Tyler Morton opened up about his feelings of frustration last season surrounding his lack of game time. The 21-year-old Morton found it difficult to earn any spot in Arne Slot’s midfield and only ended up playing in five matches last season.
He, along with teammates Jarell Quansah and Harvey Elliott, are set to represent England in the Under 21 Euro Championship this summer. While training with the team, Morton spoke honestly about his mentality after staying at Anfield last season instead of going out on loan again.
“Definitely, I think it’s been the toughest season mentally for me,” [he said](https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/wanted-leave-liverpool-last-year-31809665). “Obviously, I’ve coped with it very well because I’ve got good people around me, but it’s been very tough.
“When you’re not playing, your confidence sort of gets shut down a little bit so it’s nice to come back and play here (with England Under-21s). I think I’ve coped with it as well as I possibly could. I think when you’re not playing as a footballer who’s as hungry as I am, it does hurt. It’s tough, especially when, in my opinion, I wanted to go out and I wanted to play and I wanted to go on loan and get my game time.
“But having chatted with the manager, having to stay, it could have worked out a lot worse than it did. It probably could have worked out a lot better than it did.”
Though admittedly disappointed with how things turned out, Morton had only positive things to say about his teammates and praised the Slot and the coaching staff for how they’ve improved his game.
“(I spoke to) all my teammates. All my teammates are top, top people. No matter if you’re playing, if you’re not playing, (they) put their arm around you always,” he said.
Regarding the boss, he explained, “I think I’m a ball-playing midfielder so I like to pass the ball, I like to move it, I like to dictate the game. He (Slot) wanted me to drive with the ball a bit more.
“All the coaching staff wanted me to work on the ball as well. Johnny Heitinga was massive in my development in that as well, and Aaron (Briggs) and Sipke Hulshoff were huge.
“They helped me out not only on the pitch but with little clips and stuff like that so it was still good, still learning. My driving with the ball basically was the main thing I wanted to work on.”
Morton’s future with the club is unclear, but he’s hungry to grow and earn bigger opportunities to prove himself. At 22-years-old, the English midfielder has plenty of time to improve and push his career forward.