Injuries
So I'll give you a few updates on a couple of things. So Archie Gray has turned into a little bit of an ankle injury and so we're in a situation with his age and he's still growing that we have to shut him down for about six to eight weeks. It's a little defect that he has in his ankle that kind of got highlighted when his toe got broken. So it's unfortunate. I spoke to Archie a little bit today he's obviously down about it, but we think given his age and his maturity, physical maturity, this is the best thing for him.
Adam Forshaw has been training hard back out on the pitch and if the Tottenham match was maybe three days later, we would consider him probably eligible for the match but it at least means that he should be ready, when we get back after the World Cup to get into training and get himself back to 100%. Stuart's making great progress as well and we'll see how that goes but maybe we get him on the pitch at some point towards the end of December, early January.
And then Patrick is out for this match. Still hasn't recovered. Klichy, he took a knee to knee knock in the match against Wolves and he'll be out and then the other one is Jack Harrison is a little bit questionable with a muscle strain but we're hopeful that in the next 24 hours he can recover and be available for tomorrow as well.
Back to back league wins, dramatic circumstances. Fantastic, fantastic wins both of them. What have you done to change maybe the resilience within the team or to build that belief that you can come from three one down against anybody?
Yeah I mean, we've been talking a lot internally and now I guess externally about being winners. That in a lot of these matches that we're right in the match. You know that the way that the games have gone, that it's often very even and we have to be more poised to capitalise on those situations and stay strong and stable. Even though you know the match can open up a little bit more in the second half. It can be a little bit more fragile defensively, but it also means that the opponent is a little bit more vulnerable in those moments and that's what was good to see in both of those matches that that we were able to capitalise and and we looked in those matches like we were going to win.
You've got three players going to the World Cup. It's the last round of games before the World Cup. How much of a concern might it be? Not just for you, but maybe you've discussed this with your fellow Premier League managers that the last weekend before the World Cup, nobody wants to get injured.
Yeah, I mean, listen, of course, with our three guys. We want them to have a great World Cup and have a great experience there. I always think as a player the way to get injured is to play to not get injured. And I think that Rasmus, Tyler and Brendan have all committed to the games and have their minds fully grounded in what's necessary for us in this last match and I think they also know that that will prepare them the best for the World Cup. So with us, you know, some teams have 10 guys 15, 20. Man City, I don't know, maybe their entire squad. But for us, I think you know, the first part is we're happy for those three guys. They've they've been playing at a very high level. We're disappointed for a lot of our other guys that maybe just missed out barely because like Rodri and Diego today, they found out that they weren't in. I think Robin has has had such a good season so far that he was a possibility for Germany. Patrick and Jack were on the 50 man squad. Even Pascal was in the squad, Klichy winds up not making it, a bit of a surprise. So you know, we're disappointed for those guys. And we want our guys, the other three to stay focused right now and then have a great World Cup.
Couple of questions we're asking all the managers today, first of all, who do you think will win the World Cup and why? And then the other one is, well, I'll ask you the other one after.
I don't care. And why I don't care because I find international football interesting, but I'm fully immersed in club football and they're like two different sports almost. So again, I just want our guys to do well, so that maybe the USA should I pick the USA to win.
Well, that answer my mind impacts your answer to this. How do you see the USA games going against England and Wales?
I think all of us are Americans first of all, are very optimistic about our team and our talent, our young talent. The group is manageable but not easy. And then I think everyone in the US anytime we play England, everyone gets really excited so I will be watching that match. I will be cheering for the US. And I know like their absolute best performance to have a chance. But I think that's one of the things that's uniquely American is that sense of fearlessness. And we almost thrive and enjoy the moments when the things are the hardest and when everyone expects us to lose. So we'll see, I'm looking forward to it.
Jesse on the Americans Brendon and Tyler, I spoke to them yesterday and Tyler in particular said he doesn't know any other way other than 100 mile per hour. So they haven't got a choice how they attack this game, Leeds players?
No and they know that. You know and we made a strategical decision to not travel a lot of our players that we thought would be playing in this match against Tottenham to keep them fresh, to keep them ready mentally, physically, and to give us the best chance to go down there and give our best effort to get the three points. I think that they've been really sharp this week. I came back Thursday, you know we were all a little tired from travel and everything else but then coming back you could see the freshness in the group that had slept well and was ready for the for the match on Saturday and training was really good and I expect him to push and be ready.
You've got three guys you mentioned that are definitely gotten the World Cup that others might go depending on injuries. But you've still got to manage the disappointment those that haven't gone. Probably Mateusz Klich is the biggest name that hasn't gone, how do you manage that and how do you make sure doesn't affect the rest of the season when they come back?
Well, it's funny, I mean, it was a little bit of a roller coaster for Klichy in the last week. Like about a week ago he felt he was out, there was communication going around Poland and so he felt he was out and then a few days ago they were still deliberating I think on the squad and then maybe he heard that there was maybe a chance and then by the time I spoke to him on match day against Wolves when the announcement was coming out, he kind of figured that he was probably out again. So there was a couple things happen happening internally in Poland, one of which is the manager came from the youth team, either the 21s or the 19s or something like that and and he's more comfortable taking more of the younger players. And so that kind of left Klichy in an awkward situation. But you know, I mean, if you know Klichy he's a positive guy. He's a guy that loves football. Obviously he's disappointed everyone wants to go to the World Cup but his mindset and his mentality to be in the moment here and give everything to us has been really good.
Against Spurs, Willy Gnonto are you expecting him to start? do you don't expect at the start? Jackie Harrison has a problem you say, a muscle problem and he played midweek. Good chance that Gnonto might start?
Yeah, I think if Jack seems a little bit questionable then it becomes a real possibility. I think Sam Greenwood as well played really well when when he came off the bench. So it's a little bit what tactic we decide to use. You know, is Willy a better fit or is Sam a better fit to supplement what we would require from Jack but regardless, I think that both played really well against Bournemouth, both played well when they came on against Wolves and I know that both will be ready.
Details of plans once Saturday nights over?
They will all have a week off. Then we give them a physical programme for another week to do on their own so they will have two weeks off but the first week they do absolutely nothing. Then we come back into 28th here and we do testing and then James won't allow me to be as open as I want to be with but when I have information I usually give it to you guys. So but that's not what I'm supposed to do. Okay, but yeah, but we have a good plan and I think we have some good opponents and then we'll have most our team together which is which is a positive.
I just want to go back to the team that the played against Wolves including the four debutants, three of them youngsters. How important is it for them to have that pathway into the first team and how pleased were you with with the three guys that I think played a very good game?
Yes. Yes, I agree with you completely. I think that Mateo, Sonny and and Darko all played very well. I wasn't surprised. We work diligently with all of our young players, really all of our players with with the individual development plans with trying to communicate with them through video and statistics on ways that they can improve. How training the things that we want to try to achieve with them and the most important thing for young players, I think, is to just show them belief. And we've done that. And I give credit to Skoobs and Pudge in the 21s, coaches and coaching staff and the environment that they've created there and how they've really attached themselves to what we're trying to do with the first team. I think it gives a real pathway for all these young players to see that they can be first team players for Leeds United, so that was a big moment for them and for us. And again, I was really disappointed with, especially given the way we played, we could have easily won that game. We maybe should've, it's another game where somehow we find a way to lose it instead of finding a way to win it. And that's a little bit where we are with the team we are and the youth that we have that we're still a little naïve in certain moments. But we believe in a lot of the things we're doing here, we believe in our players and we're going to keep pushing to get better and again make them all winners.
Like yourselves Tottenham suffered a defeat in that competition. What are you expecting from from Tottenham and Antonio Conte?
I mean, Conte in general doesn't always do a lot of rotation. You know, he has a group that he works intensively with and almost protects very carefully. I know from when he's travelled to the US many times with different teams, Juventus or whatever. And he's known as one of the guys that keeps a closed environment more than anyone else that comes when they make these tours of the US. So this is his leadership style. I think at the moment that Tottenham has had a lot of games, they've rotated a little bit but not that much. They have such a quality squad. Playing at home they're always good and what an incredible stadium and fan base they have. So we know that this is a big challenge once again, against the top opponent in our league, that is disciplined to play the way that they want to play. But the beauty of where we are is we are not perfect but we are also not afraid. We have shown that this year that we are not afraid of top opponents and for sure we are going to go down to Tottenham and we are going to play confidently and we are going to go after the game in every way.
Finally from me in terms of after this game, you've got the World Cup break. Is that a help? Is it a hindrance with results? And is it like a mini preseason again for the players left behind?
No it is I mean, the season in general has been quite segmented. I think any chances to have a little bit of a pause are always a chance to revaluate, to gather ourselves mentally and physically, to really go full gas at it again. That's the way we will use it. What you know, in football in general is that the mental grind can sometimes be bigger than the physical one. And I think in this league and maybe with all the guys in this room here, you make it even more so. No I don't you, guys are fair enough. But this is the reality. It's the attention to this league and the attention to the pressure of the expectation of our club and everything, means that any kind of break that we can gather to sort of recharge our batteries and make sure that when we go at it we go all the way because that's what the demands are so I think it'll be a good chance for us to gather and then the national team World Cup guys, I think they'll be ready as well and then and then when we get back at it, we have some big challenges ahead of ourselves again,
I'll speak for all of us to say you know, enjoy the break.
Okay, thank you. You too.
How much is Joel pushing Illan this season? And is this the first time in a while that he's really been challenged as the number one?
I mean, I wouldn't really be able to speak much on how it has always gone in the past but Illan is our number one. Like there's no doubt. However, my idea, our idea was to get Joel. Let's start from square one. We wanted a veteran goalkeeper to come in to help push the our young goalkeepers competitively every day and to help provide a little bit more experience as to what the position can look like with savviness and understanding and controlling of the match through that position. And then a guy that knew what the role was and could commit to it all the way in a selfless manner. And I I've told Joel from like the third week that he was here that I could see he was the perfect guy and that we made an absolutely fantastic decision to bring him here. And I've encouraged him to continue to be himself, to integrate himself, to be a leader in the group, to certainly help Illan and Kris but to also push them and I think he's done that perfectly, literally perfectly. And I thought the match he played against Wolves showed all of his qualities which isn't just his technical and tactical ability, but his feel of the game I thought was incredible. So this to me is what young goalkeepers need, right? They need to understand how to manipulate a game in a way to be in control of every moment. So it'll be important for Illan and for Kris, they've accepted him really well. I think he's challenged them. But I think it's been in a real positive way and I think it'll be key for them to learn from him.
What's the situation with Cody, he wasn't involved in midweek? Could we see him go out in January?
The plan was to have him in the squad and he said he wasn't physically ready. He said he felt he was injured so then we didn't put him in the squad.
I just wanted to ask him, whenever a young players talk shows his talent in the in the U21s or whatever, there's always a clamour for fans and the media to throw him in as soon as possible. I just wonder how you sort of assess when a player like that is ready to make the step up to Premier League?
Yeah, first one of the challenges is between the 21s and the Prem, is that the gap is pretty big, right? Like, even when you see our team, defend set pieces against Wolves versus when they're in the 21s, those like physical parts in the mentality moments of what the Premier League is, is night and day compared to the 21s. The tactical part, the technical part, their ability to fit into the speed of play, they can manage that fairly well, but it's often the power at which the game is played at the highest level and that is the biggest challenge. I like giving young players opportunities because I've very seldomly been let down. When they've shown that they're making progress and when again, you give them belief in themselves and in the process typically they overachieve and and then once they overachieve and get the taste of success, that can really motivate them to get even better. I mean, we can use plenty examples even since I've been here, which is I mean, the number one right now is Cree. But I think for Mateo, Sonny and Darko and you can throw Leo there, I mean Leo's played in Prem matches before but Leo, for me specifically second half I thought he really grew into the game and played really well. But I consider him more almost part of the first team because he's a little bit, not necessarily older but he's been around it a little bit more and is a little bit more mature from that perspective. But I think again, all four of those guys have big potential and then once you add in Cree, Willy, Joffy and Sam and then you start to feel like we've got a real core of young players that have a chance to be quite good.
And you've obviously mentioned that sort of disappointment for some of your players who've missed the World Cup. I just wonder whether you mentioned about Jack Harrison being on the provision of this, as an uncapped player, you think that it's done a lot good for his confidence at least being in the thoughts?
I think in general I think all the guys, even though they've been disappointed, processed it in a mature way and knew in some ways that it was a bit of a long shot, and wanted to give themselves the best chance by performing well. And, you know, like I spoke to Robin yesterday about it, and that's what I said to him. I said you did everything you could, like it's never easy to accept letting your dream slip. But the best way to process it is often knowing that you put your best foot forward in every way to give yourself the best chance and Robin's sort of in that category too. I think he's been called in maybe once. So you know, and for the most of these guys, they're still young enough to be considered yet again. And now the next World Cups only three and a half instead of four years away.
It's kind of a strange time to be asking you about January, but by the time we come back, the window will be open virtually open. How much have you spoken about that so far? What do you think you need?
We've spoken a bit you know, I think in general whenever I look at windows I look at it as you know, sort of piece by piece and window by window. And I mean there's the two month project and what we think we need right now, then eight months and what is 14 months and trying to piece together how the cycle will present itself. We have targets. You know, I think we're smart enough to know that in order to achieve our goals, we want to continue to look at every position and think about how we can move forward in the right way. We also know that I think we have some young talented players that will continue to draw interest and so trying to figure out how to keep those players, how long we can keep them, what can entice them to stay and what that means to the pieces that we might need moving forward. I don't want to talk specific about positions. You know we talked enough about the striker position in the in the summer and I don't think that that's gone away but I think we're active, we've been active. This is one of the best parts about working with Victor is his clarity on what the market is and what's available and what are good fits for how we're trying to play football is quite good.
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