Angel Gomes press conference - Ireland v England

okay good afternoon and welcome to St George's park for this media conference with Angel Gomez uh as ever housekeeping if we can keep it to three questions per person in the first round if we have got time we'll come back and at the end we'll have a short section and barged until 10 30 p.m. this evening Rob sports news you want to get us under way Angel lovely to see you you too congratulations thank you um look we've seen the the fa's clip of you talking to Morgan G well talking to Morgan G Gibbs white about uh how you facetimed each other when you when you got the call up and how neither of you quite knew talk us through that and how special was the moment um we both got told on this the day that the squad was getting announced on the first day but we didn't get a call till a bit later on in the well not later on in the day but before the squad got announced so you don't you have no idea whether you're going to get selected or not and I got a message of Lee and he asked me to call him and I was like oh they asked you to call more yeah no asked me to call he the manager asked me to call him so I rang him and um yeah he let me know that I was in the squad and you can obviously imagine my reaction and and the first thing I was thinking is I wonder if Morgan's been called cuz obviously we're we're very close and I didn't want to ring him cuz I didn't know whether he'd found out or not and he didn't want to ring me after so there was a bit of tension and then my dad was like just ring him so I rang him and when he answered we just both like looked at each other and like started smiling before anyone said anything I was like No And he was like yeah and then we just started like jumping up and down in the room and yeah you could obviously we was we was just buzzing it's lovely to share that with somebody you're so close to isn't it that you both got first call up at the at the same time yeah and it's something that we've spoke about for in the longest obviously we've played each other growing up in the age groups we won the World Cup together and this last tournament the Euros was very special for us cuz in our case it was the last time we'd play with each other unless we'd get called up to the seniors so in our heads it was like we have to win this and end it on as high as possible like playing with each other um and we managed to do that and obviously managed to get called up at the same time which is special good stuff um Lee carsley described you as a as a unique player um how would you describe kind of what your best position is and what sort of type of player you are because I think you are a bit different um I'd like to say I'm just a midfielder you know I can operate in all three rows I can play as the Deep line midfielder I can play as a number eight I can play as a number 10 you know um I just love to play in the Midfield and um be able to distribute and help help the team play in all different areas of the pitch you know um I'd say I'm confident I like being on the ball and like taking responsibility so that's more or less my game and I want to ask you about the journey as well um when left Manchester United and go to Le um it's always difficult to leave a club like Manchester United um and then you ended up on loan at Boa Vista so it didn't happened immediately for you it's not been an easy route for you has it and I wonder how you reflect on all of that now sitting in that seat where you are now um when I left it was more for the idea to better myself better myself as a player and obviously as a person going through the Journey that I went through um I knew that eventually I'd be able to create a pathway for myself to be able to be in this position that I'm in now um and yeah it's it was difficult obviously leaving the club that I was at from six um and heading into the unknown really for me personally um and yeah from then it's been it's been an uphill trajectory but also with a lot of difficulties and difficult moments going through but um being in this position now makes everything all worth it Angel uh lee Cosley said that you're a player that controls games with your Technique do you think your game is suited to International Football and do you think the game in England has changed since you left um yeah i' I'd say so um I think it's a lot different to um Club football International Football and um I think with the players that this country produces um we've always we've been close and it it shows the level of the team and where we're at um as a nation you know and um it's something that I think um going forward you know like we have a lot of new players um not just myself that I've had call-ups as well so um it's it's positive I think you were pre previously mentioned by GTH sgate and I know you said you thought you'd create a path yourself to get to this position but did you think you were close before this call up um yeah believe it or not I had um I was like pre pre-selected in the group of a lot of players and whenever the squads was getting announced um I'd get the email but obviously you get told whether you'll get a phone call or you'll you'll know whether you're in the squad or not and um I missed it a lot of the times but I knew that if I keep going sooner or later I'll be able to create a pathway for myself and um I'm just thankful that I'm here now and I'm able to Showcase myself was that pre-selected for the Euros um well I got the email so you get kind of like a confirmation that if anything was to happen you're kind of in the plans and stuff but um just think make the group but you know it's always fuel to keep going and to keep trying to get into the next next elections and last summer when you won the Euros Le C he said you're a player he thinks will'll go on to be a coach because of the way you you see the game and you see it in pictures do you think you'll go on go on to be a coach further down the um probably yeah I can't actually hide that yeah probably um I like that side of the game I like um I like to I think I'm a big thinker and um I think it's something that I'll probably go on to do when I finish playing but it's not something that I'm thinking of right now but yeah probably yeah go back to Jack hi Angel um what's this Camp been like since you joined up here for me it's been really positive really um I've settled in well there's players that I already knew previously and um some new faces that I've got to know over the last couple of days that I've helped me settle in perfectly and um no I think it's I think it's exciting and I'm just looking forward to the rest of the week what did Lee and the coaches say to you guys when you were joined up um nothing really um just in the sense of with bit the the the squad obviously previously before I obviously joined the representing the the country in the best way possible and you know it's shown in the previous um tournaments how close England have been as a nation and you know we're kind of going off the back of that and trying to emulate and you know make the next step in winning the tournament and that's what is here trying to impose and and set targets for the team and finally having played with Lee for a long time for the 21s can you just describe a bit what he's like as a coach um he's a very he's a very fair coach he's very very honest um he's Direct in his approach and um he's very close to the squad and um I think it helps as a player when a coach takes interest in a player not just on the pitch but off the pitch also if you want to go first then go we'll go John after you hi Angel um with the first England call up just one from me with the first England call up how hungry has it made you to uh you know to make sure it isn't just a one- time thing yeah that's in the back of my head that was in the back of my head coming coming here obviously um you want to play for your country as much as possible you know this has been special for me the last couple of days and it's something that I'd love for it to continue um in the in the long run so um yeah fight then John hi Angel nice to see you congratulations as well um you mentioned the under 20 uh the under 17s you captained that that team obviously Mark gahi Phil foden Jaden Sancho in it and you've seen them progress into the senior team did you feel as if you know maybe you'd have to wait this long for a Senor call up does it make it that more special I think playing for your country you can wait as long as it takes really the the moment you're able to represent your country at the highest level that's you know that's the highest moment you can you can get to personally in your career um and I seen everyone do it early but it didn't discourage me if anything um it made me hungrier and you know seeing teammates that you've played with from 15 16 go on to almost Live Your Dream It's you can't be any happier for him you know and um um whether it would have took me an extra three years four years or however long it takes um I'm just happy that I'm in the position that I'm in now and I hope that it could continue for more years and you obviously know a lot of the a lot of the players but was there anyone in the senior Squad already that you didn't know that youve maybe sought out to try and get some advice from yeah um obviously the the skipper um Harry and there's a few there's a few others that obviously the experienced ones that have been in the the group a long time that you know um you can you can go to and ask questions or ask for advice and you know everyone's been welcoming so people will will come to you to see how you are and um almost make you feel assured so it's been good who else can you can you elaborate a bit more um Pickers as well um there's JN Stones there's um Declan rice um there's there's a few others I can't name them all but they've all made me feel welcomed and you know it's been good for me to kind of be around players like that that have all the experience you know to help me just fin you mentioned some difficult moments in your career I wonder if you can tell us a little bit more about that and also what was the best piece of advice that Lee carsley has given you on your Journey um I'd say hardest point was obviously leaving England um going to Portugal you know into the unknown there was a project there for me to kind of immerse myself into but you know I I never knew how it was going to go you know it was stepping into the unknown for me and then obviously going to France afterwards so learning a new language adapting to the country um adapting to the football um it was a very difficult time for me you know to adapt to all of it and um I knew in the long run if I stuck to it that I'd be able to get to where I want to get to oh oh yeah and Lee he one of the things he always says is you're giving yourself the best chance if you're doing well at your club and you know it links in coincide with the national team so as well as long as you're doing well for your club and you're representing yourself at a high level you've got the best chance to play with your national team thanks very John hi Angel and just on the um your development at Le can you can you pick out a few moments during the the years that you've been there now that that have have really catapulted you in the right direction um I think ever since our last manager that's just pre just gone to AC Milan poo f came in um we had a conversation and he pulled me aside and said he wants me to play a bit deeper and shown me how he wants the team to play and said that I'll be a major part of what he wants to do and said that I'd be able to help the team with the ideas and to assure the team you know and um it wasn't something that I've not done before or a position that I've not played I've played in that position before but obviously to play at the highest level in that position it takes you know a good coach good ideas for you to be able to show and prove yourself and I think from when he came in um you could see how we the team played and how it complimented me well so I think from there it really it really helped me did that kind of dovetail with what Lee carsley was asking you to do with the the under 21s yeah because at the club level I was almost doing similar role to um what I was doing in the national team but obviously playing in France you don't have as much um awareness or thingy or recognition that of course the Premier League's going to get which is which is normal but um I was doing I was already playing that position and played the whole season and playing there so when I came to the national team it was it was very similar and very easy and with Lee carsley is the is there anything that marks him out as being dramatically different from other coaches that you've worked with um just in the sense of he's very easy to speak to you know um you can he'll ask you what you think of training session the game or he'll pull you aside and say I've got this planned out what do you think and it's not just him asking the question he wants to really know your input and he will listen and he will listen to a lot of the other players and you know I think when a manager puts that ownership and you know that confidence in you you you repay it on the pitch and you know I think he's really good at doing that that's James Robson at the end hi Angel if uh if Lee Carley is a fan of you that would suggest he's a fan of a certain style of football what kind of football can England fans expect to see in this new era um similar similar really um as you know the the country's got a huge pool of talent and um it's just trying trying to get all the the ideas and the right system in place for it to um be able to gel and for it to work out for the type of players that we have really um he's very he's very attacking um but also with a huge emphasis on defending also and you know having a good a good unit and I think that showed in the Euros in all the games we played and we didn't concede um so and for as well as how we played offensively defensively we had the unit and we had a good a good block so um can just I can just say positive really and I wonder when you were watching this England team at the Euros the the senior team um given the sort of quality that was was in that team and players who didn't even get to play that much could you see where you would fit into that team um yeah I'd like I'd like to say so yeah um I could see where I could fit in um obviously it's it's really difficult to play for for England it's really difficult like I said with the amount of talent and the amount of players that are playing at a high level consistently you know you've got to be on top of your game and you've got to be um consistent and you know watching the games you can always kind of put yourself in situations and or situations where you think you can you can help I think as a player there'll be players that didn't um get called up to go also that would would tell you the same thing thank you thanks James we'll end the live section there and move on to a short section and bar till 10:30 p.m. this evening as's the mic stand there Mike do you want to get a started