MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Leeds United news here, transfer rumours, club affairs, players, fans, etc.
Specific match discussions should go in the category below.
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Post by SCOTTISH LEEDS »

Five wins - Villa biggest test?

It’s the last rival we haven’t played against. It’s a team with a very significant offensive strength. They are good in the collective play and they are good with their individual players. They also have many good players. If we take into account these aspects, they have very similar aspects to West Bromwich.

Christmas approach - rotation?

We’ll see the affects on each player and take decisions after that. We’ll take into account the fatigue.

First Christmas in England - what will it look like for you and players?

It’s a tradition in England. It’s something common. It’s something exceptional for other countries, but common here. When you play two games per week in two weeks it’s similar to other moments in the competition.

The fact this happens during Christmas and New Year period, it will be more demanding regarding professionalism, but it’s not exaggerated. It belongs to the folklore of English football and it belongs to the football culture of this country.

January plans

The possibility of strengthening the team is hypothetical, it’s not concrete or clear. There are some clear facts, For example, we have less players than at the beginning of the season. To add players to the team increasing the level of the team is not easy. If we find players better than those who left it will be a good addition to the team.

It’s only a possibility, for now.

Need to replace Saiz?

The answer I just gave includes the answer to your question. If player arrives he has to have a better level than the player we already have. We also have to consider his adaptation to the competition and his new team. We have many hypotheses on that, so I can’t give you a clear answer.

The clear facts are we have less players than six months ago. If a player arrives it would mean he is better than the players we already have.

Villa a serious rival at the top?

The important thing for this competition is who is getting promoted and who is struggling to get promoted. As it is a long competition, and as you have many possibilities because you have six teams able to go up, any conclusion will be a premature one.

I see every time I’m asked the same question in a different way, but unfortunately I can’t give you a different answer. Imagine if I had to give you an answer with a level of certainty in the answer. For any lucid observer it would be an act of irresponsibility. We only played half of the games. If you ask me if Villa has players to get promoted, my answer is yes. Do they have the structure to go up? Yes. Do they have a brilliant head coach? Of course. You have more than six teams with good players, good head coach and good structure.

We are sure among all these teams with the capacity for promotion, they won’t give the answer observers expect. We can’t draw conclusions now, we have to wait until the end. That’s why it’s very difficult to give a serious answer.

Fifteen-point gap would be significant for Villa though

The other day I was told when Middlesbrough got promoted they had a 12-point difference and they lost it. I’ve just been told this otherwise I would say you can’t lose 15 points, but the team that got promoted lost 12 points.

Eleven points from a losing position - what has changed for that stat this season?

To be able to make differences and comparison I would have to know what happened in the previous seasons. What I see is we have a group of players who are very capable, involved in the project - with the institution, involved with the public. I corrected the word project because this group of players would follow any kind of project.

The identification of the players with the team, with the city and with the fans is more important than the project. There is a mix between the team and professionalism. They are professionals, so they can do their job seriously. They have a dose of amateur because of the affection they have with what they are doing. It’s not only they do their job, it’s the feelings towards what they are doing.

In ways, it’s never good to analyse a group when they are at the top level. The good thing is we can say exactly what we just said in a moment of adversity.

Halfway point - reflections

The players have, almost all of them, have Championship experience. The process of adaptation is only for the youngsters because the new players like Bamford, Douglas and Forshaw come from the Championship.

Honestly, my intention was very natural because I consider when you have noble opponents with good intentions, when you have referees without considering they can make mistakes and take quick decisions, impartial referees, when you have an impeccable organisation, when you have high quality pitches and when you have all these ingredients, all competitions are similar, the only challenge is to propose your style.

That’s why I haven’t had any difficulties to adapt.

Expected greater challenge in imposing style?

This experience is similar to the previous ones I had as a head coach. You know we have a sentence that says you have to play according to the qualities of the players you have. I have never had to be the head coach of a group that prevented me from developing my ideas. That’s why I have some doubts regarding this concept. Players are a condition for the style. The role of the head coach is to convince and you can’t convince if you don’t believe in what you are saying. That’s why it’s very hard for a head coach to change his manner of conceiving the game, it’s more credible to think you can develop your ideas regardless of the features of the players. Let me moderate my comment. You don’t have players, probably, that prevent a head coach from developing his ideas. Maybe the weakest teams of a Championship, don’t have the quality of the other teams, but if we take the average, we can draw this kind of opinion.

Bielsa on Saiz exit

Regarding Saiz I gave my opinion by the time I gave his as a player. I think he played 80% of the competition. He left the club being a starter, he missed four or five games and when he left our midfield was Forshaw, Klich and Saiz. So I have to be very careful. We see he was a player who had a lot of value for me. I can't say that it doesn't matter if he left because you would tell me then why did he play 80% of the games? Which is my first point. My second point is I didn't ask Samu Saiz to leave. I never talked to him about his desire to leave the club. In the club there are people I trust very much that evaluated the situation. They took the decision that they thought was the right one.
We have a group of 18 players and he was one of them. When you put limitations to the number of the players we can't say happily that it doesn't matter when one of the 18 leaves. Of course we are in conditions to find a solution. We also assume the fact that we can't rely on him anymore.
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

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Saiz opinion

I gave my opinion by the time I gave him as a player. He played 80 per cent of the competition. He left the club being a starter. He missed, I don’t remember, four or five games, and when he left our midfield was Forshaw, Klich and Saiz. I have to be very careful. He was a player that had a lot of value for me.

I can’t say it doesn’t matter he left because you would tell me ‘why, then he played 80 per cent of the games.’ This is my first point. Second point is I didn’t ask Samu Saiz to leave. I never talked about him, regarding his desire to leave the club. In the club there are people I trust very much who evaluated the situation. They took the decision they thought was the right one. I don’t agree and I don’t disagree with the decision taken.

What I can’t tell is I asked Saiz to leave, I made it easier and it doesn’t matter because we have a group of 18 players and he was one of the 18 players. When you put limitations to the number of players you can’t say it doesn’t matter if one of them goes. Of course, we are in conversations to find a solution he has left. We assume we can’t rely on him anymore and we must find a solution. As I want to be ????? - it matters to me what people think of my job. I can’t say I made it easier for Saiz to leave and I can’t say it doesn’t matter he left and I have never talked to Samu about his departure.

Let’s remember he left the team being a starter in the team. I don’t have to underline this, but if you start or are in the 18 it’s the same thing because if you take the stats you have four or five always missing.

At the same time, honestly, I trust absolutely the persons who take these decisions in the club I don’t take. These arguments I’m giving you, those who ntake these decisions, took them into account, but taking into account arguments doesn’t mean you impose the arguments.

For me, it’s easier not to deal with this situation because it’s difficult to solve. What I can’t tell is I made it easier or I don’t care if he left or not. I say that because we have a responsibility to the people who make opinions on our decisions. I can’t say he left and I don’t care. I talked a lot about this, but I only said three things. I didn’t make it easier for Samu Saiz to leave, a head coach can’t say he doesn’t care when this player played 80 per cent of the games and he was a starter and one of the 18 players, and it was difficult situation to solve. I have absolute trust in those who made the decision. I am sure they know my arguments and with optimism we think we can find a solution to his absence.

Brown update

He has a problem that will take three or four weeks to solve. I’m disappointed and sad this happened. It’s very common, frequent players who didn’t play for a long time have more problems. I see he is strong mentally with a lot of enthusiasm.

Ayling back

May start this weekend.

Bielsa Rhapsody

I am thankful. It’s very important, for me, the feeling for the club. They give me an importance honestly I don’t deserve.

Cult figure - kids' costumes, horse names - does he know?

What do you want me to tell you?

[Is he aware of his status?]

Affection is the maximum aspiration for a human being, when you receive affection it’s something you are very thankful for. We have to be very careful when we see the reasons for this affection.

In this case I don’t deserve the recognition I am getting. If I give you this answer I feel ill at ease and if I don’t answer to you you wouldn’t accept it. I have the obligation to tell you.

There is no excuse to look forward to the future with the same optimism as before. I spent 10 minutes telling you this, but I didn’t say these last five things.
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

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Congratulations on the win, Marcelo. How proud are you of your performance and of your players?

We were very ambitious. We made many efforts. We played versus a team very strong from an offensive point of view and could neutralise them in some way. Apart from the first 15 minutes of both halves, the rest of the time, we were well.

Once again you had to start with a bit of adversity, Lief Davis had to play and no Patrick Bamford. Can you tell us happened to Barry Douglas and Patrick Bamford?

Patrick Bamford yesterday, during the training session when he jumped to head the ball he fell down and he felt something in his knee, but we think it’s not a serious injury.

As it is not a serious injury we think he will come back a lot faster than the previous one.

In the next day we will know when he will come back.

Barry Douglas during the warm up, he felt weak. He did the effort to try to play. He told us that he was not feeling very well and I took the decision not to put him in the team.

Bearing in mind all these difficulties, you are top of the league halfway through the season. What is there to fear now in terms of not completing the job and achieving promotion?

We still have to play the same amount of games we have just played. And you know that in football you can’t make any provision and you can't anticipate.

That’s why we will try to win the games one-by-one when they come.

Have you got any other concerns ahead of the Blackburn game on Boxing Day?

We’ll see how Bamford, Douglas and Tyler Roberts for the next game because these are the players we couldn’t include in the group for the game of today.
How impressed by the performance Jack Clarke in the second half today?

He was very important because he scored the first goal and he gave enthusiasm to the team. And we always felt that he had the capacity to make a difference on his side.

You've seen a lot of players over the years - how talented do you think he is?

When I started to look at his skills I didn’t imagine that he could make the difference as he's making the difference now.

As every young player, I think he can improve a lot, but at the same time he has to confirm his level and he has to show what he’s capable of.

We know that a feature of big players is to maintain the same level of performance. He’s a young player and I think we have to manage his time of play, at least that’s my opinion, and if we build an image which is an exaggerated one of his capabilities, instead of helping him, we will be hurting him.

Do you think he is not yet ready to start a game, or has he reached that point now?

I think that playing as a substitute, he has shown his capacity to make the difference during the games.

We will have to evaluate if it’s convenient or not for him to start the games. With young players when they make a good performance they generate positive comments and at the same time when they don't generate a good performance they create deception.

That’s why we have to manage his development as a player.

Every side at the top has to have a player who scores goals and Kemar Roofe has 11 now. What are you thoughts on him and what were your thoughts when that goal went in?

The goal he scored at the end of the game, everyone thought it was going to be a draw but the team kept its ambition. When you score goals that define the final result, emotions prevent any kind of analysis.

We were all overwhelmingly happy, maybe too much.

When you came to Leeds you spoke about having to use your academy. Six of your seven original substitutes were academy players today. Did you think you'd have to utilise the academy as much as you have done up to now?

We received a lot of support from the academy of Leeds. Today, Jack Clarke, Leif Davis and Jamie Shackleton played with a level that is not common for young players. I didn’t know this stadium here, but here in this stadium we feel who is playing a home game and who is playing an away game. And these three players assimilated naturally the atmosphere of the game.

Sometimes we think that the 18 most experienced players are going to play more, but unexpected things allowed these young players who have been involved in the first-team for many months. And the experienced players accepted the young players, helped them, integrated them and this help a lot for a young player when he goes into the first team.

Marcelo, what did you mean when you said you were 'overwhelmingly happy, maybe too happy'?

Because it’s not common to change a game by starting losing 2-0 and by winning 3-2.

And it’s not common that the game is defined at the last minute. Everytime that a team scores in the last minute, the happiness is bigger than in other moments, because usually the goal defines the final moments.

We were satisfied with the draw and we felt a lot euphoria when we won the game.

Marcelo, the team who has been top at Christmas has gone on to win promotion in each of the last ten years - what's your take on that?

I hope we won’t be the exception.

You know that all rules have exceptions. That’s why we will take precautions,
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

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How is your heart after that? We're all having heart attacks!

When you change the destiny of the game in the last seconds you have to take into account the hazard. It's a little bit absurd to describe it like that because we deserved to win the game maybe in another manner.

So winning the game as we won it today, we will now analyse it, but we couldn’t say that it was unfair to win this game because we did all that needed to be done to win the game

Were you very pleased with the performance or did any parts frustrate you today?

We needed to have more impact in the first-half.

And in the second half we didn’t defend as well as in the first half.

In the first half it was clear that we deserved to win by more than two goals of difference.

And in the second half we deserved to win the game but we could have lost the game.

Because the feeling of danger in our goal was higher in the second half than it was in the first half.

When will Tyler Roberts and Patrick Bamford be back?

I am not sure.

Roberts will be back before Bamford.

Could it be a little while? Not the next game, new year?

Tyler Roberts might be with us in the next game and I think Patrick Bamford will be with us at the beginning of January.

What do you think about the spirit of your players having come back twice in the 90th minute?

They were two different games.

Before the game versus Aston Villa we could have thought that it was an opponent which has the same level of performance as us.

And before playing the game of today the opponent had a level of performance that was different to that of Aston Villa. Even if in the first game against us they won by a difference but before the game of today, the two teams were both having different sporting moments.

Even if the two wins look alike, the feeling after the game against Aston Villa is different than the feeling we have today.

Because today we had the obligation to win and it was not necessarily the case against Aston Villa.

How important are the points you've picked up at the end of these two games?

They are very important points because it's a league where you don't win easily a game.

We have a question about the game of today because we deserved to win the game but the outcome was different than what we build during the game. We won the game in a different way to what we usually do.

If the score after the first half had been 2-0 and it would have extended the domination during the second half it would have been a conclusion that we wanted to reach if it happened like that. But then after the first half we didn't imagine that the end of the second half was going to be like that.

That's seven wins in a row. Do you feel you you taking control of the Championship?

No. Not at all.
Why not?

It doesn’t matter what is the ranking of the team, it’s very hard to win against any team. We can’t say we are clearly superior to the opponent when we play. And it's very hard for us to impose our style.
Pablo Hernandez played centrally again today - do you see him playing longer-term now Samu Saiz has gone?

Pablo is giving things that we need to build our offensive play. Because he can put the ball in the zones of the pitch where it is easier for us to finish the action and it's a very specific knowledge in football. You don't teach this kind of knowledge.

Some players learn how to do that with the experience if they have it naturally.

Will you be looking to bring a replacement for Saiz in January?

Usually I don't talk about hypothetical situations. I'd rather prefer to talk about facts when they actually become facts. And I prefer not to talk about things that I'm not sure.

You've managed in some huge games, with huge clubs - how did you find the noise at the end?

It was moving for all of us. In football you can have emotions that can reach a high level and that’s why nothing is comparable to football regarding emotions.

It's the second game Kemar Roofe has scored late in - what are your thoughts on him compared to other strikers you've worked with?

The strikers, when they score goals become better, they improve.

So the facts offer the answer to your questions.
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

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Marcelo, it wasn’t your day. Do you feel as though you deserved something of a result after that performance?

The performance of the team and the kind of game we played were not particularly different from the other games we played. Usually, we have three times more chances to score than the opponent and we dominate the game usually.

The game of today was not different, in that sense, from the other games. Maybe we should have used more mid-distance shots today. Our play on the sides was similar to what we usually do in attack.

Our play in the middle, from the centre, put us in good conditions to shoot from outside the box. In that sense we didn’t create as much danger as we could have created from the situations we had.

Was there a problem, today more so than other days, with the passing? Was that something that frustrated you today? You seemed to give a lot more passes away.

The wrong pass we made, the pass that were blocked: we did them when we starting the playing out. They were horizontal passes. That prevents possession from becoming an offensive action.

In the offensive play I didn’t see a lack of precision than usually. Maybe we should have played faster from the reception of the ball to the next pass. Today, there was a time between the reception of the ball and the next pass.

Do you think Patrick Bamford or Liam Cooper might be available for Nottingham Forest on New Year’s Day?

No.

Did the defending disappoint for you the goals today, the way the goals were conceded?

In the first goal it’s not because the opponent had a skill we couldn’t neutralise, but I don’t see, either, any mistake I could criticise.

In the second goal, the support of [Ezgjan] Alioski didn’t have a positive result. The opponent could create a legitimate danger. Usually, number 14 [Kamil Grosicki] and the other winger [Jarrod Bowen], that are the most important players of the opponent.

We had reached a double mark on them. These two players were not only marked by one player, but we also had another player helping these players.

Until the second goal, this way of neutralising the wingers worked pretty well. Anyway, the opponent scored two goals and they could have scored a third one, but I don’t think we played bad defensively.

We had eight or nine chances to score and it was not a high number if we take into account the percentage of possession we had. It’s fair to say it’s not the same when you have to attack with 40 metres of free space, which was what the opponent had at its disposal.

The opponent had good attacking big spaces and, in our case, we had to attack in small spaces with eight players plus the goalkeeper. I think the opponent was not bad, was good.

The main feature was to defend of the opponent, but we couldn’t say it was hard for us to attack because when they recovered the ball they tried to play too. For a team that wants to attack it’s good because if you recover the ball, in this case, you can find the opponent is not organised yet.

Hull City didn't try to play when they had the ball, it was not like when they recovered the ball, they cleared the ball and stayed in defence. They tried to play.

It’s not the first time we’ve seen Jack Harrison substituted at half-time. Do you feel you’re getting enough from Jack? Do you feel this is working out for him as you’d hoped?

In the first half, Jack Harrison did good things. It’s a good thing he shares the game with Jack Clarke. The performance of Harrison is the performance of a starter player and that the one of Jack Clarke also.

You could also understand your question as maybe Clarke should play more than 45 minutes. Both players are giving good things to the team. Sometimes I look at features and the weaknesses of the opponent and I think about the skills of Jack Clarke and Jack Harrison and I take decisions, but it doesn’t mean I always take the right decision. These are the aspects I take into account.

You have another game coming very quickly on Tuesday. How do you feel the players are coping, mentally and physically, with this run of games? Will you make changes?

Until now the team gave a positive response. We run enough and we imposed, we dominated the game because when you don’t dominate the game you make less effort. Until now, the tolerance from the players regarding the necessities of the game was good. Anyway, the fourth game we’re going to play is going to be the most demanding one because we already played several games of 90 minutes.

What are the main features of this Championship compared to other competitions you worked in?

The main features of the Championship is the intensity and the similar level between the teams.
You’ve been working here for several months and the fans express their affection to you. Do you see any comparison with what happened in Chile when you worked there?

I have been working here for just some months and in Chile I worked four years. For now, I couldn’t compare both experiences.

Do you expect this to be a temporary blip, to get back to winning ways very quickly? To get a reaction from your team?

Of course, our expectation is to have a positive result next Tuesday.
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

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Your first look at the FA Cup...

It’s a known competition of English football.

And for those who have been watching English football, they know about the FA Cup, they know what it’s about.

Every episode of football this country proposes, I have many expediencies about.

How much will you respect the competition?

The evaluation of each football player allows you to build the team.

I’m going to give you some arguments I use to build the team.

We have players that are not usually starters but they deserve to be starters. So I take these players into account for the competition.

You also have players who are starters but they need to play too.

You also have players who prefer to play rather than rest.

These arguments are the ones I take into account to build the starting XI.

Is it the coach's absolute right to pick who he wants in this competition?

What do you mean absolute right? Who could I share this with?

There are certain competitions that state you have to play certain players?

I understand.

In my point of view it doesn’t mean that someone having a different position will be a wrong one.

I don’t need to be obliged to respect the game, each game we play.

Before starting the season I know what is the calendar of the team. So we draw plans to play all the competitions. I never underestimate an official competition.

It’s among the compromises of the team. The FA Cup has a history, I don’t have to make any summary of it and of course I will respect this competition. Either if the rules oblige me to respect the competition or not, I will respect it.

Any injury news?

I’m going to tell you my idea for this game.

Farrell will start. Shackleton will play as right-back. He’s an important player. Halme will play.

Because Jansson will train normally from Monday on.

Ayling will play too because he needs to play, because Phillips is injured (?). Cooper will play with under-23 on Monday. Davis will play too. Because Douglas is injured and it’s a player who is going to be missing for a while. It’s a muscular injury. Not that serious because he could finish the game against Nottingham. He didn’t come out of the game because he was injured.

Adam Forshaw will play as No 4, Baker as 8. Klich has played 36 games, he played all the games we have had and all the international games. I don’t think there is someone in the CHampionship who has played more than him. I think for him to rest is an obligation.

For Pablo it’s also an obligation to rest. Tyler Roberts will play.

And for the three offensive players, Harrison will play as No 9, Clarke on the right and Alioski on the left.

As Patrick Bamford is not present I’m interested in seeing Harrison as a No 9. In the time he played in this position he scored a goal.

The fact that he scored a goal doesn’t mean anything but it’s a possibility we would like to develop.

And it’s also convenient for Kemar Roofe not to play this game.

This is the scenario for today. I’m giving all these details because I don’t want people to think I’m not respecting the competition.

I have many hope for this starting XI. We’ve been working with these players, Halme, Shackleton, Davis for many weeks and it’s a good moment for them to start this game.

As you see for the first time I gave you more information than you asked for.
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

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How long will Douglas be out for?

It’s a muscular injury. The fact that I’m taking into consideration is that he could finish the game. If you have a serious injury you cannot. Sometimes this kind of explanation is more an expression of hope than medical analysis. And as always we will be very careful with the help of our players because we still have five months of competition still to play and we are prepared to solve this absence.

We have Davis who can play as a full-back. Pearce can play also, he is available for this game. Alioski also played several minutes as a full-back. We would have preferred to have Douglas with us but we have solutions for his absence.

Transfer window is open - what's the latest on a goalkeeper?

I don’t think that many players will come in.

And I couldn’t tell you if actually there’s a player who will come or not. If the club can get players who are better than the ones we have to come and in the position where we suffered some injuries, for example Samu Saiz left, Pablo now plays as a playmaker and we need a winger.

The injury of Jamal Blackman has not been covered by another player. These are the two positions that were solved at the start of the competition and now we’re trying to find another one.

We can also say that at the beginning of the season Jack Clarke was not a possibility, but now he is.

If players come, it will be better. And if nobody comes we will finish the season with the players we have and we trust all of the players we have.

From what I know the position of the club is that if we bring a player in, it must improve the club.

Has there been any interest in your players? How important to keep the team together?

I don’t know.

Dallas and Berardi injuries

Gaetano Berardi is well now. We’ll see during the month of January when we can put him inside the team. The process is always the same, like Liam Cooper.

The idea is that he plays with the U23 and then with the first team.

The process of recovery that the medical staff and fitness coach are doing have been always very efficient because the injured player when they come back to the first-team their level of performance is that good that you can’t see they’ve been injured before.

And usually it’s something very difficult to reach. You get this from the medical staff.

That’s why the contribution of the fitness staff has a lot for us.

As you see we’ve had many injuries.

Dallas started to train today. The problem with him is that as it’s a bone we have to wait until it heals and we have to be very careful with the help of their injured players.

You said Phillips had an injury - is he not suspended? Was that lost in translation?

Yes, he has a three game suspension.

Ayling needs to play because he feels he has not reached 100% of his performance. With Phillips suspended and Liam Cooper will play with the U23 before the Championship.

What about Bamford and Brown? Bamford ready for Derby?

Izzy Brown is fit. But he hasn’t played in the last year.

Usually a process for a player like him is to play 4 or 5 games with the U23s before playing in the Championship. That’s why if everything goes well, by mid-February he will be in a position to be in the first team. Because first he has to reach his fitness level. And then he would have to be in competition with Pablo, Roberts, Roofe etc who play in the same position.

Bamford is well. He suffered an injury similar to the one before but not so serious. And we have to take precautions with that. That’s why we won’t accelerate the terms of recovery for Bamford. You have two ways of managing injuries of the players.

The first one is when you take into account the needs of the team or the second one is where you take into account the health of the player and for me I always put first the health of the player and then second the interest of the team. But to explain it clearly, if Roofe doesn’t play and if Patrick Bamford is available, it’s a possibility. But Tyler Roberts is a good alternative to both and we will try to have Harrison as an alternative. These are the ideas, they are not absences that generate problems without solutions. The fact we’ve played many games in a short period makes the other teams have the same unavoidable problems.

I don’t ignore the reality, but it’s a relaity that is a normal one because it’s a horizontal problem because they all have the same one.
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SCOTTISH LEEDS
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Post by SCOTTISH LEEDS »

No inhibition with naming your starting XI so early?

It’s not convenient to give two days before the game the starting XI because between now and Sunday many things could happen. That’s why I don’t usually, because it could change. At this moment all of our opponents know more about is than we do about them. It’s the same for us. And we don’t do it because it’s efficient. We do it because we want to increase the precautions.

When I started to be a head coach we had 3 staff, now we have 15, five times more. It hasn’t made the game better, but there is more work for our profession. That’s why for me to name it or not, it’s not very important.

But I wanted to give it today because the general opinion of my decisions is important to me. I wanted to explain case by case I did not disrespect the competition because the destanataries of the competitions are the fans and they have a link with the shirt and we can’t betray them.

Concerned about rivals signing players this month?

Victor Orta built this team.

Of course I gave my opinion on it but the creator of this team is Victor Orta. This team has a privallaged position in the Championship. Clearly, he was not mistaken. I trust but not because it’s rational trust. I don’t trust just because we work in the same club. I trust his work. And also I trust the support that the president gives to Victor’s decisions. When the club takes decisions, the decisions are mine.

That’s why we have to understand the mechanics. When I say this team was built by Victor Orta, but if this team doesn’t work, I will be responsible. Why do I tell you that? Because when they propose things and I accept, it’s my decision. So I trust Victor and the only parameter is we bring a player only if he adds value to the team, not to give an image of bringing in players. Because many times we take decisions as a response to fans’ demands. We have to listen to the fans demands and we have to give answers according to what is being asked and what does the fan ask? To make this team better and it’s not an easy thing to do, especially during the winter. But even if no-one comes we will have the resources to finish the season.

Why do you trust Victor? What does he bring to his teams?

I trust him because I like the players I have at my disposal. The first time I saw Victor in my life was 5 months ago. It’s not like I’m his friend and I want to say good things about him.

I was telling the players today I have a lot of hope of the game on Sunday. I am looking forward to seeing the team that is going to start, I’m sure they will make us happy, winning. Because if you play well and you don’t win, it doesn’t make any sense and if you win but don’t play well it doesn’t last long.

Any FA Cup memories? Ardiles and Villa for example?

Good question.

Because you expose me to see what I try to say [laughs].

I’m going to tell you the truth. You know that English football is very popular around the world. You know that in England people love their traditions so we have a mix of 2 things.

Everybody wants to watch what you’ve been building throughout the centuries. It’s not a democratic (?) conclusion. I don’t have in mind all the specific moments of English football. My memories recalls Revie, Bobby Charlton. This striker with long hair, short, not very tall, very important number 9 for English football.

<Keegan?>

Yes, Keegan!

I take the name of a former American president and say he was a number 9!

Well that was a very interesting press conference from MB.

Plenty of points to discuss.
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Post by Deleted User 728 »

The first time I saw Victor in my life was 5 months ago. It’s not like I’m his friend and I want to say good things about him.
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Imagine a fly-on-the-wall documentary about his time at the club .. that would be incredible :shh:
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Post by Mickeyzee »

rigger wrote:
The first time I saw Victor in my life was 5 months ago. It’s not like I’m his friend and I want to say good things about him.
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Imagine a fly-on-the-wall documentary about his time at the club .. that would be incredible :shh:

I would pay top doller to see that!
It's only a game love?! Shut up you daft woman....
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