Andre Gomes reveals just how important the season is in England

Everton midfielder Andre Gomes, on loan from Barcelona, has revealed just how important this season in England has been to him in terms of becoming happy again. The Portuguese struggled for game time at the Camp Nou and underwhelmed when he did get on the pitch, and an interview with Panenka magazine he showed an insight into the struggles that he was facing in terms of self-confidence.”Obviously, I didn’t want to say everything I said [during the interview with Panenka],” Gomes revealed to The Liverpool Echo.

“At that moment I was struggling a lot inside [mentally] and sometimes the people you are talking to [journalists in this case] help you to say what you want to say, and I think that was the case.”I was struggling and I just said everything naturally.”I believe that there are a lot of players who feel the same and sometimes feel like they can give [their all] but can’t and don’t have an explanation [as to why].”It was more about that.

I was struggling and I couldn’t find a way to go out and enjoy the game, enjoy the fans, and after that, I started to understand things a little bit more and enjoy football more.”Gomes is keen to take each day as it comes now, rather than try to predict his future beyond the summer, but he is clearly enjoying life at Everton.”One thing football has taught me is how to manage situations and how to enjoy it day by day,” he stated.”Every day is a new challenge and every weekend in the Premier League is a new challenge, so I only try to think about the present.

“If I think further ahead than that then I will probably lose my mind in some way, so I am trying to finish the season in the best way possible, giving my best in every training session and in every game. We will see [what happens] in the end.”Sometimes we don’t figure out that the most important thing is to be happy and to enjoy [ourselves].

“When we win a title or win a few important games we don’t enjoy the moment.”Especially after my time at Barcelona, [where] there were good things and really bad things, this year has been really good for me to understand that we have to enjoy [being a professional footballer] because we love football; it is our job, but we have to enjoy it more.

“Despite opening up in his interview with Panenka, the 25-year-old has no regrets about that decision and believes that other footballers have suffered the same pressures.”Some people can be confused and think that a football player is a weak person [if they speak about their mental battles], but it is nothing about that,” Gomes added.

“Everyone in their jobs can sometimes feel when they are struggling. After the interview, I felt from the players that, maybe at some point in their lives, they had also felt [under pressure] and it was normal.”I kept moving on and working hard and, as I said, I tried to enjoy my football and be happy.”That is what I tried to do until the end of [last] season and that’s what I am trying to do this season.”