Big talking point from the game, other than the result, [was] the injury to Archie Gray. Is he okay? What are your thoughts on the incident?
We're hopeful it's not too bad. He was in some pain initially, when they assessed it after the match. They're hopeful nothing's broken and it's just an ankle sprain. We'll see exactly the severity of it in the next couple of days, but hopefully not too bad.
And just overall, it's two games in this tournament, are you pleased with the way this is going in Australia?
It was a good match. We had some new players on the pitch. We did that intentionally to try to help them understand what the level of these games are like. For the most part, in the first 60 minutes, we had a good performance. We maybe had a couple too many mistakes that afforded them a couple [of] chances.
If we're a little cleaner in some of our transition moments, maybe we can find a way to get our goal. We're now better in build-up phase than we were last year, but now we have to have that lead to better moments in the last third, some connections and some movements and some ideas of how we want to unbalance the opponent. We still have some work to do on that and we'll focus on that in the coming days and weeks.
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Then defensively, a couple [of] things with our backline: sometimes we're a little bit too tight and when they play big switches, where we can't get enough pressure on the ball, so there's a few adjustments we need to make to tactically help deal with some of these moments. That's what pre-season is for, to integrate new players, to keep working on some tactical understanding and to make sure fitness-wise, health-wise, we're moving forward. We were able to check a lot of boxes in that sense.
How did you find the atmosphere today at Suncorp and what was your general feeling about the game?
The good part about coming here is the games feel real, even for pre-season, there's good energy in the stadium, you can feel the passion from both sides of the fan bases. Amazing to see the support for both clubs here in Australia and certainly, we've enjoyed the chance to interact with our fans, to play in front of our fans and to feel the passion of what they bring. The pitch today wasn't perfect, it would be nicer to have a little bit better [of a] pitch to play on, but in the end, this is about moving our group forward day by day and that part has been good.
Kristensen was excellent today. How’s he settled into the squad and what are your thoughts about his presence in the locker room?
Rasmus, he understands me well. We worked well together for two years in Salzburg. He understands the tactics. All the new guys have commented on how much they've enjoyed being in the environment of what the team is and they feel the passion and the importance of what the club is. Rasmus has integrated himself really well and in two matches performed quite well. We'll need him to continue to push himself and adapt to what we're trying to accomplish here with the team.
A few words were exchanged between you and John [McGinn] after that contact, were you pretty disappointed by that tackle?
No, I was yelling at the ref and he thought I was yelling at him and so I told him to not worry about me and play the game. There were some hard tackles and maybe if the ref gets control of the match a little bit more throughout the game, then then it doesn't lead to the aggressiveness, but it's normal. It's the Premier League and every player on the pitch wants to send messages they want to play and both teams want to send messages they want to be good this year. In the end, it was fine.
Are you happy with where you're at, at this time?
Fitness-wise, yes. Football-wise, still more work to do. Integration of the team coming together: very positive and some good individual performances, for sure. And now continuing to push to make ourselves better and better and achieve our potential. On a daily basis, for the most part, I would say it's been very positive.
Unfortunately, no [Junior] Firpo to start the season. How much of an impact is that to the team?
The unfortunate part is Junior had been having a really good pre-season and he's grown a lot since I've been here. He's going to be an important player for us. Leif Davis has stepped in and even when I spoke to him, I said ‘I don't want to treat this like a trial, but the reality is, it is kind of a trial.’
The penalty is a little unfair. When your hands are in close by your body, I'm not sure those should be given as penalties. It's always a little bit of a grey area, but certainly the first one is definitely not a penalty. In the end, t's good to see him playing against Premier League talent and, for the most part, he did okay today, but obviously the challenge for him is big because the level’s high.
Illan [Meslier], what was the feeling like saving that penalty in front of all the fans?
[Meslier answers and then Marsch speaks].
Let me reference Illan, really quick. Since I've been here, I've even seen him in a short time grow a lot. We know he's a big goalkeeper with massive potential. He continues to find his presence within the group. He's very likeable, but we also need them to be a real rock and a leader in the team. He's relishing in this moment, he's been really sharp all pre-season and I've been excited for him to now get on the pitch and play a 90-minute match. It was a really good game for him, really good.
Jack Harrison was asked about his future after the game and said ‘we’ll see what happens.’ Are you anticipating interest or bids for him?
There has always been interest in Jack, like many of our players, but I know Jack is also very happy here and that he's done a really good job, that he's a big part of what we're doing. Of course, there's always possibilities big transfer offers come in and then clubs have to decide how it fits and what are the best options moving forward, but for me, Jack Harrison is a big part of our plans moving forward. We're counting on him this season for sure.
Sam Greenwood: what is he? Does it matter he identifies with a single position?
First of all, he has a lot of flexibility to his game. He's played six, eight, 10, he can play striker. In some ways, it's not fair to him to try different positions, but he's an intelligent player. He fits within what we're trying to build within our team. He's a hard worker, he's an intelligent guy, he's able and that's the reason why we use him in a lot of positions is because he's very adaptable. He understands tactics and his role and he has big talent. We made the decision to go with Archie today just to give him a little bit of a run and it was unfortunate Archie picked up the injury, but Sam stepped in the game and did quite well.
Brenden Aaronson played really well today. Is he progressing how you’d hoped?
Brendan is obviously a very hard worker, covers a lot of ground in matches and then he's a very intelligent player. He understands tactically what we're trying to achieve with and against the ball. Then it's about continuing to add the last actions with assists and goals, but I know him and I know his cleverness and intelligence and quality.
That will come more and more and it's good for him, to be in this match today and to see the level of physicality, to see the speed of play and to adjust. I'll say this: when he first came to Salzburg, the first training session, I thought ‘he's in over his head here, he's going to have to adjust to all of the level of what's happening.’
Within two weeks, he was almost our best player. That's the quality he has because of intelligence, because of his desire, because of his hard work, he's able to apply his talents rather quickly and adapt and grow. We'll need that again. He's going to be an important player for us this year and for the first match against Premier League talent, he had a good performance.
We have only seen glimpses of Sinisterra, how’s he getting on?
He's clearly a clever, explosive player that can make plays. We thought about starting him in this match, but Dan James is suspended for the first match. So we're trying to get the balance right of how to integrate him and make sure he's got minutes under him and fitness, but probably the closer we get to playing [on] August 6, his minutes will drop a little bit and Luis’s will pick up so we'll see [at Crystal] Palace, Luis is likely to start that match. He's really warmed himself well to the team. He's shown his quality every day in training and we'll continue to integrate him in a way where he can really help the team and show what he's all about.
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