Joe Gomez opens up on how injuries affected his mental health

Joe Gomez has opened about how various injuries throughout his Liverpool career have impacted his mental health.

The defender joined Liverpool back in 2015 and, while he has made over 150 appearances for the club in that period, Gomez has spent a lot of time on the periphery due a number of injuries.

Gomez suffered a cruciate ligament injury early on in his Reds career, missing over 100 games due to the ailment, and has missed 129 games since then with various other problems.

Speaking with Jacamo and CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) as part of the launch of a new collection of adidas activewear, the England international has discussed how these injuries ended up rocking his world.

“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,” he explained.

“I had a couple of little injuries and then my last one with my hamstring was a big one and sort of did rock my world. It made me up my appreciation.

“Once I got back into football, I had other battles with worrying about my body and things that I couldn’t control aside from doing the work I needed to do. It’s just appreciation and being thankful that I can do what I still do. And 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.”

Gomez is currently fully fit and a part of Jurgen Klopp’s squad. The defender came off the bench in the Reds’ 3-1 win over Bournemouth at Anfield on Saturday.