Liverpool's Diaz Reflects on Success and Resilience: A Dream Come True
Liverpool's No.7, Luis Diaz has expressed his delight at starting the new season in flying colours. The Colombian winger Diaz, who made the move to Anfield from FC Porto in January 2022, has been instrumental in the Reds' impressive start to the 2023-24 Premier League season, with three wins and a draw from their first four fixtures.
Diaz has notably found the back of the net in two of those matches and played a pivotal role in Liverpool's commanding 3-0 home victory over Aston Villa at Anfield, a stark contrast to the significant portion of last season he spent on the sidelines due to injury.
Reflecting on his development since joining Liverpool, Diaz shared his thoughts as the club's official website quoted: "Since being here, I've gained in intensity and have a bit more aggression about me. Maybe I was developing those things at Porto already because I learned an awful lot in those aspects there too. When you come over to Europe, you work a lot more on those facets of your game, being aggressive."
He continued: "I learnt a lot about decision-making too and being more relaxed when a chance comes around. I think I've grown both in football terms and on a personal level, and all that makes me very happy."
Regarding representing Liverpool, he added: "It's something I’m very proud of, being at such a massive club as this one. I am incredibly pleased to be here, very much at ease and really happy. I always try to enjoy every minute. I've got some great teammates and I play alongside some big-name players, who at one time I used to watch playing on TV.
"So for me, this really is like a dream come true, and let's hope I can keep realising even more of those dreams and continue with the successes I've known up to now."
Diaz also discussed his time out from football last season due to injury, saying: "It was a difficult and complicated time for me. Not being able to be there at every game with the team is very frustrating. To see all your teammates playing and you cannot be there alongside them is just so tough to take. That period was really hard for me, but I tried hard not to overthink things or pay much attention to negative things so my head wouldn't be swimming with all these thoughts. It was all about work, work and more work so I could be fully fit and recovered; so once I was 100 per cent again, I'd be ready to try and help the team."
On the topic of learning English, Diaz noted: "Yeah, it's good, my English is much better. I'm trying to have plenty of classes now at home and my level of understanding when listening is better, but speaking it is a little bit more difficult. But yeah, much better. It's very hard, I'm not going to lie, but it really is going better and I've improved in that sense."
Regarding his start to the season, Diaz confidently remarked: "I'm feeling more and more confident as each day goes by and with every training session. Scoring nice goals has a lot to do with having worked so hard to make sure I was in the right shape and, to be honest, I feel great – at 100 per cent and convinced that this season I'm going to do lots to make the fans very happy. I have no doubt about that whatsoever.
"I'm going to try to always be in top form because my game is all about... well, I'm always looking to do stuff like scoring and creating goals and feeling happy and content when I'm playing my football. I know this is going to be a decent year."
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