Page 17 of 27

Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Posted: 27 Feb 2019, 15:54
by Davycc
rigger wrote:
I've heard on a couple of podcasts this week that "spygate" affected the whole club and is the real reason for our current malaise.
Personally, I think that's BS and just lazy journalism. If you actually watch our games, it's clear we're lacking a killer instinct in the box and our strikers are low on confidence.
Everything else is fine.
Our goalkeeper looks a superstar too, btw ..
As has been mentioned I think once Bamford and Roberts get on the score sheet they'll get their confidence back and start scoring more. I just hope that happens with enough time to make a difference.

Oh and can we try a shot every now and again. Douglas skied one last night but at least he had a pop.

Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Posted: 27 Feb 2019, 17:11
by Costy
I've noticed that our shootng from around the edge of the box is absolutely abysmal. Being able to hit a ball well and accurately is an important skill which can get you out of jail in tight games, and we don't seem to have it.

Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Posted: 28 Feb 2019, 13:00
by SCOTTISH LEEDS
West Brom's threat

It;s another kind of opponent. An opponent that will play against us and this rival has the same conditions as us.

What are West Brom's strengths?

West Brom’s main skills are the quantity and quality of the offensive players.

What did you learn from the defeat in November? Or is this a different game?

It’s difficult to say if it’s going to be a smiliar game. Hopefully we will have another result and we will try to be better than the opponent. That was not the case in the first game.

How important is home advantage?

All the games are important, this one as well, and the fans have always come to the stadium.

And for us each game has capital importance.

Can the fans make a difference in these big games?

The fans always have a positive impact in the performance of the team.

The value of that is that what we do has an impact on their emotions and we always receive a postivie response when we make effort and we felt followed by the fans when we face adversity.

Without their support we wouldn’t be the team we are.

What have you done to lift your spirits from Tuesday night when you looked very deflated?

It’s an obligation in my profession to overcome the sadness and the hope of the next game is a good recipe for that.

And it’s completely natural to be sad after a loss. What is strange is when you’re not sad after a loss.

And to be full of hope when you are playing another game soon is also natural.

And it’s not advisable to think about the bad things and not think about the good things that are going to come.

Do you feel some people react disproportionately to defeat?

Maybe I didn’t explain myself well.

For me a win or loss is very important. Both things are very important. What I mean is that in order to draw an analysis we cannot just focus on the result.

The results are absolutely important but the result is not enough to explain a game.

And regarding the importance we give to a loss, it’s something common to teams who have a huge impact on people as is the case with Leeds.

When a win produces so much happiness it goes with a disappointment when the team loses.

And when a team goes though moments of frustration, it’s normal that we see a warning sign when we don’t make a step forward.

And our obligation is to make steps forward and neutralise the anxiety of the public.

Clarke available this weekend?

No.

How important is the situation at the top of the table going into the game?

It’s a right analysis and the loss was not an expected one.

When you see the glass is half empty you lose optimism and when you see the glass as half-full you lose self criticism.

And we need to have coordination between self-cricticsm and optimism.

We don’t ignore the advantage of our position in the table and we know we have to keep the advantages we have.

Have can you increase your conversion rate from chances?

You can’t train the efficiency. But you can train the capacity to create chances to score.

For me the fact that the team always deserves to score has huge value.

I am happy when we score goals because we deserve to score goals.

And I don’t make any conclusion when there is no correlation between the number of chances and the goals or when it’s the opposite.

Any more team news?

No. It will be the same team and same bench.

Any concerns over mental tiredness?

When we evaluate the physical performance of the players the loads in the training sessions and the adaptation to the mental needs for the Championship we have positive tools and we have difficulties too. I don't talk about difficulties publicly. But regarding the positive tools at our disposal. I try to describe them in the fairest way possible. I never make any public criticism. And I never overestimate the players with the goal of making them happy. I deeply believe that all of the positive things players do is thanks to them. I also think that the wrong things we are facing are my responsibility.

Bielsa on Bilbao fans at Bolton game

I love Athletic Bilbao. Some fans of them love me too. Not all. It would be a vanity to say I am loved by all. When this affection is illustrated by someone you are thankful.

Do you think Leeds could compete in the Premier League?

I couldn't answer to this question because there are so many conditions I cannot solve today. Any answer that I give you wouldn't have a substantial basis but it is not a basic question.

Do you visualise it?

There's a principle that we all apply when we educate. We tell them not to spend what they don't have. So I behave like that in this case.

Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Posted: 28 Feb 2019, 15:13
by Otherworld
I think he may have been talking about LUFCtalk when he said, “And we need to have coordination between self-cricticsm and optimism.”

;)

Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Posted: 02 Mar 2019, 09:06
by SCOTTISH LEEDS
Tick every box tonight?

For me the most important thing is the effort, attitude, behaviour, state of mind and effort from the whole team during the whole game.

If I would have to sum up my opinion, it’s an exclusive win of the players.

Not taking responsibility?

That’s not what I mean. When a win is based on such a consistent effort from the whole team, if we have to be honest we have to say this is the responsibility of the players.

It’s the first time in this competition I make such an affirmation. One way of finding out I’m not mistaken when I make such an assessment was the connection between the fans and the players and the fans responded all the time to the effort made by the players.

We had no single minute where the fans didn’t respond to their efforts.

Roberts - how mature?

I don’t want to make any individual reference because I want to underline the collective behaviour of everyone.

How is your mental state? Worried on Tuesday about you

Tuesday I shouldn’t have showed myself so disappointed. I should be very happy tonight. There’s a group is around the players that deserves some credit because it is the third game in a week.

We have to give some credit to the fitness department and medical department because they have an important role in making the players such a great physical performance such as tonight. This group helped the players, even if I insist on the fact the effort came from the heart of each player.

How impressed with players' recovery from Tuesday?

We should underline this capacity of reaction from the players individually and collectively as a team. I don’t want to underline the result or the win because we have made performances similar to this before.

We have to recognise the great competition spirit of the team tonight. I’m not talking about the win or the final result, I’m talking about the behaviour of the players.

How complete was that performance?

I couldn’t tell you because I don’t want to make excessive comments on tonight. When you win a game by a big difference it is convenient to be moderate in the analysis and the rival also deserves we be moderate in the analysis.

I have to underline the behaviour of the team, their will because they are two factors we value: we just have lost a complicated game and it was the third game in a week with the same players.

What did you feel when Hernandez scored?

The fans have an effective relationship with Pablo. The goal and the kind of goal created a communion between him and the fans.

Defended energy levels on Tuesday - last goal proved the fitness levels?

Usually I prefer not to affirm positions which don’t need to be affirmed, in the case of this game the effort was a huge effort and the loss of last Tuesday was not linked to a lack of effort.

I don’t want to build a response to the legitimate question I was asked on Tuesday. I don’t want to use the performance of tonight.

We didn’t need the performance of tonight to see we didn’t lack energy.

Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Posted: 07 Mar 2019, 13:04
by SCOTTISH LEEDS
Last week - best all-round performance here?

It’s a game we have already played and the more time we spend on a game we’ve played the less we spend on the next game and the next is always the most important.

Of course, the analysis I make about the last game is similar to those made by the observers and analysts.

Is that the standard you now expect?

It’s not the decision you take to play very well. You try to play very well. With these efforts, the player finds the right state of mind to use all his skills and we wish to have the same state of mind again.

To try to do the maximum everyone is capable of. Now it’s easy to say we want to play all the games as I played the last one.

How pleased for the players and yourself you scored four?

It was a very good proportion between chances and goals. The collective wish is to maintain this proportion, but it does not depend on the will and not exclusively on the skills of the players. You have many factors you have to take into account, some you can control and others not.

Line-up

Same team.

Clarke latest

He is well, he’s fit. He will play next week for the under-23s. Probably will be able after this game to be in the main group.

Bristol City - see their potential in last encounter?

It’s obviously one of the important teams of the Championship, it’s a balanced team with good players in all the sectors and they have a clear style and they can use their ideas of football in almost all games.

VAR - proponent of it?

I don’t think my opinion is important. Those who evaluate the VAR, if it is convenient or not, those who propose this take into account many factors of the game.

It won’t be my responsibility to express an opinion without knowledge. I can give an example of being in football all my life and I found the ball can be outside the pitch and inside the pitch. The basis in the game with Real Madrid, the ball was outside the pitch, but the projection of the line on the ball we saw 2cm of the ball were on the line.

We all thought the ball was out as the basis of the ball was outside the line, but it’s not like that. This shows how difficult it is to be a referee. It’s that difficult we all make an opinion, judge the referees and we don’t even know the rules.

A surprise picking the same team four matches in a row?

Honestly, I don’t know if this happened before this season, and the invitation to reflect on positive things is an invitation to not make these things positive anymore that’s why I prefer not to give an opinion.

Forshaw

Making slow progress, slower than we thought. We think he is close to his problem being over and we will rely on him soon. His recovery lasts longer than what he thought. We thought it would be faster, but the fact it’s taking longer is a basis for him to come back in better condition.

Watching out for mental state/nerves of the players?

We focus more on details because the more you accumulate games in weeks and months of competition, the stronger is the structure of the group and the team. We try to correct the small things we see. In this team the mental state is more something the responsibility of the players, they manage that themselves because they showed they deserved this freedom and independence.

Apart from the fact we could have ups and downs, they always build the right state of mind to compete. The players could overcome the bad and good moments.

How motivated by promotion last summer were you?

If I thought it was possible?

[How much of a motivation was the idea?]

Leeds, as a club, has all the elements in order to make a head coach enthusiastic. The stadium is always full, the fans are implicated and generous with the team, we have all the necessary infrastructures, the human resources we have are top level and the players are serious and implicated.

The academy always give alternatives to the first team and all the head coaches, including myself, are interest in such conditions.

Was promotion the prime motivation?

I came to be part of a programme that has goals and we know what are the goals of the team, of the city, of the fans, of the players. I can’t say I’m only interest in winning. I’m interested in winning because this is the main thing, but I’m also interested in the way we build the victory.

What is the satisfaction you take from coaching?

Human relationships. If human relationships are satisfactory, which mean to love and being loved to respect and being respected, this is more important than winning and success.

When you work with groups that are successful, we talk mainly about the human part of it, we don’t remember the game, we remember the behaviours, the anecdotes. We remember those we learned to admire, how to admire.

Or others we didn’t admire that much.

How much would promotion mean to you personally?

Of course I would be proud. It’s not a goal that is easy to reach or a common goal. You evaluate the goals, the successes according to the impact they have on people and I take advantage of this question to make a comment on something.

This is linked to the fans. Those who are behind a goal and they are always feeling emotion, they have an intuition of what happens in the opposite area because they cant see it clearly because of their position. If we evaluate the effective involvement of someone who can’t see clearly the game, and in spite of that the fans who are behind the areas have an important involvement with the team, we see what is the real involvement means.

We do this job for many reasons and the most important thing is the happiness we can bring to those who find it harder to find happiness outside football. You have spectators that go to the stadium to watch a game, as they would a theatre and it’s a good thing too, we’re lucky we have people like that, but I’m more moved by the one who suffers for the team even if he can’t see.

Relationship with the players...

I love my players because if I don't love the players it's difficult for me to do my job. The closer someone is to this and the better he sees us and gets to know us and it's sometimes it's better to keep the affection link if we don't see the other too close. If the player were closer to me they would respect me less because they would see how I am really. It doesn't mean I am acting any behaviour but it's better for them to see me from a certain distance than to see me closer. Because my goal is to maintain a relationship between 20 players that are looking for the same thing. In professional fotball now the importance regarding the behaviour and things linked to the behaviour are very important. Sometimes when you criticise a player you have better results than when you praise him, that's why the work of managing human beings and people is an art.

How is Roofe?

He is working very hard and is very serious in his work.
We don't when he will be back yet but he is making good progress.

Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Posted: 10 Mar 2019, 11:23
by SCOTTISH LEEDS
Win number 21 - was the manner of the victory as important as the win itself?

In the first hour of the game we could have had a different score. But in the last 15 minutes the opponent could have drawn the game.

We played a different game, regarding the style we want to use. In the last 20 minutes we didn’t have the ball. The opponent played in our box with aerial balls. In the box the possibility of making a mistake is higher.

In other words, the consequences of any mistakes are different. The team showed a lot of experience in the last 20 minutes of the game.

But we would have wished to create more danger in the last 20 minutes of the game. We couldn’t launch counter-attacks and the feeling that it was a 50-50 game increased.

How concerned are you about Patrick Bamford and Kalvin Phillips? Both appeared to be injured at one stage.

We’ll see by Tuesday how they are. I think they will be available, but it wouldn’t be convenient to anticipate their real situation.
Patrick appeared to struggle from when he scored - were you tempted to take him off earlier?

Yes, I could have taken the decision I took earlier. For us, the movements in the pitch, we need to make movements in the pitch to attack and press when the opponent has the ball.

Patrick Bamford is very important in this. Because he’s an important player I didn’t want to take him out of the game. But I saw his performance weakened us a little after the goal he scored.

Sometimes when you know that a player is important you resist the temptation of taking him out of the pitch. But as he was not 100 per cent, his performance decreased.
He's been in the goals of late, are you happier with with his goals or general performances?

It’s an obligation for him to score when a team lacks efficiency. But he also has a very important role in the collective play.

Kiko Casilla seems to have found his way in this league and is performing really well?

Yes, he give an energy to the team. He solves the situations he has to face without any complication.

And he doesn't make any mistakes when he has to respond to the situation he is facing.

How pleased were you to have Gaetano Berardi back today?

Gaetano Berardi is always a very important player for us. The fact that we have him back and he's at the disposal of the team is a very important for the performance of the team and it's every important for the players.

He's a loved player, a very respected player and a very important player.

How important is Kalvin Phillips to this team?

He is. After Queens Park Rangers, had two very important performances against West Bromwich and this one. When he plays well the level of the team increases greatly.
How much are you enjoying the situation at the top of the Championship? It's very tense for the supporters but how much are you enjoying it?

It’s very difficult to use the word ‘enjoy’ after a game, even if we have won. But after when we watch, when we have an analysis sometime after the game, we feel we are enjoying this situation.

A lot of the rivals behind Leeds lost today. Do you think Leeds are safe in the top three positions?

It's very risky to talk about safe positions in football.

You did a good job in spoiling Bristol's play. What work was done on stopping them?

We worked a lot on the aerial game in the middle of the pitch and specifically at the level of our box.

At one point it seemed Kalvin Phillips was man marking Semenyo - was that a planned thing?

Kalvin Phillips played in front of our centre-backs and he adapted his position to the number 18 [Antoine Semenyo] and number 20 [Jamie Paterson]. And in the second half, when we had the 10 from Bristol, he played a little bit backwards. When the number 45 [Kasey Palmer] played, Gaetano Berardi played in his position and Phillips played as a midfielder again.

We took into account the number 20 and 45 switched positions and then he played back in the defensive line. When number four [Adam Webster] played as a third number nine.

What are you impressions of Bristol City after playing them twice?

It’s a difficult team to play. If we play the game with Bristol’s style, which is to prevent the ball going through the middle of the field, it’s very difficult to beat them.

Bristol has important players, it doesn’t matter if they played good or bad today. Number eight [Josh Brownhill] and number 11 [Callum O'Dowda] are important, number nine also is important. Number 18 [Semenyo] is a young player, a skilled player, and we can take a view of him as a good offensive player in the future.

Because he can play as a number nine, behind the number nine or as a winger down the sides. It’s a strong team in defence and Bristol has players to make the difference in attack.

Your players look focused and not nervous - how important will mental strength be in the next few games with the level of expectation?

Yes, I think this aspect will have a lot of importance in the resolution of final games of the Championship.
What is the nature of Bamford's injury?

He received a kick. An impact which produces pain. It prevented him from reaching his maximum speeds.

But it wasn't a twist or a tear?

No, it's not a muscular injury. But anyways I am not the right person to answer this kind of question. I just answer because I am polite.

Did he collide with the post or was it player contact?

Yes, it was when he scored the goal.

Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Posted: 11 Mar 2019, 12:53
by SCOTTISH LEEDS
Four wins in five - what has pleased you most about response to earlier poor run of results?

We just won by one goal difference.

In the last minutes of the game the opponent was close to our box and we couldn’t prevent them from playing close to our box.

But we could manage well these minutes without conceding any dangerous chances.

How pleasing is the current run of results?

The results arrived at the right moment. But the most important thing is what is going to happen in the near future.

What to except from Reading?

The potential of the team is higher than the position they have in the table. The offensive players are fast, the midfielders are good..

Strong physical defence and they use the ball well.

Bamford fit?

Yes. It is the same group and the same starting XI.

Pleased by Berardi's return on Saturday?

Yes because Berardi always makes the observers satisfied.

Are you talking about going back top or not thinking about it?

I am focused on winning the game tomorrow and I don’t take into account the possible consequences of a win.

Our first goal is to win the game then we will occupy the position the results allow us.

On the Grealish incident - is fans coming on the pitch a problem? How do you resolve it?

You find violent people everywhere in each country and in all activities.

You have more or less violent acts depending on how satisfied or unsatisfied are the citizens.

And it also depends how important the leisure activities are for them.

A person that does the thing we saw yesterday expresses a series of frustrations that are not necessarily linked to the football because the more satisfied you are with your personal life, the less you need to do things like that.

And then we have a series of norms to try and have things happen in a civilised way.

If we have just one case like that a year it’s an excellent proportion. We wish we had none, but the fact we only have one is a good indicator.

Will Jack Clarke play both U23s games this week?

He will play in the one today.

And then we’ll see how he feels and see if he plays on Thursday.

Cooper - you said the players chose the captain, what are his qualities?

The fact the he represents his teammates is itself a virtue.

It’s not up to me to describe the virtues the players saw in him when they chose him, but I can tell you what impresses me.

You can't find a better professional than him. He feels love from his profession apart from the fact it’s his job.

He is generous and prioritises the needs of his teammates before his own needs.

He’s always willing to help the others rather than asking for help.

He is always very present in times of adversity and he is very discreet when the team is successful. He doesn’t like the notoriety.

Has Cooper improved as a player as well this season?

The skills that he is showing now are the same ones that I saw last season.

Partnership between Cooper and Jansson - how impressed by how they are playing together? How important for the team?

From an individual point of view they are playing at a very high level, both of them.

And they are two players with many skills and skilled players doesn’t have problems playing with each other.

And when Berardi had to play with one another we had the same efficiency.

And when Luke Alying and Kalvin Phillips had to play as CBs they played very well too.

But it’s true they play many games together and they are the defences structure of a team that attacks a lot.

Are many players here capable of playing in the Premier League?

I haven’t analysed the Premier League so I’m not ready to make this kind of comparison now.

But I can tell you any player that plays for Leeds now, they could play without any problems in the two European teams that I trained for some time., Marseille and Bilboa. I can make this comparison because I know both teams.

And as I haven't analysed the Premier League I can’t give you a convinced answer.

Hard not to look ahead to Saturday's game?

I don’t think so because the points of tomorrow’s game are very important for us.

And you never start playing a game before finishing the previous one.

And you know as observers when you look ahead for the next game you never have positive consequences.

Injured players? Roofe, Forshaw?

They are improving every day. They are making the positive steps that we thought they were going to take. We are following their improvement.

Lewis Baker - your assessment?

I wanted him to stay in our team. I didn't agree with the fact that he left. He didn't need my agreement to leave but in his contract he had that option. I always had a lot of confidence in his skills.

Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Posted: 13 Mar 2019, 09:53
by SCOTTISH LEEDS
Marcelo, so many good things tonight, but was the victory just based on hard work more than anything else?

It was a fair result. We could have scored more goals and we could have conceded, also, a goal. In spite of the difference in the result, the team was faithful to the style. We played against an opponent that has dangerous offensive players and probably we can say we could neutralise them.

You’ve gone back to the top of the table tonight. Marcelo, when will you start looking at the table? Are we into that situation, now, where you start looking at opponents and where Leeds are?

If you have a look at the table you only can reach the conclusion we still have many games to play. Taking this into account, we have to win every game. Or at least we will will have to try to win each game because it will be indispensable.

Marcelo, what is the focus now ahead of, obviously, what is a big game on Saturday against your close rivals. Is it about recuperation or is there much you can work on, now, ahead of Saturday?

We can say almost we won’t have any possibility to have training sessions with physical efforts. We will work on recovery and on the theoretical analysis of what we can analyse.

Marcelo, how much are you looking forward to Saturday’s game now because you must know there is a lot of excitement around this fixture?

It’s always special to play against an opponent at the top of the table and close to our rank.

Your players made it look easy tonight, did it feel easy to you?

Honestly, I don’t think it was an easy game. Even if we dominated the game and we could have scored more goals they had chances to score too. If they had scored a goal according to the moment they scored this goal the things that look accessible become complicated.

I asked you, earlier in the season, if you could make [Pablo] Hernandez a better player and you said he could make you a better coach. Do you think he has made you a better coach with performances like that tonight?

I gave this answer because Pablo finds solutions above the technical skills he has. He has the capacity to read the moments of the game and when he reads these moments he puts the ball in convenient spaces.

It’s something very hard to teach and it’s something very hard to learn. On this aspect, Pablo is a very wise player. The performance of today is nothing to do with what I’m saying right now.

He played a great game and made a big, important performance. The answers he gave today are the ones common observers can see. He also builds another kind of response in the game that helps us to play better and they are not that evident and it’s not easy to detect them and to observe them.

We can’t say anyone can do that.

Jack Clarke played for the under-23s yesterday, what will you do next with him? Will he be involved on Saturday?

I haven’t taken my decision yet.

Marcelo, it felt like, in the first half, that was a complete performance at times. Is there anything your team can improve on at the moment or are they carrying out your instructions perfectly?

What has improved in the team is the efficiency. It’s the same collective effort. We have the same willingness for the players to attack and we are faithful to our style. In the last games we played we needed less chances to score goals.

How much joy do you take from team goals, like the first, where quite a few players were involved?

Do you think Luke Ayling was lucky to avoid a red card in the second half?

This is up to the referee and I don’t make comments on referees. If we take into account your question we can think the referee could have taken another decision. When he made the first kick it was not with a bad intention.

His intention was not to interrupt the action of the player. It was out to distance. The foul he made was more linked to a precipitation than with a bad intention.



Goals are always welcome. Some are beautiful goals, others less beautiful, but we welcome them all with a lot of happiness.

Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Posted: 14 Mar 2019, 12:54
by SCOTTISH LEEDS
Pontus says this is the biggest game of their lives - how big do you feel it is? And how significant would three points be?

All wins are important and none are more important than others at this point of the competition.

The analysis that shows that it’s not crucial, even if it’s not crucial it means we won’t live it as a crucial game.

Do you get excited personally by a match like this?

Yes, of course.

Pressure bringing out the best in your players?

Taking into account the club we are in, every game is very important.

And of course we are reaching the final of this competition. Every games gets more important.

What we’ve done so far is important too. Because it allows us to be in this position now.

What have you made of Sheffield United and Chris Wilder this season?

The teams talk about the head coach they have.

Teams say a lot about the head coach they have. I’ve learned a lot about Sheffield United.

They have a new style of playing. They have been faithful to their style all season.

Each player is giving the best of himself.

ANd if you have a look at their players before this season, you see clearly the evolution. When we won against them it was a hard win and we probably didn’t deserve to win.

And for us it’s a big challenge to play against them and try to win the game.

A complement to the previous answer - our goal is compliment Sheffield United and beat them.

Any techniques to get your players to cope with the atmosphere?

You think rationally about the decisions but you get this energy to think about them through emotions.

For me the emotion that you get from big games is very important.

And our players have enough experience to manage this kind of situation.

Following your comments earlier this season, what is it about their style of play you would like to do?

I would rather answer this question after the game. I think I expressed what was my position.

And I don’t want to talk today about the nuances of the game or the opponent.

Any observer looks at them and sees a team with a different style.

Jack Clarke

He is going to play today.

We’ll see how he assimilates the game and I’ll take a decision after that.

Do you think Sheffield United will come and attack?

One of the features of Sheffield is they attack without stopping defending and defend without stopping attacking.

How important will start of game be?

Both teams have similar strengths, it doesn’t matter when you score, what matter is if you win or not.

If you score a goal sooner or later it’s important but the most important thing is if this goal allows you to win the game.

Wilder says Leeds have been best team this season - how much of a compliment is that?

I don’t like to make comments on my team.

Injuries and team news

They are evolving, They are in the final stages of their recovery but I can’t say anymore on that.

That's all from Bielsa

That’s it from BIelsa. He apologies for being late (in English), blaming Salim!