Dani’s Positive Outlook is in stark contrast to his team-mate

Liverpool’s Dani Pacheco stated today that he believes he can prove himself in the Reds first team this season as the Merseysiders gear up for another long campaign. He also revealed to Liverpoolfc.tv the faith shown in him by Roy Hodgson:

“It’s a long season and this is another competition. There are four competitions and I hope I can get some minutes in the Europa League and some of the others. The manager has told me he doesn’t want me to go away on loan. He wants me to stay here and be a player for the first team. I hope I finally break into the first team this season but I’ll have to work hard for this. I am only 19-years-old, so to hear these things from a manager who has so much experience is really good for me. I was at home one day and the manager rang me and said he wanted me to change my number to 12 and go into the first-team dressing room. “Of course I said ‘Okay’.”

It’s great to hear such positive words coming from Dani after stating earlier this summer he might like to return to Spain. It does show that Roy does have the talent of persuading players to stay and to show them that they are really wanted. It is a talent that hasn’t unfortunately worked its magic on Javier Mascherano but the discussion between Pacheco and Hodgson clearly demonstrates that Roy is prepared to have faith in youngsters no matter what nationality, contrary to what young French defender Chris Mavinga said yesterday.

The faith shown by Roy in Pacheco should certainly not be misplaced. The young Spaniard was superb at the European U19s Championship last month and his promotion to the senior squad is in no small part down to these performances. At that level though, he was of the most experienced players at the tournament but it will be another step up to perform in the first team as he will be fully aware. If we stay in the Europa League beyond the play-off round against Trabzonspor on Thursday night and reach the group stages, as Dani says, it will be a tremendous opportunity for him and other youngsters to show what they can do. With the absence of both Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard from tomorrow’s match, Pacheco could get another opportunity to shine very soon.

I was actually somewhat disappointed that the young Spaniard wasn’t given more time against Manchester City on Monday night, especially after we went 2-0 down. He would have been the ideal candidate on the bench to fill in for the suspended Joe Cole, allowing the Reds to revert to a more familiar formation. Although it could have been seen as a negative move to change from 4-4-2 back to 4-2-3-1 when you are trailing, the move would have given the team more shape and greater ability to match up like for the like with City. It was also have had the added bonus of providing a link between midfield and the striker, something which was clearly absent at Eastlands on Monday.

The return of Joe Cole for the match tomorrow may suggest that Pacheco may have to settle for a place on the bench again but with Roy looking to utilise his squad during the Europa League, there is a possibility that Dani could be selected on the right or left hand side of David Ngog up front. In any case, both the player’s positive attitude and determination, as well as the manager’s faith in his abilities, could pay tremendous dividends by the end of the season. We should certainly see by then what this youngster is truly capable of.

Follow us on twitter @live4Liverpool

Live4Liverpool is recruiting columnists. For further info contact the site editor at editor@live4liverpool.com