‘I’M NOT FAZED BY ANYONE – I DON’T CARE FOR REPUTATIONS'
BIG INTERVIEW: CAMERON BRANNAGAN
could go I in and play Premier the League right now, not problem a Cameron Brannagan
HBy Chris Dunlavy E was coached by Jurgen Klopp. Trained with Mo Salah. Played in Europe and the Premier League. But for Oxford midfielder Cameron Brannagan, it was the leaving of Liverpool that proved the making of the man. “I look back on that time now and I was just too… nice,” explains the 23-yearold, who spent 17 years on the books at Anfield before uprooting to Oxford in January 2018. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a horrible lad these days. But moving away, making a living - my attitude has completely changed. “I’m ruthless now. I’m a winner. If someone comes in and tries to take my spot, I’ll fight that with everything I’ve got. If you’re my opponent on the pitch, I’ll do whatever it takes to beat you. “Under-23 football teaches you lots of things, but not that side of football. In the real world, your opponent is trying to be better than you. He’s trying to make you have a bad game.
Belief
“So you have to fight harder than him. You have to want it more. That’s what I’ve learned since leaving Liverpool. And the way I feel at the minute, I don’t see anyone who can get in my way.”
So far, at least, nobody has. Pre-weekend, five goals, three assists and a string of scintillating displays had demonstrated just why Klopp once described Brannagan as possessed of “everything you need” to play in a Premier League midfield.
Everything, that is, except opportunities. Nine promising appearances for the Reds in the 2015-16 campaign sparked rumours of interest from Real Madrid, who reportedly prepared a £5.5m bid. Barcelona, too, were sniffing around.
But a firm offer never materialised and, as Liverpool built a side that would eventually conquer Europe, Brannagan slowly slipped from Klopp’s plans.
By the start of 2018, his only appearances in two-and-a-half years had come on loan at Fleetwood Town. Frustration set in.
“Anyone who knows me per
sonally will tell you that I believe in myself a lot,” says the Mancunian. “I’m not fazed by anyone or anything. I don’t care about reputations.
“I could go and play in the Premier League now, not a problem. And I wouldn’t even look at it as if I could just do a job. I think I could play at that level and do really well.
“That’s not me being arrogant. It’s just who I am. And that’s why it got dead frustrating at Liverpool. I just felt I had so much more to show, and more to give.”
Yet Brannagan, right, was also realistic when it came to his chances of breaking into Liverpool’s lineup.
“It’s difficult for any young lad at a big club,” he adds. “You get the odd one, like Trent Alexander-Arnold. But you’ll never get tons and tons. You have to face the reality that most of us will need to earn respect somewhere else and climb back.
“Just look at Harry Wilson. I played with H quite a lot. We were both born in 1996. He did brilliantly at Derby last year but Liverpool are flying at the minute, so it’s not like he can say anything. Sometimes, you just have to go somewhere else. It’s nobody’s fault. “What frustrated me was that I was at Melwood full-time. I was involved with the first team and training regularly. Then, suddenly, I was back in the Under-23s. “I don’t know why. At one stage, I was offered a loan to Swindon and didn’t want to go. I’m not sure if the manager wasn’t happy or what, but it felt like after that I wasn’t in the first-team picture. “Growing up, getting older… if I had the same attitude then that I do now, it might have been a little bit different. I might have been more pushy and fought my corner. Who knows? “But it got to a point where I was thinking ‘I don’t need this’, and that’s when Oxford came in. I made the move and I’ve not looked back since.”
Severing such a lengthy bond might have proved traumatic. Luckily, some familiar faces have made the Kassam feel like home.
One is manager Karl Robinson, who made his name as a youth coach at Liverpool before going on to manage MK Dons and Charlton.
“The gaffer coached me when I was a young kid,” says Brannagan. “He knows me well, knows my family. He’s looked after me and I love him to bits.
Support
“The way he plays football is great for me as well, and I’m really grateful that he’s given me the opportunity to show people what I can do. Hopefully I can keep repaying him.”
The other is Ben Woodburn, the Wales international signed by Robinson on a season-long loan from Liverpool.
Currently sidelined with a broken foot, the forward has moved in with Brannigan and is currently being guided through the pitfalls of lower league life.
“With the injury, Ben’s back in Liverpool at the minute,” he says. “But when he’s down here, he lives with me.
“I knew him at Liverpool. We weren’t close. We’d speak in passing, but we weren’t best mates or anything. But he came here and, me being me, I guess I just wanted to be a bit of a leader and help him out. I said to him ‘Move in with me if you want’, and we’ve become pretty tight.
“He knows the score, Ben. He’s a top player who’ll hopefully go on to do great things. But I’ll always help him and guide him in the right direction based on my experiences.
“My main advice is to accept League One for what it is. You can play on Saturday, have a bad game, then be man of the match on Tuesday. Things happen so quickly, and you have to get into a frame of mind where you just crack on and don’t dwell.”
Not that the U’s have had much to dwell on. After a rocky start, Oxford headed into the weekend six unbeaten in League One. They also demolished Premier League West Ham 4-0 in the Carabao Cup.
“The way we’re playing at the minute, I think we can beat anyone,” adds Brannigan. “I’m walking out onto the pitch thinking ‘We can’t lose this’.
“Confidence is very high, and we’ve got a lot of players who are desperate to go on and do big things. It’s a brilliant place to be.”
The way the gaffer plays is great for me Cameron Brannagan