Jesse, loads to talk about, firstly the game, I thought it was a cracking game, but do you feel a bit hard by that you’ve not come away with all the points?
I'm pleased with the way we pushed the game at 2-1 but I'm very frustrated that it took our players to go down a goal at that point in the match to play to their potential and to play with their ability and to play with their fearlessness and belief. The first half for me wasn't good enough in terms of that we played backwards too much, we invited the opponent into the match too much. Even after we scored the goal we played backwards too much, it leads ultimately to the penalty when we're inviting them in into our end. That's not how we want to play. And so I have to find the pressure points, I have to push the buttons to get our players to perform like they're down a goal, I guess, or to play like they do when sometimes when we play against top opponents because they were nervy, we were nervy.
Did you not feel at times that you were better in possession then you have been in other games recently?
Yeah, but we knew we could be this match was different than the other ones. West Ham plays differently and so it required us to show a different side and a skill set. We talked about how at Newcastle in the first half we did some things well, but then in the second half we abandoned what we were trying to achieve with the ball. It was a game that if we would have stuck to the plan and actually executed in each role specifically with the ball, we would have been able to have more joy, find more chances and then be on top of the match and made sure that we wouldn't let them back in. But we didn't do that.
Read more: Mateusz Klich in tears as he is given emotional Elland Road goodbye ahead of Leeds United exit
Is frustration the overriding feeling for you?
A little bit of frustration and confusion about how to get them to be what I know they can become. How to be the team that I know we can be and how to have them remove this idea of pressure and stress and focus on exactly what the game needs to be and then perform at our level. So yeah.
Emotional scenes at the end, Mateusz Klich is on his way, why is he going, why is there not a need to keep him?
Well, this was not a black and white decision. This was a lot of different discussions Klichy being provided with an opportunity that he thought was a little bit more long standing and provided stability for his family and an opportunity to try something new. So him and I had discussions over the last three-four weeks that we're often unsure about what the final decision should be. And by the way, it's not finalised quite yet, it looks like it's going in that direction. We're all wearing t-shirts and I understand that makes everybody believe it's finalised. But even at this moment, I knew in a match like this when we needed more courage on the pitch that Klichy was the right guy to have because this is who he is, this is how he lives life, this is how he plays football.
So yeah, it won't be won't be easy to lose him. I think if we were to say between he and I we're not absolutely sure that it's the right decision, but I certainly wish the best for him.
How do you replace him?
We have enough quality in the team, but his personality, his courage, his bravado, that part will be tough to replace. I even said to the team, we have to find a way to have find our inner Klichy in all of us to make sure that we're ready to perform and every match.
So you’re not bringing somebody in to replace the hole?
Yeah, I mean, well, I don't want to talk about transfers, I'm sorry.
One you have done is Max Wober, why has he come in, what will he bring for you?
Well, the one thing I know about Max is that he's a leader, that he is very intelligent player and he's gifted. In that sense, he can play multiple positions. I think that as a starting point, that's how we will be thinking about him, how we can use him at left back or how we use Pascal little bit left-back/centre-back, he can play left centre-back, he can play as a six. So, I think just getting him into the group and getting him up to speed. I think he's a potential to play on Sunday. He looks pretty fit. He knows the principles of how we want to play. So I'm really hopeful in a lot of ways that he can help us perform at our best.
Adam Forshaw wasn’t involved at all tonight, is he a doubt for Sunday as well?
We had a little procedure done with him today that we think is a couple of days and then we'll see how he recovers. It's his hip that is causing him some issues. But we're hopeful that, it's like a little shot that can help loosen things up and hopefully help him with the pain.
It feels remarkable that a player who wasn't really supposed to sign until the summer has become so important so quickly. What can you say about Willy?
Well, I mean, Willy is one of the guys for me that does play brave, that believes in himself and I think has continued to adapt to the way we want to play, has gotten fitter, has shown that he can be an important player here. So obviously we're very happy with him, very happy.
Who do you see as being the beneficiaries of Klich leaving in terms of game time because he's played a lot in the last three?
Yeah, I mean, like I said he if you go just by games played, he's one of the top guys since I've been here and obviously over the years, he's played a lot and been a big piece of the team success.
If you go through it, I think Sam can be an option to play a bit more. I think Jack, we use him from the bench, but certainly he can be an option in that position and Willy and Cree can keep pushing themselves in sort of a 8-10 role. There's Darko, I think Darko’s close. I think Sonny and Mateo are pushing themselves so there's a lot of young guys I think that have potential to step in and see more time.
We’ve known for a while that the squad has needed a left-back but what would you say to people who are concerned that Max is more of a centre-back?
Well, I mean, the way we play now, we use our left-back often and build up as a centre-back so and by and by the way Max can play a pure left back he did that at Sevilla, he did it at Ajax, he did some in Salzburg, he's done it for the national team. So it's still in his wheelhouse. He's not a pure up-and-down left-back but we've been rotating more one of our attacking players out to play open on the wing a little and have our left-back be more of a three build-up or in the backline and part of the build-up.
What are your thoughts on Brenden at the moment? How do you feel he's been playing over the past few weeks?
Yeah, I mean, I went to Brenden I hugged him when he came off and then I went to him after the match and I feel for him right now because for whatever reason he's a little down, you can see it. Obviously, he puts a lot of responsibility on himself. One of the greatest things I've known about him is his ability to believe in himself and his ability to play with fearlessness. So we need to get him back to that. Obviously the league is tough and he has been identified as a player that's important for us and physically struggling to insert himself into matches but, he shouldn't he shouldn't be fazed. He should continue to believe in himself and push himself and move himself forward. So that will that will be certainly an emphasis with him.
How do you get more bravery into the players, then, Jesse?
You're absolutely 100 per cent correct and that is the question and I tell you that even when I had the conversation with you guys about being stressed, that has nothing to do with courage. I'm here in this position because I like to be in these situations and that's why I’ve even said to you about the start of the whistle, ‘The Man in the Arena’, when I talk to you about these things because it's where I want to be, and we have to make sure that we get that into our players. I said to them again, the inner Klichy, the guy who wants to be in the toughest moments that's not afraid that doesn't care almost. I think that it's a lot to do with the players care so much that they harbour so much responsibility on themselves and we have to free them to know that the only way to be winners is to play with belief and confidence.
I've got to figure out a way to continue. It's a talking point so often, but it's so interesting to watch us play against the giants, where we almost feel like we have nothing to lose, We can go into the game and we can go for it and push and if it's almost like ‘okay, if we don't get the points on the day, we just want to play at our best’. But when we play against a lot of times against opponents that we're equal with or around the same level of, we don't play to our level because we're afraid that we need those points so badly. But again, if you're afraid of losing, the best way to lose is to play with fear. And I'm trying to make that very clear to them.
I guess with Mateusz Klich, then, you are losing somebody with a lot of experience, forgetting about his ability, he’s someone who knows what it’s like and how to cope with it?
You're absolutely right and it's why from the beginning I wasn't totally convinced that this is the right decision for him or for us. But I want to say I'm very happy for him. Very happy for him.
There’ll be fans asking with a player under contract why you can’t just stop him going. Can you just sort of explain?
Yeah, I mean, it is I think there's a respect level for what Klichy has achieved and who he is within the team and there's been a lot of dialogue outside even my decisions. This is in the end, I think, a club decision and a decision for Klichy. Obviously I take part in that but I don't define what we do. I'm always supportive and we make decisions together but this is done from several different levels. Again, we're happy for him. I said to him yesterday, ‘I'm sad to see you go’ and he goes, ‘yeah, everyone is’. But that's a little bit of Klichy’s personality and we are sad to see him go.
Can you just talk us through how you tried to use Summerville?
Yeah, we had them in the midfield a little bit when we were against the ball and then we rotated them out why to be like a winger position with the ball. We do that with a few different guys and we have a different way of rotating our 4-3-3 and when we go with four in the back where we go with three in the back and build-up and then what the rules are.
The fear is that because it's the Premier League and the quality of that or the size of Leeds and expectations or a bit of both?
I think it's the desire of the team. I think it's the passion of the fanbase and the passion of the club. I think it's the inexperience right now, we have a little bit as a team, we've got a lot of young players. I think it's the level of the Premier League and the table situation. Everybody here wants to achieve at the highest level and I'm just trying to help them tactically, I'm trying to help them with the mentality, I'm trying to help them with the belief they have in themselves, with the belief in the way we're playing, with the development that they're showing as players as individuals and it's a comprehensive project. What I just want to see is us performing for major portions of matches, like, at our best. If, from the 47th minute on, we play the whole match like that and we lose of course it would be frustrating that when we play like that to not get the points, but I could at least feel good about the fact that we're giving our best. But when you put it all together we're not there yet. We're not there. That's our reality, and I have to figure out how to get them there.
Jesse, just so I’m completely right, with Klich, basically, he's been given a contract offer of a certain length that Leeds can't match and if you kept him until the end of the season that opportunity might pass him by?
Yes, that opportunity might pass him by.
So you feel you owe the player?
Of course, he wants to play more. He wants to play all the time, but he loves it here and he loves the direction of the team. I couldn't promise him that we were going to play him as much as if he goes somewhere else but I could tell him that he was still a big part of what we were doing. The reason why I talk about it like this is because it wasn't black and white, it was an open discussion amongst multiple people here and in the end this is the decision that was made that we all feel was probably the best for all parties.
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