Young goalkeeper Armin Pesci has spoken about his first season at Liverpool, what he is learning behind the scenes and his love of the Reds
Armin Pecsi of Liverpool
Armin Pecsi of Liverpool(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
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Anfield was aghast. The sight of Freddie Woodman prone on the turf prompted an audible groan around the stadium given first-choice Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker and deputy Giorgo Mamardashvili were already both sidelined.
For Armin Pecsi, though, it offered the prospect of another box being ticked in an eye-opening debut season.
"It happened so quickly," says the 21-year-old, recalling being told to prepare for a senior Reds bow as substitute during the second half of the Premier League clash against Crystal Palace last month.
"The message came over 'he's not going to make it, you need to go on'. I was thinking 'this is what you wait your whole life for'.
"I was excited to be coming on, then it was a little bit up and down as I went to do my warm-up and then came back and then I was told 'just in case, keep yourself warm'."
Woodman ultimately recovered and was able to see out the rest of the game as Pecsi returned to the bench. But it wasn't before he was given words of reassurance from Liverpool's nearby number one.
"Ali came up to me and said 'do your job, do what you do' and he wished me all the best," says the Hungarian, speaking to the ECHO at the AXA Training Centre.
"The next week he came to me and asked 'were you nervous?' and I said 'yes, but I was excited'. Then I told him I'll always remember he gave me his best wishes.
"After the game, it was a little bit like I wasn't sure what happened as I was so close to playing. You never want your team-mates to get hurt, but I was close. Maybe when I make my debut it'll be easier.
"But it's definitely a story I can tell my mates or when I have kids! I hope I'll get games and good games at Liverpool, and this isn't going to be my best story."
Amid the flurry of high profile signings last summer, it was easy to overlook the capture of Pecsi in a £1.3million deal from Puskas Akademia early last June.
The keeper spent the season continuing to learn his trade with the U21s - culminating with the Premier League 2 play-off penalty shoot-out loss at home to Palace last month - but made the first-team bench under Arne Slot five times, including at Goodison and Old Trafford during the closing weeks.
"It was a really good experience, but it felt normal in a way because that's where I want to belong," says Pecsi. "I want to be in the squad and play in those stadiums.
"Pre-season helped me a lot because at the time I wasn't sure how you prepare for games at a big club or how you behave in the dressing room and things like that. It's completely different at a club like Liverpool.
"It also helped when I was third choice and was on the pitch helping the goalkeepers to warm-up and then the team. Then I'd go to the stands to watch the game and that was a really good experience, I could taste a bit of the stadium.
"And when I was second choice, I really just wanted to help Freddie so he could play well and he put in some good performances."
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Pecsi has ensured his time training with the first-team goalkeeping set-up proves productive.
"The three goalkeepers all have a different style," he says. "If you see Ali from behind up close, even in the simple drills, if you're not a goalkeeper you can't say what's so special about what's happening, but what he makes seems so easy are some of the hardest parts there are in goalkeeping.
"I have started to practice in my training how he controls his body and his positioning, all those things.
"Giorgi is a shot-stopper the like of which I've never seen before. Freddie, his work ethic and mentality is very impressive. I want to combine all three of them into my game."
Pecsi also has a slight advantage when it comes to knowing what to expect from opposing forwards. "I played for many years as an outfield player," he explains. "I feel like it helped me when I was younger, I could see what the striker was trying to do, but the level here is so high that doesn't really matter anymore.
"But when we're doing one-on-ones with the goalkeepers in sessions and I'm playing outfield, it means I can finish my chances!"
The Austria-born goalkeeper arrived at Liverpool having made almost 50 appearances in the Hungarian top flight and been selected by the country through the youth ranks up to U21 level. But his early weeks at the Academy were something of a shock to the system despite such extensive experience at a young age.
"I have really learned a lot," says Pecsi. "I had to change my game a little bit to get to the high level and also the English style.
"It is different here to Hungary, even in the first division there. With the under-21s, it was intense and tackles were flying in during the training sessions, but everybody would just get up straight away. This aggressiveness and desire to win the ball was one thing, and then there was the technical ability they had.
Liverpool goalkeeper Armin Pecsi in a Reds shirt when growing up
Liverpool goalkeeper Armin Pecsi in a Reds shirt when growing up
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"It meant I have had to think quicker when I have the ball and even before I get the ball. If you're not ready and in position then you can easily give away a goal.
"Being here, you learn how the best club in the world does it, how the players do it, how the fans and staff do it, and if I end up going somewhere else I can take these things with me."
In some respects, Pesci was always destined to end up at Anfield, given the influence of his upbringing and father in particular.
"I was a Liverpool fan when I was younger because of my dad," he says. "My best friend and his dad were also big Liverpool supporters so I just grew up into it. When I played on the street I was with them a lot of the time. My little brother the same.
"Sometimes when I'm with my friends they ask me what it was like meeting the players. But this is where I want to belong.
"When I was younger I was watching the older guys here, such as Ali and Virgil, but I never pretended to be someone when I was nine or 10 years of age. I always liked the players, but I have never pretended to be Pepe Reina or Alisson because I want to be myself and go on my journey."
For Pecsi, that is only just beginning.