[article]Tyler Morton speaks with such a profound maturity that it's somewhat surprising to catch him fall speechless, albeit only for a brief moment.
"I still get goosebumps even listening to that," giggles the midfielder after a short pause as he's reminded of his Champions League heroics in a 2-1 victory over AC Milan at the San Siro in December 2021, momentarily lifting the veil on the teenager who rose to stardom at Anfield as his boyhood club, Liverpool, chased an unprecedented quadruple in the 2021/22 season.
These days, Morton can be found in Cottingham, Yorkshire, as he and the rest of his Hull City team-mates begin their preparations for an unforgiving festive period that will have a significant bearing on whether Liam Rosenior's class of 2024 will be the one that ends the Tigers' seven-year exile for the Premier League.
Two years on from being handed a surprise start at one of European football's most famous arenas, Morton is preparing for a visit to Bristol City's Ashton Gate on Friday night knowing that three points in the South West could see Hull sneak into the Championship's top-five ahead of Christmas day.
"I’m really focused at the moment, especially because the festive period is the hardest part of the Championship season," says the 21-year-old, speaking exclusively to the ECHO at Hull City's Mill House training ground. "I was looking at the schedule the other day and I couldn’t believe it! There was a game every three days but that’s why I love it and that’s why I’m here."
Few could have predicted the impact the Wirral-born midfielder would have on a Tigers side reinvigorated by Rosenior's spirit when he swapped Anfield for the MKM Stadium in September after signing with the Championship side on a season-long loan.
Prior to that, Morton had spent nearly five months on the sidelines and saw his pre-season schedule mainly limited to lengthy rehabilitation sessions with physio Tony Jones, who the midfielder credits with restoring his focus, at Liverpool's AXA Training Centre as he bid to recover from a broken foot that had cruelly and prematurely deprived him of a thrilling end to the 2022/23 season with Blackburn Rovers.
"It was a tough pre-season for me being injured and not knowing what I was doing, really," explains Morton, candidly reflecting on the hidden hardships of the profession. "I kind of like, wouldn't say lost my head, but I kind of had to refocus and get back to what I love because when you’re out for a little while you start losing your head a little bit."
Little did the midfielder know, though, that an unexpected break from the ruthless rigour of professional football would allow him a vital opportunity to reflect on a successful 47-game season at Ewood Park in what was his first spell away from his familiar surroundings of Merseyside.
"I had to get refocused and by refocusing I was watching a lot of Championship games and getting myself prepared for what could be and, yeah, I watched Hull. I had played against Hull the season before but it was like a completely different team, a different style, a different way of playing and I loved it," replies Morton, asked why he signed for the Tigers. "I loved watching them and I had a couple of mates here, it was brilliant. Liam Delap spoke [highly] of the manager when I spoke to him, it was class and it really pushed me to come here. I’ve never been happier about a decision in my life, to be honest."
As the Championship season reaches the halfway point, Morton's spell at the MKM Stadium can, so far, certainly be viewed as a major success for both player and club. Just last week the 21-year-old fended off competition from players across 72 sides in the Championship, League One and League Two to be named as the EFL's Young Player of the Month for November, while last month saw the midfielder's excellent form rewarded with a first appearance for England's under-21s.
"I feel like that was a big motivation for me and a big, real boost of confidence. I say it a lot but confidence is massive for myself and I feel like getting the recognition like that gives me confidence," says Morton on his recent league-wide award. "I couldn’t do it without the players and the fans at Hull because the confidence I’ve got is from being at this club and, yeah, being liked at this club; having the trust of the players, the fans, the staff. They let me go out and do what I do best and I feel like I’m really showing that at the moment, but I always feel like I’ve got a long way to go to be where I want to be. I feel like this part right now is what I need to keep a hold of because I love football, I absolutely love it. I enjoy every minute of it.
"Sometimes it’s hard, sometimes it’s good. When it’s good you need to keep hold of that feeling and when it’s bad you need to motivate yourself to push yourself on. I feel like I’ve had a bit of everything so far in only this year-and-a-half, two years of playing professional football but I feel like I’ve taken everything in my stride and I’m ready to push on."
Primarily playing in a two-man pivot in front of the back four, Rosenior's faith in Morton has allowed the 21-year-old to, at times, be utilised as a more free-roaming box-to-box midfielder. Such trust has been afforded due to the midfielder's almost telepathic-like understanding with engine room partner Jean Michael Seri, which has seen the Reds loanee notch his first professional goals this term.
Against Cardiff last weekend, Morton returned to his familiar role of patrolling the back four and, this time, from deep produced a sensational 60-yard diagonal for Ozan Tufan to apply the gloss on a comfortable 3-0 victory.
"I just love being versatile. That’s what I’ve always said: I want to be a versatile midfielder," adds the midfielder. "You see the best midfielders in the world, the likes of Jude Bellingham. If you want him to play 'six', he’ll play 'six'. If you want him to play '10', he’ll score you goals. That’s the type of player I want to be.
"I want to be someone who’s trusted in many positions for different reasons and I feel like that’s the direction I’m heading. I feel like in the ''six' I control the game, I feel like in the '10' I can create and that’s what I’m doing at the moment. I’ve been given that freedom to really get in the box and show that side to my other game that I didn’t really show last season as much as I wanted to, but this season I’m getting more freedom to go ahead because the coaching staff are top quality and they can see it in me that I can get forward, I can score, create. I’m so grateful to them for the help they have given me and the trust they have given me to explore that side of my game, which I always had when I was a kid.
"That’s what I’ve always wanted to be. Every lad that’s from near Liverpool wants to be Steven Gerrard, don’t they? I’d love to be that type of player, the box-to-box, doing both sides of the game."
So, is the goal to replicate Steven Gerrard's Anfield heroics? Morton replies with a laugh: "If I was a tenth of what Steven Gerrard was I’d be absolutely buzzing. He was incredible, wasn’t he? He was not only all that football [skill] but he was a leader as well. I’d love to be that type of footballer. That’s what I aspire to be: a leader on and off the pitch.
"That’s what I need to get in my game and push myself to be, and I feel like I could be if I really put my mind to it, a leader on the pitch. You’ve got to grow a personality and really push yourself and be that type of player, but definitely, I think everyone aspires to be that type of player; the all-round midfielder. But I’d never compare myself to Steven Gerrard."
Born in 2002, although Morton's progression to the first team came long after the Reds' iconic No.8 had left Anfield that didn't stop him from soaking up everything on offer at the AXA Centre from some of Liverpool's modern-day greats as he relished the prospect of studying Thiago Alcantara, Fabinho and Jordan Henderson.
"Everyone always asks 'Did you take a lot from Fabinho or Thiago [Alcantara]?' Obviously yes, because I studied them before I even trained with them. I still watch clips of them now even though I’ve played with both of them, it’s mad," says Morton. "I absolutely love the way they both play, I love the way Henderson plays, too. I think he’s an all-round midfielder as well, which I’ve said I aspire to be.
"It’s brilliant, there’s no better feeling than training with people that you watch. I used to go to most of the home games with my dad and it was fantastic, so going to train with them I was a bit stunned at first but once you get to speak to them and get to know them on a deeper level that’s when you settle in."
Now, three years on from first being called up to train with the first team at Kirkby, Morton, nine appearances into his Liverpool career, has already started Premier League and Champions League ties at Anfield, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the San Siro.
"It was beautiful, a lovely night, especially at the San Siro but making my debut at Norwich City was the biggest one," reflects the 21-year-old. "I didn’t expect to come on, at half-time I was messing around, booting the ball in the air and Pep Lijnders called me in. It was a surreal feeling. It motivated me to want more, luckily I earned the trust of the manager to play in more games and even start a Premier League game, which was brilliant for me. Coming out on loan has made me love the game even more and somehow I've really enjoyed this loan more than any other season.
"I’ll continue to enjoy it but just being here and having the confidence I’ve got right now, which I'll hopefully take into the part of the season. Hopefully, this is going to be a real season to remember, and I feel like it will be."
As the interview draws to a close, Morton reveals the whereabouts of the treasured shirt he wore at the San Siro against AC Milan: "I gave it to my dad because my he's a massive Red. I put it in a frame for Christmas [2021] and they’ve got it up in the living room."
Indeed, should all go to plan between now and the end of the season, Morton could go one better next Christmas as he sets his sights on acquiring another iconic shirt for his dad - this time from a possible Play-Off final at Wembley in May 2024.
"I couldn’t be more pleased with how everything is going and I feel like we’ve got a really strong team full of quality, if you watch us you’ll see the quality," concludes Morton. "I feel we’ve got a good chance of promotion this season, definitely. I feel like that is where this club is heading and if it’s not this season it will be next season."[/article]
