Team news...
Leo’s recovered well from his appendectomy and he was on the pitch today but won’t be available for another week or so. Adam’s surgery went well and he’s eight days out and feeling better.
Archie was on the pitch as well today and feeling better with his broken toe but not available. Stuart is making good progress and we’re planning on bringing him along with us with whatever we do, hopefully we’ll have an announcement for what we do exactly in December soon. But he’ll be part of the group so that’s big progress there.
Everyone else is healthy including Junior Firpo.
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How has Bamford been this week and given recent results how much extra pressure is on him?
Firstly, it’s great that I think he's getting closer and closer to fully being 100%, which he knows he hasn't been in quite some time. So that part's really good. He's looked good in training this week.
I said after the match that he's part of the solution for us for sure, in terms of finding ways to score more goals, and that's what it is. It's getting him physically better, it's getting him fitter, it's getting him more up to speed with our tactics with everything we're trying to do and getting him sharper around the goal because we know he's always dangerous.
So I think he's very important guy and we need to keep them sharp, sharp and fit until we get to November 12.
And is that a case really then with the match fitness, it's just minutes if games that's going to do that?
Yeah, but it's also I think training loads, making sure that we're getting the most out of every day.
As far as this season is concerned, you've got about a quarter of the stage through. What would you say has pleased the most, about Leeds so far, and conversely, what's perhaps disappointed you?
I think that for the most part, we've played quite well through the runs of our matches. I feel like we've been in the match, and we know how competitive all games are. We haven't, other than Brentford, given up many goals, I think we've been more stable and much better defensively.
I think the biggest room for improvement is goal scoring. I think in moments when we're on top of games and moments, when we're in the opponent's end, it's turning advantages into chances and chances into shots and shots into goals.
Even when you look at expected goals and some of our games like, for example, the very first play of the match or one of the first play the matches when Jack wins the ball plays it to Patrick seven yards in front of the goal and then we don't even get a shot off, for example. That doesn't register even in unexpected goals when in reality that should be like a 90% goal. So we're still getting our cleanliness and sharpness and confidence and poise around the goal, to reward us more that's the biggest room for improvement.
And it's not just down to what you do on the training ground and really…?
It's keeping the belief in the group, keeping the clarity and the belief and the confidence in our attacking group that that they have what we need, and I believe that they do. Obviously, when we haven't had a result between the time off and the game situation we haven't had a result in a long time and obviously we feel that and we’re desperate to get this thing moving in the way that we all think to represent the progress that we've made. But there's more work to be done.
It would be massive progress if you were to beat Arsenal, what would that do for the team and what signal would it send out?
Mikel Arteta has done an absolutely amazing job. I think he's the most underrated manager, with a young team, he's built this up to be really complex, stable and I think exciting to watch. I think he's done an amazing job and it's taken him time.
He took a lot of heat in the beginning, but I think now you see the fruits of his labour and the fruits of their labour. Obviously for us, it can be a big boost for us to have a big result against an opponent like this. We are confident that at Elland road we can play the way we want. We believe that Arsenal is very good and we have to be very calculated with what our match plan is. But we want to be aggressive at the right moments. We still want to try to play our football, we want to challenge them in certain ways and we know we have to be at our best to have a chance against such an opponent. What it sends in terms of a message to everyone else is less important than what it means to us internally.
I see the work that goes on here every day, my belief in this group is as strong as it's ever been. I think the first half against Palace is the best that we've played since I've been here. So, you have to think of that as a positive but it winds up walking away empty because we don't get the result and we don't turn it into a 90 minute performance. We're growing and we're moving forward, but slower than all of us would like. That's for sure.
Jesse, just back on the team news, Harvey Sutcliffe who's been quite impressive with the U21s, how serious is his injury?
Yeah, that's been diagnosed as a torn ACL. So we were all very disappointed for Harvey. You're right. I think he has been a very good player for the 21s and he has flexibility with where he can play in the backline. I think he was initially shocked because he's done the ACL on the same knee before and so we were all with him in that but I think he's doing better now and he knows what the process is and he knows he came back really strong from it the first time and we'll get them taken care of and look after him and make sure that we get him back again, really strong fit ready to go.
The left-back area has clearly been an issue injury wise, but is Junior now fully fit and ready to play again and if he does is it tough on Pascal Struijk if he does lose his place?
Right now Pascal is playing at such a high level that we will start with Pascal on the weekend. But, we need to get Junior fully fit and healthy and he trained all week this week, he looks really good. He's still a real important piece for us as things go forward. We have a three-game week coming up so I anticipate that he will be ready to go and we will definitely need minutes from him and we'll evaluate exactly what we do for each match but he's ready.
And how big is that calculation up front, Jesse, because you said that goal score into the biggest sort of room for improvement, Rodrigo has got four, Patrick, at the moment is struggling for a goal, do to persist with him until it starts coming or do you rethink now?
Over the years, every striker I've had that's gone through a tough time or even a good time, they get criticised a lot more for the chances that they missed and then the ones that they make. And for me, I always look at strikers as are they fitting into the game the way we want them to and then are they at least creating chances for themselves, are finding themselves in front of the goal? Even if they're missing chances, I think if they're dangerous in the match, then it's only a matter of time before those moments are going to start to add up and that's how I feel with Patrick. So yeah, he hasn't scored yet this season but again, getting fit, getting him healthy, getting him training every day. In training, he's scoring goals in 21s matches and these kinds of things. He's scoring goals, so it's going to come it's going to come.
How much have you been lifted by knowing that Luis Sinisterra is available again?
Yeah, that's important for us because he's one of the guys in the attacking part of the field. That creates calmness that creates ease. He has a real clever way of playing football and has an ability to finish off play so we know that Luis will be really important.
There was a different stress when you arrived at the club, when you haven't won for five games in a different scenario. Does it feel a different kind of stress now as well? And how are you coping with it?
Yeah, I mean, listen, this job, it always has stresses. They come in different ways. My focus always has been just trying to help the group to be their best at every moment. We've had five tests now and we've passed some parts of the test but not fully passed it in completion and that's what we need. We need more times now where all the work that we put in, and all the progress that the group is making is adding up to more points, which then breeds confidence in the group.
So it's been my job to continue to find ways to keep them confident to keep the belief high to keep them focused on what's important and for them to believe in the process and commit to it. So it becomes harder. The job of a good leader and a good manager is when the results aren't coming to stay calm and help the group understand what the steps are necessary in order to get ourselves back in the form and get the results that will get us moving in the right direction. that's my stress right now. It's less about getting every result right now and more about just continuing to breed confidence and keep the group moving forward. Yep,
What’s Arsenal’s main threat?
I mean, I think the combination with Arsenal of the way they play and their clarity as to their roles, along with the individual quality that they have, makes them very difficult to deal with. I think that's what the job of a manager is, to take good players and make them better by introducing them into a system that feeds into their strengths.
Obviously the front three with the Martinelli, Jesus and Saka are incredibly dangerous and clever one v one, they're, all three, at the top of the league and one v one takedowns, one v one success. They're obviously scoring goals and getting assists in bunches. But then, the moment that you put in place a little too much attention on any one of them then Xhaka starts joining in and Odegaard and and they you know they have quality coming from all over the place.
So, for us, it will take a full tactical understanding and commitment on the day as well as individual performances in certain moments to manage what they will present. And the talking point has been very clear with what our tactics are for this match and then finding the players that can execute at the highest level and have good discipline but also play with confidence in the moments that we need quality in order to tilt the scale in our favour, which will be a monumental task.
It's awfully early in the season but do you see them as genuine title contenders?
You'd have to say yes, I have to say yes. They've looked very strong and they've recently played a bit against good opponents as well. I always do a thorough job of scouting with our team. It's not like I'm following every team through the season, you look at the table and you see that they're winning games you catch moments of games and highlights and we know that they're a good team and they have good quality. I always like also when teams and coaches improve and grow together and that's definitely something that's happened at Arsenal, a club that looked like they weren't going to be so strong about five or six years ago. Now all of a sudden to be back at the top of the table and playing the football that they're playing, it says a lot about the commitment that they've made as a club to find a process and stick to it.
Have you grown since you arrived here in February?
Yeah, the league tests you as a manager. I think in every way. Every match is a little different and assessing what we have, what we want to become, creating stepping stones for our players individually and as a group, how to get better and how to continue our process and get to where we want to be trying to accelerate that as much as possible, that's the focus. Then learning and seeing what's happening around the league and learning from opponents, learning how to play against opponents, earning what can be successful, learning what's not so successful. How to create workweeks that are clear and organised and concise so that the players can understand exactly what we're trying to do and commit to it on a daily basis. This is what it is I said last year when I came during the relegation fight, I had to use the all my experiences in my life to help us find a way to manage the moment and that's still where I'm at. The challenge of this league is at the highest level and I love it. I'm just trying to do everything I can to help the group every day.
How difficult is it to get consistency in this league, particularly this season when it's got breaks?
That's probably true but those are excuses. My job I think as a manager is to always try to maximise potential at any given moment, regardless of the scenario and find ways to use either more time or less time in whatever way necessary to prepare ourselves to get better and better. So, for example, I hadn't had any time to do man down tactics, and we did it more than when we had time and it helped us in the match when we went down against Villa and so that that winds up being a bonus for us. So just always try it and that's partly innovation at times because you're always presented with new situations and it's in its creativity, but it's also discipline to understand and experience to understand exactly what's necessary at every moment.
We know Luis is clearly a very, very important player. It's not hard to look at the team and consider it's probably going to be down to Rodrigo or Bamford to make way for Luis. Rodrigo starts the season brilliantly, I think we can see Patrick maybe as the long term aim, having him leading the attack. How hard is that going to be for you to make that call?
I think we have a little bit of an attacking core now that's emerging as all potential threats in the way we want to play. So yeah, we started with Rodrigo and Patrick against Palace and I think there's a lot of games where we can do that and Rodrigo’s flexibility I think gives us that freedom. And then you have Luis, Jack, Brenden who I think you've all had good seasons that are important to the team. I think Cry Summerville is also emerging more and more into that group.
At some point I'm going to have to say to myself, I've got to let Cry go more. I've got to find more minutes for him. I've got to let him show how good he is and he's making progress every day. I'll have to make decisions based on match plans and opponents and what's necessary in the season and then each match for what we need.
To challenge those other guys to be ready off the bench and you could throw Klichy in there because I think he's been ready at times I think Joffy has been pushing whether it's with the 21s or with the first team to try to get more minutes, so there's a lot to manage with that attacking crew right now and I'm just trying to make decisions based on exactly what we need for each match so that I can help the team as much as possible.
Where are you at with contract extensions in the moment? We know there's a number of important players with deals within 2024 and Luke's deal we understand to be up at the end of this season. Can you give us any of that and where those various talks are?
To be totally honest with you, I'm not always in tune with those things. That's more for Victor and Andrea to sort out with agents. I actually prefer not to know contract situations with players because I like to just treat them for face value for what they bring every day.
Sometimes when I hear contract details, just like now, I don't always like it because, I know that this is still a big part of our jobs and our business and the contracts mean a lot to people. But again, I try to stay focused just on the relationships, personal relationships. I have been working relationships I have.
Patrick gets talked about in pretty much every press conference for very obvious reasons. But how important is it when Patrick's fit that the other players don't sort of hide behind him, putting all the responsibility on Patrick to score the goals?
I don't think we have that dynamic. I think we believe that Patrick can be a big bonus for us and help us in the attacking part of the field, but I don't think anyone assumes that it's only his role. One of the things with attacking players in general, the makeup of attacking players is generally more selfish than defensive players. That's why defenders typically defend more and they're more unified and how they do things as a group and, and attacking players are a little bit more driven by individual goals and their ego to find those moments.
For me, it's more about taking the group we have and having them really understand how we work together. We had a good meeting this week where I was with the attacking players and Rene was with the defensive players. I spoke with them about what the game looked like, what we need more out of them, how to be more connected in moments, how to have more poise in the final third, how to sometimes be a little bit more individually driven by taking players on and being a little bit more creative and getting the balance right and all those moments and being an attacking player is probably harder than being a defensive player. Defensive players maybe harbour more responsibility for when they make mistakes because they give up goals but finding goals is the hardest thing to do in our sport.
You have to challenge those guys to understand the system and how they fit in tactically with each other but then give them freedom to go out and play and do the things that they do well and that's the balance I tried to strike as a manager.
You alluded earlier to the outside pressure that's been on Arteta over the course of his Arsenal career. How much do you hope a successful season for Arsenal might be a message to other chairman and chief executives as to the value of patience when managers like yourself are trying to build?
So I think that the support that I have internally in this club is better than anywhere I've ever been in my life. Now, I know that when you lose questions arise, that's normal from you guys, from everyone, from fans and I accept that. And it's my responsibility to make sure we lose as little as possible and my goal is to never lose. I'm not afraid of that. I accept that responsibility.
I take it on, take it straight on and I'm here to do the job and I believe that I'm the man to do the job. But I'm doing it with my staff, with my team, with the leaders in this club with my ownership, we're together and I feel incredibly supported and it empowers me, empowers me to do the job. I think is necessary to help us win
With Patrick, did you anticipate it might be the sort of season for him, stop-start did you think at this point he would be in full flow rather than where he is at the moment?
Well, we talked as a medical team that to expect Patrick to be after coming back from such a long, basically he almost missed the entire season, and I even spoke with Patrick at one point to say we have to manage you. We have to just every week be careful and even when making progress we have to understand how to slow it down at the right moments because it's normal that after such a long time out that it's not necessarily the plantar that bothers him, it's other injuries because his body's not used to performing at the level he needs to perform every week.
So how have we done on that? Probably not as good as I would have hoped, but I think we're still okay. I think he's fit and healthy right now. For example today he was given a down day he didn't train today. We just gave him a re-gen day and we've developed the sort of rhythm with him to make sure that we're providing him physically with what he needs to continue to build football-wise enough and training so that he's clear on his role and is getting better and sharper and more dangerous and cleaner and then and then we have to just continue to progress.
This team has obviously been built for a really specific system. How able is the squad to play differently if it needs to. How much do you coach adaptability for the periods in the games when it's not working?
I think in all sports right now there's dialogue out there about plan A, plan B. For me, that comes from people that don't know what this requires because everything that we do is about first of all being really good at a plan A and having a strong plan A but then always knowing how and when to slip to a plan B or plan C or plan D. In our sport, how that manifests itself, it can be use of formations, it can be use of subs, it can be use of starting line-ups, it can be use of how you choose to press a team, how you choose to possess the ball, how you manipulate your style of play for what other opponents going to present to try to manipulate what their weaknesses are and assess their strengths.
So every single week includes plan A through plan Z and for anyone to assume that good managers and good coaches don't have any other idea of how to be pragmatic would be incorrect. I think that would undermine the work that gets done by managers and coaches.
Jesse, you spoke there about goal scoring, do you feel you would like to move in the market in January?
We're going to have a meeting in a couple of weeks about the transfer window in the winter. It's a little bit early to discuss these things. However, that was clearly a target of ours and we will assess the attacking part of the field as we move forward and figure out what we need to add. Once again, when I've talked about this, I think the young group of attacking players that we have now is really exciting, really exciting. One of the beauties is when they're playing with the 21s and when they're training with us, they're showing that quality every day, and it's continuing to make me think about what's the right time to start to let some of these guys go a little bit more and give them more opportunities with the first team. That's one of the shames a little bit that the results haven't been better because then maybe I could be a little bit riskier or braver or whatever with some of the younger players. And I need to still consider that as we're moving forward no matter what because I want this to be part of our process and I need to be brave regardless. So I'm trying to evaluate every week what bytes to give these players because I think they're good. I think they're doing really well.
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