{"id":296921,"date":"2023-10-23T22:24:19","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T22:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=296921"},"modified":"2023-10-23T22:24:19","modified_gmt":"2023-10-23T22:24:19","slug":"former-liverpool-midfielder-suso-ahead-of-champions-league-vs-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/former-liverpool-midfielder-suso-ahead-of-champions-league-vs-arsenal\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Liverpool midfielder Suso ahead of Champions League vs Arsenal"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Former Liverpool midfielder Suso speaks about training with Martin Odegaard, his Scouse &#8216;family&#8217; and winning two Europa Leagues with Sevilla ahead of their Champions League clash with Arsenal<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u00a0Suso joined Liverpool at the age of 16, and stayed with an English family\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Two-time Europa League winners Sevilla face Arsenal in the Champions League<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u00a0Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport&#8217;s podcast It&#8217;s All Kicking Off!<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There will be a reunion of sorts on Tuesday between Martin Odegaard and Suso when Sevilla host Arsenal in the Champions League.<\/p>\n<p>The two trained together at Liverpool back when the Spain international was part of Rafa Benitez\u2019 Spanish revolution, and the Norwegian was a 15-year-old prodigy trying out various clubs before opting to join Real Madrid in January 2015.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018\u2018It was that era when everyone wanted him. He was with us for about a week,\u2019 says the Sevilla winger ahead of tonight\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He stood out because, like now, he had that shock of blond hair and he was a leftie. I\u2019m left-footed so I notice the left-footers more. You could see he had a lot of talent.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Suso was a 21-year-old at the time struggling to get used to Jamie Carragher\u2019s scouse accent and being called so early to the dinner table by his \u2018Livepool family\u2019 with whom he is still in regular contact.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/23\/20\/76903475-0-image-a-23_1698088535418.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Suso has won two Europa League titles with La Liga side Sevilla since joining from AC Milan\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/23\/20\/76903715-0-image-m-25_1698088580515.jpg\" height=\"335\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Martin Odegaard trained with Suso at Liverpool, before joining Spanish giants Real Madrid<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/23\/20\/76903477-0-image-m-27_1698088649915.jpg\" height=\"484\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Suso joined Liverpool at 16 under Spaniard Rafa Benitez but left to join Serie A side AC Milan<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>The two players\u2019 paths have not crossed since, until now. Odegaard barely played at Madrid but has flourished at Arsenal where he is now captain.<\/p>\n<p>Suso\u2019s arrival at Liverpool came not long before Benitez\u2019 departure and in the end it was Milan where he really came of age before winning two Europa Leagues at Sevilla.<\/p>\n<p>He has fond memories of Liverpool despite it being a mere launch pad to success in Italy and Spain.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I was only 16 years-old when I joined and I had the option to live with an English family of someone who worked for the club, or to go with a member of my own family and get my own place.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We asked Rafa what was best and he said that to adapt to the culture and learn the language it was better to live with an English family.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018They were brilliant with me. It was a mum and dad Dee and Phil, and they had three sons, Simon, Robert and Paul. The youngest was my age and the other two were a bit older.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018They were a lovely family. It\u2019s true that on the first few days when dinner was served at 7pm they had to explain to me: yes, it\u2019s time to go down and eat now.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/23\/20\/76903747-0-image-a-28_1698088721268.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Suso scored the equaliser in Manchester United&#8217;s 2-1 loss to Sevilla in the Europa League in 2020<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/23\/20\/76903795-0-image-a-29_1698088726046.jpg\" height=\"470\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Suso scored 27 goals and clocked up 31 assists in 145 games in Serie A before Julen Lopetegui signed him for Sevilla.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I ended up telling them that I couldn\u2019t eat that early! That they save some for me and I would reheat it later but at first it was difficult, it was a different culture.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019m still in contact with the sons and we spoke ahead of the game against Manchester United in the Europa League last season. I was able to get them tickets and we met up. They were like my second family. They really looked after me.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Dani Pacheco, Francis Duran, Antonio Barragan and Mikel San Jose were the other young Spanish imports who arrived to bolster a senior armada in which Xabi Alonso, Alvaro Arbeloa and Fernando Torres had earlier arrived.<\/p>\n<p>Suso, now with Spain caps and European trophies to his name, has had the best career of that younger group.<\/p>\n<p>But it wasn\u2019t easy moving so far from home as a teenager. \u2018I got on really well with Jose Enrique and also with Luis Suarez\u2019 he says. \u2018They always tried to help me, and protect me a little bit.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It was a time when young players in Spain who were not getting the opportunities at home could go to England and play the Carling Cup, the FA Cup, so as a project and with the football culture there, it appealed to me.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The chance to play in Spain would always be there but the Liverpool opportunity was once in a lifetime.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>He had no English at first and admits Benitez used to get annoyed with the Spanish lads if after training, or at breakfast, they sat together. \u2018He used to say: \u201cno, not together, not speaking Spanish\u201d,\u2019 Suso recalls.<\/p>\n<p>Did conversing with his host family at least help him understand his team-mates?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/23\/20\/76903745-0-image-a-30_1698088733993.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The Spanish international won two Europa League&#8217;s in Spain and is a regular in the La Liga side\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/23\/20\/76903831-0-image-a-31_1698088736615.jpg\" height=\"401\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>He joined when Rafa Benitez was signing many young Spanish players during his tenure<\/p>\n<p>\u2018[Steven] Gerrard a bit, but Carragher, he\u2019s incredible eh! I saw an interview he did with Leao from Inter the other day and Leao struggles to understand anything he says.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It\u2019s incredible to see how inside the same city there can be so much difference. It would be the same for an English lad trying to understand Spanish in my town (Cadiz).<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Brendan [Rodgers] did talk to me in Spanish because he liked to learn it, that helped me a lot.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Despite Benitez departing soon after Suso arrived he still progressed. He trained with the first team under Roy Hodgson and debuted with Rodgers.<\/p>\n<p>If he has a regret it\u2019s that he did not stay long enough to play for Jurgen Klopp.<\/p>\n<p>Adriano Galliani made him part of Milan\u2019s rejuvenation project before the German arrived at Liverpool.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I would have liked to work with Klopp,\u2019 he says. \u2018Look how he changed Liverpool \u2013 they went from being a good team to being a very good team, one of the best in the world.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>He says he always follows Liverpool\u2019s fortunes closely, as he does with Milan where he says he was \u2018contentissimo\u2019 scoring twice in his first Milan derby.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/23\/20\/76903939-0-image-a-32_1698088775711.jpg\" height=\"424\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Mikel Arteta will be hoping Sevilla&#8217;s European success will not translate to the Champions League<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/23\/20\/76903943-0-image-a-33_1698088780798.jpg\" height=\"414\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>RC Lens beat Arsenal in their last time out in the Champions League, Sevilla drew with PSV<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The derby is special because it\u2019s the same stadium for both teams but when you are the home team you go out and it\u2019s all red and when you are the away team you go out and it\u2019s all blue. And you are &#8216;away&#8217; but you are in your own dressing room because there are three at the San Siro \u2013 one for Milan, one for Inter and one for visiting teams.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Suso scored 27 goals and clocked up 31 assists in 145 games in Serie A before Julen Lopetegui, who had given him his Spain debut, signed him for Sevilla.<\/p>\n<p>He arrived in January 2020 and within six months he had won the Europa League, scoring against Manchester United in the semi-final.<\/p>\n<p>Cue the calls from his English \u2018brothers\u2019 Simon, Robert and Paul.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Yes, I had a lot of messages,\u2019 he smiles. \u2018There were a lot of people from Liverpool who were delighted, and it happened again in the last Europa League when lots of people from Liverpool wrote to me [after Sevilla knocked out United].\u2019<\/p>\n<p>This season the Europa League is where Sevilla don\u2019t really want to be. They have started with two draws against Lens and PSV Eindhoven and need a win against Arsenal to stay on course for qualification under new coach Diego Alonso, Sevilla\u2019s 10thmanager in a decade.<\/p>\n<p>He knows it will not be easy against a team, led by that 15-year-old Norwegian prodigy he trained with almost a decade ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I think they\u2019re one of the main candidates [to win the Champions League],\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Because they are playing so well and they have a coach who learned from the best and is now showing just how good he is.\u2019<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12663351\/Former-Liverpool-midfielder-Suso-speaks-training-Martin-Odegaard-Scouse-family-winning-two-Europa-Leagues-Sevilla-ahead-Champions-League-clash-Arsenal.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Liverpool midfielder Suso speaks about training with Martin Odegaard, his Scouse &#8216;family&#8217; and winning two Europa Leagues with Sevilla <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296920,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Former Liverpool midfielder Suso ahead of Champions League vs Arsenal - Sportstons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/former-liverpool-midfielder-suso-ahead-of-champions-league-vs-arsenal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Liverpool midfielder Suso ahead of Champions League vs Arsenal - Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Liverpool midfielder Suso speaks about training with Martin Odegaard, his Scouse &#8216;family&#8217; 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