Best Liverpool player so far this season? Joe Gomez would have to be in with a shout, and his fine form was recognised by Gareth Southgate at the weekend when he chose the 21-year-old over Manchester City’s £50m man Kyle Walker to start for England against Spain at WembleyIt continued a remarkable rise for Gomez that started when he landed a deal with his local club Charlton Athletic – at the second attempt – and it is a rise that has been overseen by one of the men who knows him best, Steve Avory.Steve is the long-serving manager of Charlton’s highly successful academy and we spoke to him to get the inside track on the player he calls the ‘ultimate professional’.Steve tells a tale of a level-headed kid who is always able to meet the challenges put him front of him and who boasts the mental toughness to overcome any setback, including the cruciate ligament injury he sustained not long after signing for Liverpool and, more recently, the ankle problem that ruled him out of the Champions League final as well as the World Cup.Steve also has his say on where Gomez’s best position is and how his former protégé will never forget his roots.And there is also a little bit about England manager Southgate, who Steve used to teach in his previous career as head of PE at a secondary school in Crawley, and who he sees real parallels with Gomez.Enjoy. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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