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Tino Livramento

Yorkie

by Yorkie
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timeEd32

timeEd32

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“When they appealed I was laughing,” Liveramento remembered. “I was thinking there is no way that is handball. Even when the referee went to look at the screen, I was thinking no way is he going to give this. I was ready for the game to restart.

“It wasn’t a penalty, anyone who has played the game knows it wasn’t a penalty. It was given. If we had won that game our season would have looked very different.

“It’s not something I’ve talked about before. I’ve not watched it back, I was running, the ball bounced off my chest and brushed the top of my arm as it fell. That’s it. As much as people reassured me, I felt terrible.”

 

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HawK

HawK

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He's fantastic at carrying the ball, we need him at left back overlapping Gordon with Trips back on the right when he's fit again. He gives so, so much to the team.

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Irish Magpie

Irish Magpie

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If you are looking for tales of training ground bust-ups, fast cars, glamorous girlfriends and all the trimmings of an extravagant party lifestyle, this is not the interview for you.

 

Tino Livramento may have stolen his terrace chant at Newcastle United, but he is no Tino Asprilla, the colourful former Colombia international who became a cult hero on Tyneside in the 90s.

Asprilla, who was once arrested for possession of a machine gun, was about as hedonistic as you could get as a professional footballer. A maverick on the pitch; a wild child off it. The image of him signing for Newcastle, wearing an expensive fur coat in a snowstorm, is one of the enduring images of the Entertainers era.

Asprilla was a headline grabbing playboy, brilliant one minute, languid to the point of ambivalence the next.

Newcastle supporters loved him, which is why the chant that has been given to his modern day namesake resonates. He has only been at the club a few months, but such has been his impact that chants of “Tino, Tino…” fill the air even when he is warming up as a substitute.

“You can say I’m a very sensible and level-headed young man,” he laughs, in anticipation of the question that follows a mention of Asprilla. “I’m not anything like him. As soon as the chant started, everyone kept telling me that I’d stolen it from him. I see it as mine until another Tino comes along.

 

 

“The chant is amazing, every time I hear it I want to smile. Even when I’m playing in the game, I’ve got to stifle a smile. I love it. Being from London, they’ve taken to me so well. It’s like I’m one of their own.

“I’ve never done anything wild at a training ground. I’m aware of the stories about him, a little anyway. I’ve not done anything wild, don’t worry about that. I’m pretty boring you know.

“Look, it’s special, it has created a really special bond between me and the fans. I hear it, they need to know that, every single time I hear it.

“I have my routine, I train, I go home, I rest, I eat and I go to bed. I’ve not even been for a night out in Newcastle…”

 

The final part of that sentence is said with a smile that suggests otherwise. At 21, it would be almost criminal not to sample some of the city’s infamous nightlife, but Livramento is a serious young man and a serious talent too.

He has been Newcastle’s best summer signing by some distance. Despite failing to replace Kieran Trippier as first choice right-back, he excelled as an emergency left-back and has shown enough quality in his preferred position to suggest he can make it his own for club and even country in the not too distant future.

 

A powerful, skilful runner, his athleticism and strength in defence are remarkable for someone so young. When he was coming through the ranks at Chelsea as a boyhood fan, coaching staff insisted he was the best of his age group. Yet, he left for Southampton 2021 having failed to make a single first-team appearance. He was impatient.

 

Livramento left Chelsea for Southampton because he was desperate to kick on and play first-team football Credit: GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images

“I was at Chelsea from the age of seven,” he explained. “So, to leave was hard, especially before I’d played a single game, but it was the right thing for me to do.

“I remember when I signed my first contract as a pro, I think it was for £300-a-week or something like that, I couldn’t believe it. I was a 16-year-old and I thought I was living the dream.

‘I didn’t leave Chelsea against my will’

“I didn’t leave against my will. I’ll always love the club and I would have loved to play for them, but it doesn’t annoy me.

 

“I saw the move to Southampton as the best thing. I needed to play and it wasn’t about being picky or choosy about where I went. The club accepted it was the right thing for me, they got the offer that was right for them too.”

His time at Southampton was the making of him, as a player and a man. He was superb in his first season, with many arguing Chelsea had made a terrible mistake letting him leave. But in April 2022, the teenager was crumpled in a heap on the pitch at Brighton’s Amex Stadium. An ACL injury sidelined him for almost a year and, for the first time, Livramento admits he feared he would never be the same player again.

“Mentally, it put me through a lot of things,” he said. “I had to look at myself and realise it was down to me, how much did I really want it. It made me grow up, massively.

‘I could have lost my agility and my pace’

 

“I was 19, I was already living away from my family. I was going through a lot of things. I didn’t know whether I was going to return to the same level I was at or be able to improve.

“I didn’t even know if I would be able to dribble again, pass properly off that foot. I could have lost my agility and my pace. You see injuries happen to players and I used to think that’s tough, but now I really know what it takes to come back. I’ve been there…”

 

When Livramento returned to action at the end of last season, Newcastle were not willing to wait to find out if he needed another season in his development. They paid £32m. Southampton, relegated to the Championship, needed the money. Even though they had Trippier, Newcastle mused it was better to move then than wait a year and see his asking price skyrocket.

Newcastle’s season has been full of highs and lows. Beating PSG 4-1 at St James’ Park in their first Champions League game for 20 years, beating Manchester City and Manchester United in the Carabao Cup, thrashing Manchester United and Chelsea at St James’ Park, as well as beating league leaders Arsenal.

 

But the Magpies are currently 10th in the table and travel to holders Manchester City in the quarter-final of the FA Cup staring at another trophyless campaign. Nobody expects them to beat Pep Guardiola’s side on current form.

There have been highs and lows for Livramento too, with one magical memory above all the others.

 

“I don’t really like talking about myself, I’d much rather talk about the team,” he said. “But I’ve played more than I thought I would.

“Physically, I know I can play at Champions League and Premier League level. I’ve done it against Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé. I wasn’t in the least bit daunted by those names, there was no fear.

“You worry about the name and they’re going to do what they want in the game. To be out injured, worried you’re not going to play again and then fast forward I’m in Paris playing in the Champions League.

“But the best moment wasn’t scoring my first goal [against Wolves] or even playing in the Champions League. The best moment was Manchester United away. The noise of the [Newcastle] fans for the whole game and going up at the end of the game to applaud them and seeing my dad in the crowd, that was the moment.”

 

 

The low point came against PSG. With the number of injured players out into double figures, Newcastle led 1-0, knowing a win would have almost guaranteed at least a place in the Europa League, if not the knockout rounds of the Champions League. It was Livramento who was judged to have handled the ball, late in stoppage time, with Mbappé converting from the spot. The referee initially waved away the appeals before being advised to change his mind by the VAR. It was a hugely contentious decision.

‘No way that is handball’ 

“When they appealed I was laughing,” Liveramento remembered. “I was thinking there is no way that is handball. Even when the referee went to look at the screen, I was thinking no way is he going to give this. I was ready for the game to restart.

“It wasn’t a penalty, anyone who has played the game knows it wasn’t a penalty. It was given. If we had won that game our season would have looked very different.

“It’s not something I’ve talked about before. I’ve not watched it back, I was running, the ball bounced off my chest and brushed the top of my arm as it fell. That’s it. As much as people reassured me, I felt terrible.”

 

 

Looking back, that was a huge turning point in Newcastle’s season. Two weeks later they lost at home to AC Milan, chasing a winning goal to finish second in the group and ended up out of Europe completely. A few days later, still ravaged by injuries, they lost to Chelsea in the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup when they had led 1-0 with 90 seconds of injury time left to play.

Newcastle travel to the Etihad this weekend more in hope than expectation, but Livramento does not entertain any negative talk.

“We’ve beaten them once this season,” he said. “We’ve not had much luck with cup draws. We know what this game means. Win and we are going to Wembley. I came here to win a trophy and that is what I intend to do. Why not the FA Cup?”

 

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gjohnson

gjohnson

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On 15/03/2024 at 12:50, The Prophet said:

Blimey, Luke seems to have been doing actual journalism of late.

Only if journalism extends to why having the same name as someone doesn't make you the same as them

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Ginola14

Ginola14

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if true he's injured then it may explain why Howe has been using him so sparingly this season, trying to protect him and build him up slowly after serious ACL injury 

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nufcjmc

nufcjmc

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In the article he says he's playing more than he thought I wonder if that's because he knows he needs to drop trippier for him or is it what Howe told him when he was bought. 

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wormy

wormy

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8 minutes ago, gjohnson said:

Only if journalism extends to why having the same name as someone doesn't make you the same as them

 

How else are we to be sure that they're not relatives? 

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Elliottman

Elliottman

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4 minutes ago, Ginola14 said:

if true he's injured then it may explain why Howe has been using him so sparingly this season, trying to protect him and build him up slowly after serious ACL injury 


Howe has said as much to be fair, think that was always the plan. 

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madras

madras

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Just now, Elliottman said:


Howe has said as much to be fair, think that was always the plan. 

Didn't Tino say he played more than he thought he would ?

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Yorkie

Yorkie

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9 minutes ago, Ginola14 said:

if true he's injured then it may explain why Howe has been using him so sparingly this season, trying to protect him and build him up slowly after serious ACL injury 

 

That's been the case from the word go. 

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