Brewster on Klopp advice, Melwood impressions and Anfield experience
As advice goes, the guidance Rhian Brewster has received from Jürgen Klopp is pretty simple.
“He’s always said to me ‘make sure you enjoy yourself, that’s the main thing’,” the teenage Liverpool striker reveals.
Simple, yet effective.
“Obviously being young, if you enjoy yourself then you’ll play better because you’re happy and you’re confident,” Brewster adds.
“He’s always said ‘enjoy yourself and be yourself’, basically. Get on the ball and keep moving and always work hard, so that’s what I try to do every day now.”
Clearly, that hard work and willingness to learn is paying off.
A consistent presence in the Reds’ U23s team having only turned 17 in April, Brewster also trained at Melwood regularly in the closing stages of last season - an experience that was nerve-wracking initially but then made all-the-more comfortable by the attitude of the club’s senior stars.
“I was very nervous but excited at the same time because obviously I wanted to make a very, very good impression on my first time being there,” the London-born forward explains in the latest edition of LFCTV’s ‘Academy Show’.
“The only reason I’d say I was confident when I went is [because] the first team welcomed me in. They chat to me like they’ve known me forever, basically.
“They helped me. If they could see that I’m a bit shy, they’d chat to me and welcome me into the squad and I find that really, really good. It’s like a big family there, really.”
Watch: Brewster speaks on the 'Academy Show'
There was one member of Klopp’s squad who was particularly helpful to the newcomer.
“Obviously when I first went I was training with Ben and Trent because I knew them from the Academy, but the one player that stood out was Wijnaldum,” Brewster recalls.
“He was chatting to me, asking me how it was coming from London, so he took a real interest in me.”
Needless to say, the step up from training alongside fellow Academy hopefuls to established international players is significant.
But what was the first major difference Brewster noticed during his maiden session at Melwood?
“There’s no errors,” is his instantaneous and matter-of-fact response.
“There’s no mistakes in training. Your touch has to be on point every day - your passing, your shooting. They don’t take prisoners, they don’t care that you’re young, they’ll still press you and if you’re good enough to be there then that’s it, really.”
Brewster’s determination to make a ‘very, very good impression’ in Liverpool’s first-team environment didn’t go unnoticed, with Klopp naming the England youth international on the bench for the Reds’ home Premier League game against Crystal Palace in April.
“I was over the moon,” he smiles.
“I didn’t know what to say. I was surprised, really, and when I got to the hotel it was an amazing feeling. Then the next day, walking in front of Anfield, even warming up, it was a joke!
“Obviously when I was on the bench and looked around and heard the fans singing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, it was an amazing feeling - a feeling that I’ve never felt before, to be honest.”
Subsequently, Brewster was included in Klopp’s travelling party for the end-of-season friendly with Sydney FC.
Being introduced at half-time at the ANZ Stadium meant getting the opportunity to perform in front of more than 70,000 people - a memory the former Chelsea youngster will always cherish.
“That experience was another one I’ll never forget,” he states.
“Playing in front of that many fans - and of course most of them were Liverpool fans - it was an amazing experience and a great feeling.”