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 »

Team news first

Gaetano Berardi has an injury which is not a simple, an easy one.

And Barry Douglas will play Monday with the u23s.

From Monday on he will be available.

On Berardi's injury

You have sometimes injuries provoked by an external pressure, hyper-extension.

He received an external pressure on the corner and he had to extend his muscle more than he could.

How pleased were you with how Alioski and Harrison worked together on Wednesday?

I don’t think I would put the same players in the same positions tomorrow, at least not at the beginning.

Because of the opposition?

I haven;t taken my decision yet, but Alioski will probably play as a winger.

How close are Pearce and Forshaw to starting?

We have a small group and all the players are close to being starters, including Pearce and Forshaw.

Is Saiz in a period of frustration with his performances at the moment?

The game against Blackburn was an acceptable one.

Saiz got many balls close to the opponent’s box and this is his main skill.

In the last game against Ipswich he had less contact with the ball. It was a closed game and harder for the creative players.

Anyways, having said that, the first goal we scored is due to the fact that he could avoid the pressure at the beginning of the action.

Forest have the worst record in the fair play table - will it be a physical game?

From what I’ve seen of the opponent, they have good players in the midfield and attack. We see that it’s a team that has developed very well it’s system of play.

And it didn’t appear to me that it’s a violent team.

On the contrary I think it’s a team with a lot of enthusiasm and good play but you’re giving us evidence that we didn’t know.

It's just a stat - interesting to see if that has an impact on your preparation for the game

Many time we get misled by statistics. But we shouldn’t think that this kind of statistic be misleading.

Because any sanction taken by the referee deserves the action. But I didn’t observe that.
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

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How do you assess the progress 14 games in, with about a third of the season played?

After the game against MIddlesbrough, Tony Pulis, he’s a wise man, he knows a lot about the Championship, and he told me that it was very hard to keep the regularity of the team in the Championship. We are an example of that. Because we can’t impose our style all of the time.

The level of the team is the same one but the players have ups and down. Even if we play 30 per cent of the Championship so far, we want to take into consideration teh regularity of the team, the time we’ve had so far is not enough.

I’m not sure yet that we’ll play all the games with the same level. And at the same time I’m not sure that we’ll play with the same level at 90 minutes. To be trustworthy for us when we make an analysis we still have to work a lot on this to get the features of the big teams. And I’m not talking about the beauty of the style. I’m talking about maintaining the same consistency. It’s hard to play well and when you play well it’s always easier to make differences with the opponent.

But the strong teams can neutralise the opponent even when they don’t play well.

So we can sum up this with a contradictory sentence, which would be: It’s not easy to play bad.

How much does being top and the team to catch mean?

It’s a misleading position. It’s a misleading leading position. The leader is the team that has most points and it doesn’t mean that you are the best team.

The best team is the team that has more points at the end of the Championship.

How long will Berardi be out.

Not yet - but it won’t be a short absence.
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

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Does the Ipswich result mean the club is out of the 'bad moment'?

In order to talk about a positive or negative cycle we need more games. When you win four games in the first five game, you learn something. But when you win 2 games out of 8 it doesn’t mean the same. So I hope we will be able to build a lasting positive cycle with wins. A win is always a first step.

Thats it from MB today.
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

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It was a game where you had lots of possession, there was a bit of controversy, but was it a fair result?

I think it was an unfair result. Because all of the elements you take on the opinion on the justice of a game, if we don't make any analysis, the only thing that matters is the numbers. All the other arguments you have about the game, I think we solved them in our favour, for us.
All the other aspects of the game were in our favour. We ran a lot, we had the ball, we had possession, we attacked the whole game, we didn’t concede any chances to the opponent and we missed 10 goals. I don’t know if these arguments are right ones or are wrong one, but that’s what we saw.

Are you concerned about how you're conceding from set-pieces and corners lately?

Yes, of course. We also controlled the episodes of the game. I think apart from the goal and maybe one more action, the opponent didn’t create anymore danger against us. If I am right we had five chances to score in each half and we attacked the whole game. We attacked well. I have no criticism to say to our team. What kind of criticism could I make to my team?

It was controversial at the end when you equalised, what was your opinion of it? Was it a handball goal?

From where I was I didn’t see a handball. I imagine the referee didn’t see it either, if you say that there was a handball, but if it was a legitimate goal I wouldn’t be satisfied that they accepted the goal, but the global analysis, the general analysis I made is valid.

How pleased are you that again your player scored a late goal and avoided defeat?

I can’t say anything else apart from what I said now. I think the draw is not enough to give the award the team deserves. I also have admiration for the noble character of the opponent. Because they might have wasted time in an exaggerated manner, but they were not violent. Every time they recovered the ball they tried to play.
The opponent had in the other team the vast majority of the players are of a good technically. I think that the features of the opponent gives merit to our performance. I don’t celebrate a draw because for me, when we play at home with 35,000 fans, the draw is not enough.
Our performance was good, especially taking into account the features of the opponent, because the opponent is one of the good teams of the Championship. In my opinion it was a beautiful game.

How serious does Luke Ayling's injury look at this stage?

I think it's an important injury.

How much of a frustration is it for you having to make so many changes at the full-back positions?

It’s not a bad frustration because the players at full-back play because of the needs of the game, not because some of them did or didn’t play well. I was positively impressed by Dallas, who, as a left-back, had a regular performance. When he played as a right-back he played very well, he had a very important performance.
And the details also about the mistakes I made because there is such a difference between his performance as right-back and left-back. I didn’t help him, making him play in this position. I don’t know if you saw the same thing I saw. He had a normal performance at left-back and when he played at right-back he looked very good.
Is there a reason why tonight you preferred Stuart and the left to, say, Tom Pearce?

In the last game, when Dallas came he had a very good performance, as a right-back. It was hard for me to take the decision not to put him in the team.

If a player scores with his hand, is that cheating?

I can’t judge the action because I haven’t seen it. If we talk about what is legal and illegal, we also have to talk about the intentions of the act. This field is at the limit of the border. To say that a player cheated we need more to be certain about things. I never think a violation of the rules is something we should praise, but I never judge with such manner the behaviour of a player. But I can tell you I haven’t seen the action. If a player goes towards the ball to score a goal and he doesn't arrive and he sees he's going to lose the ball, if he puts the hand from instincts, it's cheating.

Pontus Jansson was seen throwing punches at Michael Dawson. Did you see the incident?

You're asking me a question and you already have the answer.

Did Marcelo see it?

No.
Do you think Pontus is too emotional at times?

I don't think so. It's very hard to make an opinion about actions you haven;t seen. What we can say is that it's not good to hit an opponent or to score a goal with a hand. I think these are unnecessary questions, because how can someone say it's good to do that? The instincts that are reactions that don't go through a mental process, you take decisions and sometimes you don't think about it. And the control of the emotions is something that makes the difference between a normal person and the normal reactions but in football excesses are so common, not because the football players are savages, it's because they are undergoing a stress that is so high and it's not because it's professional because they always control very well their emotions.

When you show to a football player something is wrong that he did, he's not happy about it. He's not proud about it, he feels guilty and many times he says 'I don't know why I did that'. Now you have players who always repeat the same mistakes, maybe you can make an opinion about it.

Who scored with the hand?

Kemar Roofe.

I don't think that Kemar Roofe is a player who is not loyal. If you have a look at his history you will reach the same conclusion. And I don't think that Jansson is a violent player. I'd rather say the opposite. And when you don't have an accumulation of behaviours you can't condemn a player.

Why did Samu Saiz not start tonight's match?

Because I thought that the association between Forshaw and Klich could give us agility in the building of offensive play.

Were you pleased with what you saw from Adam Forshaw in his first start of the season so far tonight?

Very good. He's a player who compared himself very well to play the game he played today. It's as if he didn't need to play many games to play as he did today. This tells you how prepared he was. He didn't prepare himself with games, he did it in training sessions.

Is Jack Harrison ok? He wasn't in the squad tonight?

Yes.
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

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Team news - will Douglas play?

Yes.

What does Douglas bring that other left-backs at the club don't?

I don’t make a comparison, but I can tell you what Douglas gives.

You’re familiar with his skills, but I’ll tell you anyway. He has a very good left foot, especially for set pieces and crosses from the side.

His inside pass is very good and the associated play, he combines very well with his team-mates. He’s an experienced player. Usually he always has a level of performance, a minimum which is very good and then a level which is higher.

On the right side you have an issue - is Stuart Dallas a natural right back?

He will play as a full-back.

He has a very important contribution to the offensive play.

He has a very good first pass. He is a dynamic player and adapts very well to the style of play.

Saiz didn;t play - what is your approach for players who come out of the team?

Samu Saiz is a great player.

He is the player who can create the lack of balance that our team needs. He’s the only player in our group who can create this lack of balance.

Taking into account what he did so far this season and what he did last year because I saw the games he played last year too. I’m not making an opinion last year, it’s just I saw how he played last year.

He’s the player who can create the best lack of balance in the offensive sector.

And the most important pass that ended with the goal was by Samu Saiz.

His last pass is the most aggressive one we have and after having praised him like that, you ask me why he doesn’t play.

He’s not playing because he’s going ups and downs and things like this happen in a competition like this.

Sometimes we have to explain why Saiz is not the starter, other we explain why Forshaw is not the starter.

A team needs a lot more than just 11 players.

Are your opponents finding more ways to frustrate your team?

Usually, the teams we are playing against, they don;t behave with the goal of imposing their style to the opponent. The game was created so we can have an opposition, a challenge, regarding a creative aspect. That’s why it’s the most popular sport in the world. Thanks to the aesthetic beauty of the game, it’s the most popular sport in the world.

But then the victory has become more important than the beauty of the game until a certain point the beauty of the game was the shortest path to reach the victory. Now you have different paths, all are inside the rules and you can value them too.

For example, teams can reduce the time of play. They try to increase the time you have aerial balls. Some teams thing it’s more inconvenient not to have the ball than to have the ball. And when you don’t have the ball you only have one goal.

Do you know what that goal when you don’t have the ball is? I asked you the question. THe team that doesn;t have the ball cannot make a mistake. This is the main reason.

Obviously, the goal of the play is to make good things, but now you have another alternative. You don’t want the ball in order to take advantage of the mistake made by the opponent. What is the risk of that?

At the end of the day, the fans will switch to another sport. I’m not a specialist, but in NBA basketball, the rules change towards the goal of avoiding speculation. The rules evolve in order to reduce the importance of speculation. Football authorities, they are working towards the justice regarding the referees, for example the video assistants. What they can’t sanction yet is the fact that teams intentionally try to reduce the time of play. Not because they’re not trying to do it. We have the 6-second goalkeeper rule, indicates clearly that the will of the fan is to see the teams playing. But we have many resources that are allowed by the rules that can get to the point where you can reduce the game. What is the tool that the referee has?

He adds additional time. But if interrupt constantly the time of play it doesn’t constitute if you play ten more minutes, but this time will be segmented too. I’m not complaining. I understand why this process happens. And I have the duty to act to this reality and try to find solutions.

As I’m not a purist, I’m not considering the fact that one time I will chose this. But what’s clear for me is that the fans want to have the team playing and they want to have emotions. They don’t want reduced time and speculation.

I don’t have the capacity to analyse a group as important as the fans.

The football is most of the subject of conversation. But why do I have this opinion regarding the fans?

Because the authorities who need to give an answer to the demands of the fans, because it’s a business, they take measures to fight against speculation adn to increase the emotion.

But at the same time you have the success industry.

When I arrived in England I had the dream, the fantasy that everyone has about English football. Everyone admires the English leagues because they sanction people cheat, speculation and the injustice but I’m asking myself now if this truth has the same importance as before.

Bielsa on that epic answer

I think we should close this now because we have substance to think about! When I say so much I fear I say wrong things.

<To the reporters>

You make self criticisms, it means you are among the best.

What are you expecting from Wigan?

For me the next opponent that I’m playing is always the tough one and I never underestimate.

And I always think the opponent is strong enough to represent an important challenge.

But we always have the hope to win. We just draw at home and it makes it even more important to win an away game.

And on the other side when someone talks so much as I just did, the best thing to avoid the critisim is to win the next game, so we have to win the game.

On Berardi's injury - how long will he be out?

A lot of time. It’s not a simple injury.

I don’t know how to explain it, the level of the tendon, the muscle, went to the other body. The muscle had turned around the tendon.

But I will ask the head of medicine to give you the information because i know I made a mistake explaining it. I’m just repeating what I’ve been told and maybe I’m not presice enough.

Where does that leave you at right-back? is Lewie Coyle coming back an option?

I can’t give you a positive answer, nor a negative one.

What I can tell you is Dallas played well as a left full-back, as did Shackleton.

From January we will have the possibility to get back our four injured players. Berardi, Bamford, Ayling, Brown.

Latest on Izzy Brown?

The fact that he will be able to come inside the group soon is less important than being able to know when he will play with the team. I think he will be able to compete in the new year.

Marcelo's relationship with the fans - including the Halloween costume?

What I can say is people can make caricature of my face. It’s not something that everyone can have. I could be proud of this, being able to be characterised. I’m proud of it.

I say to my Argentine friend that caricature in England is a praise of the personality of the person being chartierised.
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Post by Leonickroberts »

Cheers SL. Loved his rambling response on time-wasting; he really is entertaining in these things.
'When he plays on snow, he doesn't leave any footprints’
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

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You must be happy the players showed character to come from behind to win?

"We should not have conceded the first goal, that’s the problem.

"The fact we scored immediately after neutralised the effects of conceding so quickly though."

Should you have won the game by more goals though?

"If we look at the game: chances to score, possession, chances of the opponents, etc, we were able to play our football and impose our style.

"We had about eight chances to score and scored two. The second goal was a gift."
How important was that win for you?

"It was very important after drawing at home in the last game."
How big a factor was regaining possession quickly today for your side?

"When we have possession it increases our self-esteem because one of our goals is to prevent the opponent on the ball.

"If we can prevent the opponent from making too many passes and recover the ball from the third or fourth pass we feel safer and the opponent loses confidence.

"The opponents couldn’t rely on their attacking players who are usually dangerous."

Are you pleased with the performance overall?

"We were calm in possession. We recovered many balls and protected the ball and the team showed consistency to impose a style.

"When you win only by one goal there is always suspense."
How pleased are you with Barry Douglas' performance today?

"Douglas imposed his experience on his side and Pablo on the right. It’s a lot of experience.

"When they play, these players have the capacity to make players around them play better and this is an important quality.

"Douglas played well and defended well, but importantly he helped with attack.

"Pablo didn’t finish the attacks on the right, but he did push Wigan back on that side."

It must be pleasing to see Leeds United back at the top of the league?

"There are many teams with us at the same level. In order to be first in the Championship we have to make a bigger difference between us and the other teams and we haven’t done that so far.

"We did at the beginning but we stopped doing that. If we want to win the league we have to show more regularity."

Are injuries and the potential of burning out come the end of the season a concern to you?

"We analyse case-by-case.

"We are the team with the least injuries in the Championship. We protect the players.

"If you factor players used by injuries, we are low.

"Muscular injuries are the result of burn-out but that is not the case with our injuries.

"Usually as an average each team when you play twice a week, four players are missing through injury. We are close to this average."
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

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You went to see the U23s this week - did anyone impress you?

I usually do this routine of observing the players of my group and also it concerns the best youngest players. I didn’t go to see any player in particualr, I went to see the whole group.

Were you impressed?

No.

Because of the defeat?

When we have to comment on defeats, if I can avoid commenting I would prefer not to.

How much responsibility do you feel you have to provide entertaining football?

When a team doesn’t get what it deserves sooner or later the fans banish the lack of results.

The lack of tolerance regarding the lack of results is stronger than the lack of tolerance when the style is not beautiful.

The fans that tolerate are more willing to expect to wait for the beauty of the game when they have results.

I think that the commercialisation of football when the clubs are owned by private people the result is more important than anything.

But the most attractive thing in football is the beauty of the game. Those who invest in football should be aware or take precautions to keep the level of the business they bought.

Because when a team plays bad you’ll have less fans willing to watch the game but you have head coaches like Guardiola that can unite both things- beauty and results.

He plays well and wins and he increases the value of the club where he works and the players he has.

But I think it’s the responsibility of all to discuss the importance of the result above the beauty of the game.

I don’t know if the anaology’s good, I’m sure it’s not. It’s disproportionate analogy I’m going to make.

The fact that we are not taking care of the planet, our children will pay the consequence of the acts. And with football it will be the same. Because we are destroinyh football and in the future we will see the negative effects of this.

And those who have power are responsible for it. The head coaches have power, the owners of the club have power, the media have power and the fans have power but they don’t use it.

You can use technology in the dugout this season - what does Marcelo use?

I don’t use any technology.

Nor my coaches. We rely on our memory.

But after 60 years, you lose your memory!

That’s why it’s harder and harder for me every day.

Are West Brom one of the most dangerous sides in terms of goalscoring?

I think the best offensive players of the Championship play in West Bromwich.

They might not have the best player in each position. But if we take, as a whole, No. 15,10,19 and 16, they are the best offensive players.

If we take them as a whole you won’t find another team with players as good as them.
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

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How important will your defensive side be this weekend?

I think the challenge, the exam we’re going to pass this coming Saturday in the defensive segment, this exam we’re going to pass will strengthen our conclusions.

But it’s also very important for us to keep our offensive identity even if we have to take into account the offensive capacity of the opponent.

There is an old sentence which says the best way to defend is to attack. If we want to refresh this sentence and if we want to give importance to the value of possession in order to attack you need to have the ball. SO we will try to have the ball and in order to strengthen this concept it’s important to prevent the opponent from counter attacking. Because possession is important only if you prevent the opponent from counter attacking.

How much thought have given to the transfer window?

It will be very hard to add new players. But we will have four more players coming in January, Bamford, Brown, Berardi and Ayling.

Is that enough?

Yes. It’s only my opinion. The club can have a different opinion and I will take that into account.

Will you watch Boca Juniors vs River Plate? What is it like to be involved in a game like that?

It’s the dream game. Everyone dreams of this kind of game.

Because you have the aspiration of winning this game. In this kind of game you emotions that you want to leave.

Happy memories from the competition when you reached the final in 1992?

Yes, but it was a long time ago. And we have two possible points of view. For those who are from Newell’s Old Boys, it’s an unforgettable memory.

And from those who analyse my career say the last time I won was a long time ago.

Any other team news?

No.

Final question is on the international break

Bielsa says the club will be working on getting everyone fit, with a game taking place between the first-team squad and the under-23s.
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

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After the West Brom defeat, has it been a long two weeks? What lessons can you take from that game?

Obviously the defeat against West Bromwich was an injury that we had to heal.

We went through this process and you end the process when you have the next game coming up.

At the beginning the next game was not close, not near and then when the next game is coming you have the hope of playing the next game soon, you forget a little but the defeat against West Brom.

But of course we had to draw the conclusions regarding the mistakes we made in the last game.

What did you say to the players?

We talked about the impact that the mistake we made had on the final result and allowing the opponent to score four goals.

Is the break a good way for players to recharge their batteries, given your style of play?

Now until the the end of December we are facing nine games. We play every three or four days, that’s why the player had four days off. It was a necessary pause that they needed.

Obviously I’m talking about the players who are not international ones.

Did Marcelo enjoy the break himself?

No, I never enjoy the time after losing a game.

Blackman injury - how important is it and is signing a new keeper a priority in January?

Blackman was going to be the starter in this coming game.

I’m very sad for him because of what happened to him. Because he’s a great human being a great person, a great goalkeeper. He did a huge effort to do what we asked him to do.

To give you an example, he lost 12 kilos. This indicates his level of application as a professional. And he was a great team-mate for the other players and for us as staff.

When he won the opportunity to start a game, he got injured. Of course I’m sad for the team, the club, but I’m especially sad for him because the destiny is unfair for him.

How close is Izzy Brown to the first team? Are you happy with your striking options?

Izzy Brown hasn’t played in the last year.

So now he’s well. He has to be well to start now, to train as a footballer. But now I don’t know how long it will take for him to find his level again. Depends on his capacity to adapt.

And it depends on his capacity to be a member of the team but we can’t ignore the fact that a player who hasn't played a game in the last year, we can’t expect him to resolve his lack of activity in a short time.

How do you feel in the club and in the city?

I’m very happy to be in this club.

I’m happy with the players I have. I’m very happy with the human quality and the football quality of my players. I’m satisfied to with the project we are building. We share the same goals with the club.

To give you an example, taking care of the infrastructures is very important to me and to the club.

I’m a worker of the club and I receive a lot of collaboration from the other workers of the club and this is very important for the work I am doing.

Regarding the city, the contact I have with the assistants during the game, everytime we play at Elland Road we receive massive support from the fans and it’s very generous from them.

Leeds is a beautiful city, but I don’t have a lot of time to enjoy it. And for me the most important thing of a city is the people who live in a city and the fans, the support I receive from the fans tells everything.

Is Jansson fit for the weekend?

I think he won’t be available for this weekend.

We he be out for a little while?

Until yesterday we thought he would be available but now the game is getting closer I don’t have the same optimism.

He didn’t train with the group, so it's not probable he will play.
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