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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SCOTTISH LEEDS
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Post by SCOTTISH LEEDS »

Considering the injury before and during the game, how pleased are you with that performance tonight?

I think it was a deserved win apart from the first minute of the first half and then 10 or 15 minutes in the middle of the second half. We dominated the ball, we defended well, we created danger. We had chances that could have been more dangerous. When we had to attack we attacked well and when we had to defend we defended well.

How much do you think Jamie Shackleton helped you to dominate even more in this game when he came on?

He showed his character and personality. He adapted immediately to the game. He defended well and he attacked well. The fact we lost Adam Forshaw, who had a big influence during the game, Shacks was a very efficient substitute.

Do you think you'll have Forshaw and Jansson available for the second leg?

Adam Forshaw, I don’t think so and for Jansson I couldn't tell.

What did you think about the late penalty incident for Derby? Were you worried it would ruin the day?

We were very far away from the action and we had many players in front of us. Honestly I could not give you my opinion on the action. I didn't see it.

Was this more than you expected before kick-off, to come away with a 1-0 win?

No, because we try to win every game. I think it was a fair win.

How confident do you feel now taking a 1-0 win into the second game?

It’s an advantage, but not it's not a decisive advantage. We still have 90 minutes to play. When we just have a difference of one goal it’s not a decisive advantage. If we take, as a reference what happened in the last Champions League games, we shouldn’t draw conclusions about it.
You said at Ipswich you expected Kemar Roofe to be at his peak today, how pleased were you with his performance today?

Kemar Roofe made many efforts. He moved all the time, he made many movements. He scored a goal and this is something very important for a number nine. So all these are positive factors to evaluate his performance.

Jack Harrison hasn't always had a lot of praise this season, but that assist will be remembered for a very long time. Do you think he played well tonight?

I think that Jack's pass was very, very good. It was decisive in this game. Jack Harrison has made a good performance today and this action, his pass, strengthens his performance. He was very generous, he made many efforts like all of the team. He finished the game playing as a number nine and he had physical presence that helped us.
How pleased were you with the reaction and attitude of the players after missing out on automatic promotion?

It was painful for us not to be automatically promoted, but we took the play-offs as a very important opportunity. I think we should value the opportunity of having a new possibility.

Three out of three wins against Derby this season - does that give you confidence for the second leg as well?

Every game is a new situation. I don’t think the three games that we played guarantee anything regarding the next game.
How has British society influenced you since you arrived here? Spygate, the Aston Villa goal, etc?

I evaluated the answers I had to give. I also observed the interpretation of my behaviour. And I tried to correct what I could have been wrong.
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Post by SCOTTISH LEEDS »

What impressed you most on Saturday?

It’s a mix of everything. The physical performance of the team was very good. One of our best of the season.The performance of the team was positive.

Previous to this game we played against Aston Villa and it shows the level of competition of our team and the other three games were games we could have won but didn’t.

Did anything surprise you on Saturday?

I couldn’t say that I was surprised, but Shackleton adapted immediately to the needs of the game but he already showed he was a player with big character.

Injuries

Adam Forshaw won’t be available.

For Pontus Jansson tomorrow will try and work normally and we will see tomorrow how he is.

And Roofe won’t be available either.

Kemar’s problem is more simple than Adam’s. But still he won’t be available for Wednesday.

It’s a calf problem. It’s less serious that Adam’s injury but we have to take care of him.

How important is Bamford?

It’s always important to have at your disposal the players that have played during the season.

We always think about our team with 18 starters.

It’s not just a common sentence but it’s a reality demanded by the competition. Of course we would like to have Roofe and Bamford with us. In some segments of the season both were unavailable.

And Tyler Roberts played as a number nine at that time but as you say, the absence of Kemar Roofe comes with the availability of Bamford.

Big game coming up - how important for you to separate the emotion? Or do you embrace it?

The emotion is an ingredient that allows use to use better your skills. This is something normal, natural and we want to play the game in these conditions.

We know there is a long path to our goal. We just played the first part of the dual and have the second part to play now. The difference is only one goal and the idea is to increase this distance and prevent the opponent from decreasing it.

We know that this is a difficult task, as difficult for the first game.

Roberts and Alioski injury latest

They won’t be available for this game.

And I couldn’t tell you for the future.

In the case we have another game to play after this it would be difficult to have these players back: Forshaw, Alioski, Davis, Roberts.

What areas are you looking for your side to improve in?

The goal of having possession of the ball is to create offensive situations and the goal of the offensive situations is to create danger to the opponent. At the end the idea is to score a goal out of this danger created. We started many offensive actions very well. We arrived to the previous step pretty well and we have to increase the efficiency after these two steps we just mentioned.

We have to score more goals and then increase the efficiency. The idea is that possession allows us bigger difference.

How are your emotions before the game?

It’s similar to what we were talking about before the first game. It’s two games, but you can actually say it’s one and we have played the first half and usually you don’t make comments at half-time.

And you usually work in order to build the superiority in the time we have still to play.

The first game was not simple for us and we are sure that the next game won’t be easy either.

Should you have a bigger lead coming into this second leg?

We had options to increase the offensive production, I don’t know if this answers your question.

If we had scored a second goal it wouldn’t have been a weird thing.

Do you understand the mindset of those coaches that would look to protect the lead, rather than add to it?

You could divide coaches in two categories, those who speculate and those who impose their style.

The percentage of success that is representative that both trends have are very similar.

It woulnd’t be fair to say one is better than the other. Every head coach does what he feels because the role of the coach is to convince and it’s very difficult to convince ideas you don’t believe in.

I would have less credibility towards my players if I didn’t express things I believe in but I never express a negative opinion on ideas different from mine. It doesn’t mean other ideas need my approval or not but results show it every weekend in games we see around the world.

Where does your attacking instinct come from? It takes a certain amount of nerve...

I don’t think it’s about courage or nerves.

But I always thought that the shortest path to win is to play better.

And for me, there is a link between possession and playing better.

Actually, to be honest, there are many examples of big teams that do the contrary of me. You have head coaches like Diego Simeone who have built extraordinary teams with the exact opposite ideas of mine.

Same as I couldn’t say I can;t imagine playing better if my team doesn’t have possession but teams like Simeone’s ones make recoveries of the ball an art and to recover the ball you need the opponent to have the ball. It’s not a theoretical matter. It’s not about one idea being superior to another one. It has to do with beliefs with the sensitivity of each head coach. I don’t have a decisive belief that when you see a team defending well, I think the fact that seeing this has a value as an expression of football. It’s also linked to the culture. I was always impressed by the NBA, the fans when the opponent has the ball, they ask their team to defend. They do it because they recognise it’s a need of the team, to defend, but they also give value and importance to it when it’s well done.

To come back to Simeone’s team, I saw them defending well in many games and it was pleasing to see how they defended.

Has Shackleton been unlucky not to play more this season?

As a right-back we had Ayling, Berardi and Dallas playing. And as a number eight we Baker, Klich and Forshaw. They are players older than him and they have more experience than him.

But every time he played, honestly, we saw him. And there’s a detail that is very important to me, which is how a player is accepted by his team-mates. When the players accept a new young player it means that they like to have this player on their side.

When a young player finds his place in a top team in the natural competition you have for positions, the one who comes in to the team moves someone out of the team.

That’s why from a team spirit the only way you accept the arrival of a young player is when you make the team better. And for me this happened very clearly with Jamie Shackleton.

Why do you have such an advantage over Derby? You lead 7-1 over three games

Every game was different’.

We won one game with just one goal of difference, one with two goals of difference and in the first game we were the same team as we were now and Derby was a lot inferior to what they are now. So we should be careful about the analysis. And actually it’s not 7-1. I think we should analyse more the 1-0 and the 2-0 game.

Even in this case, it wouldn’t be 3-0 because we won one game with the smallest margin possible and the other one was just a two-goal difference. It’s a small difference, you can’t build a big distance between both teams.

We would like to have the same performance as the last two games but we know it’s going to be very hard.

What does Berardi offer that Jansson does not?

These players are two ways interpreting the same role.

What we see about Jansson is his physical strength. He has a big capacity to express his presence in the game and for Berardi he has an expository which is not frequent for a centre-back. Jansson has been our best player in the Championship over the season and Berardi has been an indispensable player. And we couldn’t count on him when he was absent.

Both are compatible, we need them both and we can rely on them.

Did you doubt that your players would respond as they did against Derby?

I’d rather prefer not to talk about situations where you analyse things in two different ways.

I am very careful to make those who listen to my explanations find them true. I try to say what I think it true and I try to show it’s true.

To analyse you don’t need any explanation and you have arguments that go against and confirm results.

If you tell me out of 12 points we got one, this is not good.

And in this segment of four games we played against the best team of the Championship at this moment and weren’t overwhelmed so you relativise the conclusions.

For me this aspect is very important even if I think I give excessive importance to this. And I’m talking about how a team defends and attacks. You can attack well and score only a few goals because you miss goals and you can defend well and concede goals.

If you have chances to score and don’t you have a problem with efficiency. You can’t do anything about it because there’s nothing to do to increase efficiency, Same when you defend.

You can defend well and prevent the opponent from creating chances to score but you have precise facts that the team concedes goals. Sometimes it’s mistakes, sometimes not and the game against Ipswich, if you see the goal they scored from a set-piece we had that situation three times in that game and they didn’t find the ball. And against Ipswich the number 21 found the ball to score the goal and we had no impact.

To sum up, the team that finished first and second score a goal every three chances. As before, we need six chances. The teams that were relegated needed five or six chances to score a goal and in the last four games we needed 12 chances to score, not just six.

This tells a lot about the play of the team. In the last four the opponents scored every three chances.

I always think what would be the result if we had the same efficiency.

To finish, I will give you more information.

You’ve heard that my teams usually arrive at this segment of the season tired physically and mentally. The game against Derby is the game we ran most in the whole season.

I listen to the arguments but not to convince myself of the opposite. Just to see if I must give credit to what I hear. I don’t know what’s wrong I can’t make an correction.

If I correct only the things people think are wrong, but are not wrong instead of improving, it makes things worse.

I always have doubt about what I’m thinking and I always listen to the opinion of what I’m doing to see if I can make corrections and improve things but as you see if the comments improve the efficient everyone who knows about football will say you can’t have a solution. It just happens.

If you say avoid the mistakes, individual one, that concede goals, no one makes a mistake on purpose..

The design of defensive structure is to associate players and give a role to them. If you have the same info I have regarding the defensive behaviour of the team, it’s good.

I’m giving you this answer because you’re asking me if I’m surprised how my team played.

To be surprised it would mean I consider the last four games of the Championship would be different to the Derby game.
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Post by SCOTTISH LEEDS »

Did you watch Guardiola yesterday? Thoughts?

I have great respect and admiration for Guardiola.

And the argument that I give to explain my respect and admiration is that the beauty of the play his team did, you can’t copy that.

Guardiola builds artful teams. We always said what would Guardiola do without the players he had in Barcelona. And you can say that players from Barca are unique.

The players of Guardiola’s Bayern were very good, those of City, too.

But the capacity to create a style that you only see in his teams are much more important than the players he has. And I’m not saying the players are not important but I’m underlining the capacity to be creative of Guardiola.

The things that you can’t analyse are a mystery. Because when I watch Man City games I feel I am ignorant and I’m going to tell you why.

Because there is something, a picture, you have ten players in front of their own box and City move the ball trying to find the space to put the ball in.

So I see what is well done and try to copy it. But you can’t copy Guardiola’s teams.

When I see it I’m wondering what’s the methods, what do we have to repeat to do that?

What are the pre-established needs to solve these compact defence? And you never find out but they always find a solution to the compact defence.

So you could mention all the players if you want but Guardiola deserves to be praised for the team he built that we could enjoy watching.

And I’d like to clarify as I said for Pochettino when I see Guardiola’s teams play I don’t see anything similar to the teams I built. That’s why I think every praise I get from Guardiola is not deserved and a mistake.
He deserves this praise I making because I can explain why he deserves to be praised. Take reference for his teams. But you can’t say the same from my teams.

Role of the fans on Wednesday? And your message to them?

The importance of Leeds fans in the behaviour of the team has been shown in many moments when our team faced adversity and could overcome this because of the fans.

The fans do that without needing to get any message. What makes Leeds fans special is they don’t answer to things that you ask them to do.

They don’t need to be asked to do things. That’s why I feel I have nothing to ask them, they already give what we need.
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Post by SCOTTISH LEEDS »

Firstly, can we get your reaction to tonight?

As it’s a painful situation, we are very disappointed.

It’s not necessary to analyse. During the season the games that could have allowed us to find a solution according to all possibilities, we couldn’t make a difference for those games for the same reason as today.

The natural thing in the first half is that we should have finished with two goals more, but we finished with a draw and in the second half it’s a game that broke immediately.

The chances of the opponent ended in goals and ours not. It’s meaningless explaining that we had a many chances as the opponent in the second half and in the first we had more chances that the opponent and we should have made a difference.

There appeared to be a loss of control at the end of the first half, after 44 minutes for the next 20 minutes. How do you explain that?

Probably you’re right. You have to take the games as a whole. Usually we ask the generous teams to be more conservative when they don’t win. What you rightly call a loss of control as head coaches we should propose a solution giving strong structures.

I imagine the way to avoid a lack of balance in defence, we played with six defenders: Ayling, Berardi, Cooper, Shackleton, Phillips and Dallas.

But I agree with what you say, we had 20 minutes of disorder and I saw the same thing. But I couldn’t imagine any solution. I insist when a generous team fades or disappoints we ask the team to be more conservative.

But if you have a look at the game tonight the worst moments for us were those moments when we tried to be conservative.

And even when we had one player less, the best moments were when we imposed out game.

But when it’s about explaining losses or disappointments it’s hard to have authority or to be right. We have many points to take into account.

And I think it’s not the right moment to talk about these points.

Will you still be here next season? Do you want another season to get Leeds promoted to the Premier League?

It’s not, as you can imagine, convenient to talk about this point right now.

Anyways, the process, and you know about this process, that’s why I’m talking about it, if the club offers me the possibility to carry on I will listen to this proposal.
Have you been very touched by the support of the crowd over the past few weeks when it’s not been going well?

The team during the whole season had the support of the fans and that was one of the strengths of the team.

What will your overriding feeling of the season as a whole be? Pride? Regret?

What the players offered to the club during this season will be valued with the time.

The fact that we couldn’t reach goals that were so close leaves a feeling of disappointment but you can have another perspective about it.

What we can value also is what is the percentage of the potential of the player that was used this season. And what kind of difficulties this team has had to face. Regarding the commitment of the players, they couldn’t commit more than what they’ve done.

I already mentioned it in a previous press conference. It would be very difficult to see all these players playing at that level during one whole season. And regarding the difficulties, we had so many difficulties of different aspects that mentioning them would always look like justification because we couldn’t reach our goal.

But at the same time I say we had the conditions to finish first or second and we had all the conditions needed to show we were the best team of those in the play-offs. We couldn’t finish first or second and we couldn’t reach the final of the play-offs.

Obviously there are mistakes that prevent us from reaching our goals. Apart from the difficulties that we could find solutions for, the fact that we couldn’t reach something that was reachable always supposed doubt on the head coach. Because if you have the resources to reach something and you don’t reach it, if you face and overcome the difficulties that you have to face and you have the possibility to reach the goal and you don’t reach it, we have to assume the responsibility.

The gentleman said something that I won’t forget regarding this game. Adam [Pope] said the team had 20 minutes of loss of control. And I saw something else as well and I couldn’t find a solution. My job is to find solutions to problems, especially when they are circumstantial problems or structural problems. I was answering to the gentleman and saying the game is not just segments, you have to take it as a whole. And if you take into account the emotional situation of people, who are the goals of our job, they don’t care about our explanations.

There is a moment where theory ends, because the hope was so weak that it’s difficult to hide the pain and deception that we feel.

That loss of control seemed to be down to that mistake from Casilla and Cooper - do you think that's what ultimately cost you the game?

I don’t think so. You can’t imagine playing a football game without any mistake.

You make questions that invite me to think, to make a reflection. You could say 'well, the goal happened for these reasons'. We had a 20 minute loss of control, we had a player sent off.

That’s why I said we have to take the game as a whole, we can’t just analyse specific moments because until minute 40 of the first half we had five chances, and the opponent didn't have one single chance. And you’re asking if this mistake was the beginning of what happened after.

I can’t think like that because a team that doesn’t assimilate a mistake is not a good team.

How do you get over a disappointment like tonight? What will you be doing over the next days and weeks?

You just have to accept the pain. I feel very sad first of all, for the players.

I don't think that there’s someone who feels more pain than our players.

It’s never good to compare pains. But for me it’s hard to believe someone is suffering more than my players.

And I also feel sad for the pain of the fans because I know it’s a big pain. This is a responsibility that I have to assume. And it’s very difficult for a head coach to assimilate the deception of all these people. And especially with two truths that work in an inconvenient way.

They are two conclusions for me. The difficulties that this team could overcome. And the results that this team has reached taking into account all the difficulties that the team had to overcome.

This invites us to think this team reached a point that was higher than what the team could reach, but this is not true. Because the team deserved to finish first or second. And we had the conditions and the skills to win these play-offs.
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Post by SCOTTISH LEEDS »

Easy decision to stay? Unfinished business?

It’s very exciting.

Squad strong? Better positioned for promotion?

I have a lot of confidence with the squad that we have at the moment.

Confident of solving problems in front of goal this season?

That was a problem and we have to show that we can resolve it.

On Kemar Roofe - resigned to losing him? What can you tell us?

I can’t tell you anything because I’m not sure what will happen at the moment.

On BPF - did you try and convince him to stay?

If he thinks it’s not good for him to stay here or if he thinks there is a place that is better I have to convince him.

Our job is to try and give them all of the things that are good for them. I choose 18 players. We are creating a place where the players like to stay here and if a player chooses another place and the club decides at the same time it’s convenient for him to leave.

Nothing is more important that how you want to stay at one side. If you lose this feeling, it’s impossible to recover this feeling. It’s impossible to try and convince him if he doesn’t want to stay.

Where do you feel strong this season compared to last year?

All the things that the players did before is the feeling that Marcelo has with the team.

Do you want any more players?

If there are players that improve the squad that we have now, then yes.

Injuries

We’re missing Ayling, Roberts, Roofe.

Ayling had an operation on his ankle and Tyler is in a process that will finally be an operation.

Shackleton?

He’s ready.

How crucial was Kalvin Phillips staying in your decision to stay at the club?

When you say Leeds United, you are talking a big thing.

When you are talking about Marching on Together it’s a sentence that is very clear and connects everyone. When you belong.

In a sentence like this, there are a lot in the rest of the world. There are a lot of clubs better than Leeds United and all the rest of the teams that could be better don’t have this feeling that united everyone and this passion about the club.

<Pressed again on Kalvin>

Kalvin was an example for everyone. In a context that is very professional with a lot of the speculation which is not good and sometimes I repeat this type of behaviours. Kalvin is showing us that you can be a big player, a good player and at the same time respect the values that is very difficult to find. I deserve all the good things because he teaches us how you can live professional life in football without forgetting about yourself, but keeping the behaviour in the right way.

I can understand that the future will give him the things that he deserves, He deserves all of the good things. I know perfectly the risk I am taking because it is possible that I have to decide in one match he has to go on the bench, but I cannot say this.

But many people can understand those who tolerate the frustration. For me Kalvin is an example. There is a sentence that says if you think in money you will never be a professional player. If you are thinking to be a professional player, the money will come for you. I deserve the last part of the sentence will be for Kalvin.

More on Kalvin

One thing to add to Kalvin.

I am proud if he stays here, I chose him in the 18 players that are included in the squad, but I can’t decide if that is here or if he has to leave. I want to tell you this because Kalvin is in the squad for the 18 players that I choose before. But I have a maturity to decide if he has to leave or he has to say. I can’t share my idea about how I decide.

On the young players

Last season it was Clarke and Shackleton. They are more close to being part of our team and I hope at the end of the season there will be two players more to have the same role that Clarke and Shackleton have now.

What has a year in the Champ taught you?

It’s a league that is very honest. It’s very competitive because everyone has the same chance. There are matches that are very difficult.

Another thing that is very clear, all the players give 100 per cent.

Do you have enough cover at centre-back?

Jansson left, everyone knows. Jansson was the best player last season.

You know that the club needs to sell players to adapt to FFP and be healthy and the league is equal.

We have to players, Kalvin and Ayling who can play centre-back. Berardi and Cooper too. White can develop in this scenario.

If Ayling plays like a centre-back you have Dallas and Shackleton to cover and Forshaw can be a defensive midfielder to cover for Kalvin.

So we lose the best player of last season but we are adapting to the rules and that is very important.

I’m very optimistic about how to solve the problem.

Harrison - how can he kick on this season? Why did you want him back?

For me last season was a season to grow and this is the season he has to show this experience.

Obviously these last two months he’s done a very good job, so the expectations he create is for him to compete in matches.

How hard is it for players to repeat last season's performance?

I can’t tell you an answer that is very solid. But for us we know that for each position there are few players. It’s not like there’s 33 players. We have 18 players that could give us the answer to play in three position. Ayling, Dallas, Shack and then Harrison, Clarke, Costa, these type of examples. There are alternatives and competition.

Dallas, Douglas, Alioski, they know their positions. As do the playmakers, for example.

So we make our target is that all the players can play in three positions.

Orta makes a lot of efforts and a very good job working together with Angus and the owner. The club got rid of 25 players. Built a structure to solve the problem of FFP and at the same time create a team with all of the options to compete. Obviously all of these things are possibilities. One of our needs is we have to be a small squad.

But if you miss the injured players Ayling, Roberts and Roofe, that is unpredictable and we hope it doesn’t happen again.

We also have a younger group that are better because they are working one year with us and all of the players that we miss, they will be able to do this.

Will individual players be able to hit this level?

This is the thing that I can’t tell you. It’s very difficult for one player to reach the same level as last season. The solution that we imagine is that we distribute the minutes for more players so we have more options for the same players. You are in the same time 100% to keep this place. So if you get this, finally the player can be at 100% giving all the things that he can do.

Last season we played the same players so there are more places to occupy. But at the same time we are at the top of the table, with the stumulation enough for the other team. Hopefully we will be in positions that will create enough power for the team.

It’s important that players fell they have players who can complete for the same place.

Is there a collective desire here that pleases Bielsa? Will it help Leeds win promotion?

Our hope, our illusion is very clear. But if you are talking about the things that didn’t happen last season with too much enthusiasm, you will feel a bad feeling. When you are negative it is not good too. So we will have to go and find the point in the middle. Not too positive, not too negative. A value on what is happening in the process.

The answer that you told him last season, we can imagine this future that we are talking about after 30 matches last season, about promotion. So you have to know that you pass the first 15 or 30 matches for what you deserve.

What did Bielsa learn from the varying sportsmanship last season?

Spygate was an action that everyone can interpret. Really I took note of my mistake. If you talk about the match at Aston Villa, there are different opinions.

With a path that I think that was the right one. Whether it is good or bad depends on whoever is looking.
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Post by whitedancer »

Don't think he's learnt nothing from last season, he's little squad of 18 :lol:
I will be pleasantly surprised , if we make the playoffs. Top 3 :lol: bookies must be filling then
There satchels , and booking holidays on the cash they,ve taken on Leeds.
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Post by isrodger »

I really admire bielsa not only as a coach but as a man. However for the first time I have an issue with him reference his comments re Jansson. I’m sorry but a £4m sale of your best player, is not down to FFP, particularly when in excess of £20m has been recovered. Be honest Marcelo, you didn’t rate him, you felt it was better he moved on, don’t be disingenuous in your comments, in this case it was your decision to live or die by.
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Re: MB'S PRESS CONFERENCES

Post by SCOTTISH LEEDS »

Transfer business - new goalkeeper

He’s a good ‘keeper, Marcos Abad knew a lot about. He knew him too. The opinion is of Marcos. In some players I have more analysts, but in other players I trust in recommendations. I am not saying I do not control the players, but I give importance to others’ opinions on players. For example, on Ben White, came from Orta.

In the previous season, Orta insisted on White coming here. We have other players to play in this position back then. Now, Victor is pleased the player arrived. This is why for some players I trust other recommendations,. Illan came from Abad and White from Orta.

Number two?

Talking about the goalkeepers, the right thing is not to think about the way you answer the question. The goalkeeper in the XI, for different reasons, can (?) then the player on the bench sometimes moves to be the first goalkeeper. Can happen with third choice too.

The third goalkeeper can be the second one. Three goalkeepers have to be like first XI goalkeepers. Of course, there are different levels at the beginning, this is the reason for your question. I am giving you my criteria moving forward.

Nketiah - your opinion?

Nketiah is a young, important player in English football. He’s a player with a very good reputation with other football people. He can be an important player in English football according to others. Abraham, at Villa, Wilson at Derby, Harrison in our case. We think this player has similar features to these names. I know a lot of clubs want him. It’s the same case as with White, he came from Orta. He arrives to the club. Something not easy. We have to link the player to the management of Orta. With dimension Leeds have a club.

Team news - any concerns?

We don’t have any injured players. I cannot tell you I will imagine any changes in the players I want to play. Berardi’s going to add to the squad.

On the window

I think this summer market has been a period of high working time. The club needs some money to solve the FFP situation. Then the club gets this objective. We have sold or more 25 players (?). This is something important for the club and its economy. The players continuing with the club are those who can participate and play a part.

This was important work by those in the window higher up the club.

Can Nketiah replace Roofe?

If Roofe was here we would not sign a third striker. We cannot forget Roofe only played half of last season and in this half he scored 15 goals. If he continued making the same goals in the matches he missed he would be one of the highest scorers in the league. I don’t want to give that responsibility to another player. Of course, as a striker, they have to be linked with their goals.

Elland Road return

Playing at ER, I want to link this feeling with the future, not the past. We have received a lot from our fans. Of course, the players feeling this support is at ER. In all the games we had the support of our fans. ER is an important date for our team.

Forest thoughts

The same we have every game, expectation. Trying to be better than the opponent

Costa started on the bench on Sunday - what is your plan for his development?

In football you have a rule that you have to consist of. The rule is that the player is in the better condition plays every game. This rules have a lot more details. You have to think about the result of the other games, conditions during the week, these things. But Helder has the same rules that every player in professional football. He has to have to wish and to have the desire to play

On Tyler Roberts

Tyler Roberts is a very important player for us.

He’s an offensive player with some very clear capabilities so we are missing him. We would like him to be in our unit. We would like to have him now with us for two reasons - the football things but the most important thing is how he is as a human. Now he has another injury which is going to help him to recover. Then from this injury he will start the last part of the recovery process.

He has been working very, very hard and being very professional during this recovery.

A date on Roberts' return

He has one idea but when we are talking about medical things it is not right to tell anything before it happens.
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Opportunity make changes? New signings to play?

Berardi will play with some players who didn;t play the previous game.

Yes, the new signings will play.

Salford's Man United connection - adds more spice?

For us this game is interesting depending whether or not it has a connection with Man United.

Salford will be up for it - expecting a real fight?

I know the understanding of the game, so we will play it as serious as we can. But this is nothing different because we play all the games very serious. I know the history and the reality of the game for both clubs.

I know the relationship between Man United and Salford.

What do you make of Salford's rise?

I think talking about the style of these teams you can have more ways to answer the question,

I know the history of the club.

You have to know the question to know more things about this. I know that I want to explain something they have been in this time (?)

Where can your side improve after the first two games?

We were better than the two opponents that we faced.

In the first game that we played we made less difference than in the previous game.

At Bristol we were very clear in front of the goal, they were the total opposite to us. On Saturday we missed some opportunities, which was the opposite of the opponent.

In both games we made differences of the opponent. In the first game we took advantage of the opportunities that we had.

Opposite of the Forest game, where we had less percentage of everything. In both games we attacked well. The player’s defence was better in the other game.

What do you know about Salford - what are their threats?

It’s an opponent that use a non-traditional shape to play the game. They have some characteristics of the typical British style of play - big strikers and defenders. But at the same time, it’s a modern, dynamic team too. The idea is they have a good balance of styles.

Do you enjoy these occasions where the football world expects Leeds to win?

In football everything is more balanced right now.

Sometimes in the PL you can see the difference in goals between the teams that play and after when you watch some games when they play teams in different leagues, sometimes you can see one team is clearly better than the other team.

The reason is that sometimes the team that feels weakness at the start of the game. The team that has this label has extra motivation and this reviews the level of gap.

We know all these teams and our desire is to play the game and win it. We feel we are a better team than them, less before the game because we know that you are not better if you are not ready to show this on the pitch.

Any new injury worries?

No. Only Ayling and Roberts. Some of the players who played on Saturday are going to play and again and others are going to rest. Some others will go to the bench,

The players who were on the bench in the previous game are going to play this game and some young players will go to the game as subs.

I have to tell all these words to explain the situation. I got advice that I shouldn’t give the teams before the game - but doesn’t know whether to follow the advice (laughs).

Cup run important?

Every game is an important game.

I know we have different levels of game... but all are very important.

One of the targets is to have more players involved than are usually playing then this type of scenarios mean every players have a chance to show what they can do.

Nketiah - how has he settled? Chances of him playing?

Friday and Saturday he did evaluations, tests. Yesterday he did real training, same as today. Trained normal.

I don’t know how many minutes, but he will be involved.

Ayling update

He is in the normal process of his recovery. He’s very close to us even when he’s not playing. And he’s a key player for the spirit of the team, more than the very clear football skills that he has.

We can overcome the difficulites that he doesn’t play.

Now you've seen Nketiah train, what are your impressions of him?

All the minutes that he had in the Arsenal and national teams, we could watch these minutes. Then I have an idea about the skills and capabilities of the player.

In these two days when we’re working with him it;s very easy to show in training what he’s showing in the games. He’s a complex player because he has a lot of capabilities.
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Team news

We cannot say the team two days before the game. One supporter told him he is giving too much away, between us it’s going to be the same team.

League Cup - competition created for places now?

One of the reasons why English football has respect across the world is because they keep with traditions and protect them. This type of cup game, allowed us to have contact with clubs started to build their futures. These clubs find this important, even when they are professional teams. For me, it’s a plus our players have contact with this world too. These stadiums in English football, the type of games, start to disappear when teams are promoted, then the stadiums are top level at a high level. It’s more global, the teams and coaches, more worldly. One of the reasons I had the wish to work here, was this contact with this part of English football. Football players need reminding where everything started in football. It’s something that can improve them. Move them far above the world they grow up in. Every time I can I watch games in League One, League Two and the National League.

Nketiah - all you expected?

Everything is too fast, his previous career is his performance. It’s a player we knew new things. A player, when he plays more, will confirm his skills.

Wigan - Good Friday memories - different team now?

Usually, you forget some of the previous results you have with some teams. You need to be focused on the present. Of course, I could talk about the 2-1 loss, but this is not the reason why we are here.

Growth since then?

The growing is something we have to show. In the two games we won, scoring six goals, we received 16 chances on goal. If the opponents had our efficiency in these games, we could not have won. In the game we created five times more, we didn’t win the game. The analysis is focused on the game we drew. The other two games were positive games. The game we drew is what makes us feel more comfortable. Then in the two games we won, we are taking a lot of information to improve.

Team selection more difficult after Tuesday?

We cannot play all the league with 11 players. We always are going to need one or more in each position. That’s why we try to control every time. When you need changes for injuries or cards or form, allows us to find a player at a good level.

Costa settling?

I saw a detail for him is very important. Costa was comfortable in an uncomfortable game. He was fighting every time, knowing he has better quality than this. At the same time, I saw his attributes. He could show these skills for the first goal in the cross. If the global performance was medium, we cannot say high or low, he played with experience and created hope in us. Forest game, he made a difference when he come on.

Loans - six into five spaces

No headache. Headaches will be if I forget about this rule. Then we get a penalty and lose points.

Documentary - watch it?

No.

Nketiah - other positions?

The player can play elsewhere than as striker, but his best is as a striker. In the last game he had contact with the goal scored and missed too. He performed like the team - medium. In the goal, he showed his skills too. He did a surprise movement. Easy to solve. To arrive in this space at the right tempo, is not easy as when you are watching.

Wigan - expectations?

Usually, we are not facing teams who come to attack us. Usually, they want us to create mistakes and create counters. I cannot imagine their strategy. Maybe, it’s a similar as to what I said.

Roberts and Ayling time frames

Week by week, evaluations of the injury process. Roberts before Ayling. No dates. We are not talking soon.

White has impressed - has he surpassed expectations and how important is he to how you play?

Like I said before, Ben White was a recommendation of Victor Orta. It was difficult to think he would have the performance he has had so far because the reference we had was game not in the Championship.

He has a lot of steps to give and the most important one is how he reacts when he does not play well. So for example, the keepers can be important and have a good memory because they have a mistake at the beginning of the game and think about it, it makes them play worse.

If you move this idea to a centre-back it’s very important to see how he reacts when he has a mistake.

Pride in the documentary - people wanting to remember last season?

I did not watch it because it’s uncomfortable to watch what I am involved in. I know it’s high quality. The fans have to evaluate it. Of course, this type of films have a link with success. The success we didn’t have last season. Maybe, it looks like the documentary is out of time. I think Leeds is over the lack of success of last season. In the football world, we have a lot of sentences about love for things. The idea of these sentences is you have a greater feeling when you face greater adversity. Like the songs the fans are signing in stadiums. They broke the link between success and love for teams. Right now, in this world, it’s not typical because nowadays we put value into what we get. The people who go to football are not same as those who go to the theatre. This documentary goes in the direction of this feeling Leeds has. Football has a lot of good messages to give, a lot of these happen on the pitch, but a lot happen outside the pitch. Someone told me a record - why feel more about something the fans are watching the game and where they are watching the game(?)

I was thinking this documentary starts with one person filming behind the goal. He is not watching a lot. Then to multiply this person, we can say there are some who cannot watch and go to the stadium. It talks a lot about football and a lot about football from one place we never watched. Attractive for the fusion of the things. The car a player has, or their house. Those who go to watch football and film it rather than watch it is making the game bigger. If I love someone, even when they are not giving me success, to have the illusion of winning is the key. If I go to the stadium, when I cannot watch, and still go, it means the key is the feeling you have, the emotion.

This type of behaviour should make us feel proud of this. Sometimes I read about a new house of Hazard or car of Ronaldo. This type of information is missing the real history of the people who suffer to do the things. These facts create a barrier to the fans. The message goes to one side more than the other.

I am not saying this to justify why I did not give the fans many wins.
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