have been forgiven for questioning that mantra in recent years. He's only 22, but he’s had enough bad luck to last a lifetime.
Well, not really. Not if you ask the man himself.
“Me? I’m grateful,” he says. “I’m not one to moan or dwell on things. I’ve had my fair share of setbacks, yeah, but I’m blessed, I really am.
“It’s a massive blessing just to be able to play football, let alone play for a club like Liverpool. We are lucky to be able to do what we do, and we should never forget that.
“I give thanks every day for what I have. I know people who have had real bad luck, people I played with when I was younger at Charlton, people I grew up with whose lives have gone down different paths. They weren’t as fortunate as me. You should always be grateful, you should always appreciate what you have.
“Even when things are not going well, when you’re injured and in rehab, you’re lucky. You’re at a club like Liverpool with the best facilities, the best treatment, the best staff, the best support. How can you not be thankful?”
Put like that, it’s hard to argue.
Gomez is as composed a talker as he is a defender, and he is in a good place right now. He's enjoying his football and he's embracing fatherhood; the arrival of his son, Kyrie, came just days after Liverpool’s Champions League final win over Tottenham.
“It’s true what they say, everything changes!” he smiles. “But it’s honestly the best experience, so, so special. It’s what life’s about, isn’t it?”
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It also means Gomez can put his setbacks into perspective.
He probably would have started the Champions League final had it not been for the broken leg suffered in a challenge with Burnley’s Ben Mee back in December. He might have played in the 2018 version, too, were it not for the ankle injury he picked up playing for England in a friendly in Amsterdam. "It was disappointing," he says, "but I was buzzing for the boys as well."
And had he not ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in an under-21 international just days after Jurgen Klopp’s appointment in 2015, then who knows where he would be by now? He’d have more than 66 appearances for Liverpool and more than seven caps for his country, that’s for sure.
That’s the past, though. The future is where it’s at, and it is a bright one. Gomez has looked good for Liverpool in pre-season, sharp and strong, focused and hungry. Joel Matip performed exceptionally last season and Dejan Lovren still has a big fan in Klopp, but it is the Londoner who looks the best partner for Virgil van Dijk. The pair’s close relationship off the field is mirrored by a strong understanding on it.
“It’s a privilege for me to have somebody like him around,” Gomez says. “I watch him and learn from him every single day.”
Learning from those at the top of their sport is becoming something of a hobby for Gomez. His interests are not limited to football.
“I spend a lot of time on YouTube,” he says. “It’s really learning about people and their mindsets, what they're made of, how they push themselves, how they handle the ups and downs.
“I think in football, in sport generally even, it’s the biggest thing. Talent is one thing, but having that mentality to use it and to keep improving and learning, that’s what sets the greats apart.”
So who does he admire then?
“I’m into my NBA,” he says. “LeBron James, I love him. He does a lot of stuff for Uninterrupted, and I always like to watch that. I love my boxing, Anthony Joshua is someone I admire and look up to. Athletics, I admire the training and the discipline those guys have to show. I love seeing how people apply themselves to their sport.”
Joshua, in particular, is an interesting comparison. On the night Gomez became European champion, the British heavyweight king was having his crown ripped away by the unfancied Andy Ruiz Jr in New York. It was one of boxing's biggest ever upsets.
“He’ll come back,” he says. “That’s sport; when you’re up everyone loves you, and when you’re down people question you. But he knows he’ll be back, he has the mentality to do it and to prove everyone wrong again.
“I watched the documentary about his life and it’s fantastic, I love it. It gives you a proper insight into what he’s about. I’ve got massive respect for what he stands for, what he’s achieved, it’s unbelievable. That’s what I mean about mentality, about people who push themselves to achieve their dreams.”
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Liverpool, Gomez suggests, are at that elite level now. Last season Klopp labelled them "mentality giants", a team that never knows when it's beaten. They're the champions of Europe, and just about any other year they'd have been champions of England too. It took a superhuman effort from Manchester City, who won their last 14 games in a row, to overhaul them.
Those two look set to battle it out again this year. Pep Guardiola's side provide formidable opposition but Liverpool have confidence. Unlike in previous years, nobody at Anfield is downplaying their chances.
“There’s a belief within the side now,” Gomez says. “Now we’ve actually won something, we feel like ‘we can do this’. We really feel it.
“I still think there was a bit of a feeling of underdog status last year, in the sense that City were there and had that sort of invincible status. It’s incredible what they’ve done the last couple of years.
“You look at last season, they’ve won 14 games in a row to win the league. It’s a joke! We were ahead, but they just won game after game, consistency, consistency, consistency.
“I think we’re different. There’s a fighting spirit within us that has enabled us to come back in games, grind out wins, and that’s given us huge belief.
“Probably a lot of fans want to see money spent and big names coming in, but when you look at our team, everyone is committed. Look at the amount of contracts that have been signed in the last 12 months, look at the age of the team. We’re here to stay.
“And if you look in all the different departments, the quality is there. Training here has been of an unbelievable standard, and we still have Mo, Sadio, Bobby, Ali to come back!
“Competition is good, but I think the squad has a good balance too. The manager knows best, and if he’s confident in us then why shouldn’t we believe in ourselves?”