Injury and transfer update
“First I’ll go with injuries. An update on Rodri, when it pops out it’s about as good a case scenario as possible. That means it doesn’t need surgery and that hopefully in three to four weeks it’ll calm down. Maybe it takes a bit longer, maybe it’s a little shorter we will see. He feels good, confident that he will be ready fairly soon so we’re kind of targeting after the international break. Everyone else is in training except for Stuart Dallas. Junior Firpo, Luke Ayling, Liam Cooper, Patrick Bamford all back so some decisions exactly on which guys are ready to go for the weekend but they’re all in training looking healthy, strong and ready to go.
“The only other thing I am going to give you which is probably a disappointing update is I’m not really ready to talk about transfers because I haven’t spoken to Victor. I’ve just got off the training pitch and I know there’s a lot going on over at Elland Road but I haven’t heard exactly what yet. Sorry about that.”
How do you see today planning out?
“I think he’s active, we spoke when the day started there was different discussions about strikers but not sure how it will play out and haven’t had an update yet.
Dan James?
“Yeah, I don’t want to comment about Dan James’ situation right now either.”
Brentford, happy memories – tap into that?
“Obviously we have good memories of playing down there last year, the situation is completely different now. I think Brentford have had a great start, had a great season last year and is a team that is very clear with the way that they play football. Certainly when you talk about Brentford you have to talk about set-pieces and how effective and creative they are. That was what the preparation was solely about today, looking at Brentford from what they do at set pieces and what we need to be good at on the day. Like always we’ll be expecting a tough match and again, you see some similarities between games that we've played so far and a lot of things that are different. For us I think it’s really important we understand what exactly we think the opponent is going to present and then play to the way we want the game to look and try to see if we can pull that out of each moment. We’ll show tomorrow more Everton moments and how it applies to Brentford but I thought when I watched it back again, especially the second half, but also there were a lot of really good moments in the first half. We played quite well, were in command of the game and if we can be a little bit sharper with some things we could’ve walked away with a win and come away feeling really good about that match.”
Bamford – ready to start?
“First I think yes that he can. We’ll have to make that decision but we could start with both Joffy and Patrick, it’s something we are speaking about as well. I thought Joffy played well and I thought Patrick played well when he came on. I thought Luis Sinisterra had a good match for 64 minutes so we have some more options which is a nice thing to have.”
Will you be glad when today is done?
"You always have these transfer deadlines and figure out how to manage them. Victor and Andrea have worked so hard in the last three weeks so I think they could answer that question more affirmatively even more so.
"But again, we like our team, we think we've done a good job on this window so let's see what happens.”
No movement in or out – happy?
“I like our team period, but obviously the whole time we've been trying to figure out ways to strengthen. We feel really good about the group, that was the thing I said to them today in our meeting.
Frustrating it’s down to the wire?
“I think that's always almost the case. Things pop up in the 11th hour that weren't there a month, two months ago. Let's see."
Abiding memory of Brentford in May?
“Celebrating with the fans after the match, celebrating with the team in the locker room. I joked with so many of my American friends where in the US it’s all about finishing first, that’s all that anyone cares about. I told them that 17th can feel like first as well. But now’s the new season, a new moment, a new opportunity for us against a good team. Not that they had a bad performance on that day, but clearly their season was over. Even after the game all their families were together and they walked around, back in the Premier League, finishing their first season, staying in the league was a big moment for them too I think. They weren’t totally focused on exactly what the game required whereas this time they certainly will be.”
Chalk and cheese to fixture last season?
“Yeah, I think Thomas Frank has done an incredible job with his team. They have such continuity, such clarity. I love set pieces so a lot of time I watch them, I think about what I could steal from them. Then I think even the variability of the way they play makes it a difficult opponent to prepare for. Really good talent on the pitch, a good club that has done a really good job of moving up the ranks and now being a top Premier League team as well. It’ll be a big challenge.”
Of the returnees – likely to start?
“I’d say Liam Cooper is probably the closest to being ready to start. The others may be more considered of whether they will be on the bench or not.”
How reflect on the window?
“In general I am a contributor to what we do on a sporting side with all the decisions we make. I am always laser focused on the personnel we have in the team and how to help our team develop and grow every day. It just means my phone will be ringing a little bit less which I will appreciate. But we’ve done a good job of not letting any of the noise bother us and I think stay really concentrated on what’s valuable for us from game to game.”
Harrison – massively important?
“Yes Jack has been great. From day one I think he’s been one of the players who has adapted best to what we’re trying to do now. I think he’s having a really excellent start to the season and so he’s happy here. I haven’t even discussed anything with Jack about transfers because for us it’s a non-negotiable situation. Jack has even more room for improvement and I think he will continue to do so.”
How close is this Leeds to the one you envisage?
“We’re still a long way away, a long way away from being the exact team I believe we can become. We’ve obviously had a good start and I said to the team today, if you take the 12 weeks from when I came before the match against Leicester, to the game against Brentford, we didn’t make that much progress in that time, partly due to the stress of the situation. Compare that, it hasn’t even been 12 weeks from the first day of pre-season until now, we’ve made leaps and bounds. Now the goal over the next 12 weeks is to match that kind of development and to continue to build on that week after week and period after period. It will take a few transfer windows, and time to move things forward but at the same time I am very excited about the possibilities of what we could do here and it’s because of the club, people, players and I think the commitment to excellence from a work perspective is the better than anywhere I’ve been. It gives us a real chance to grow and get better.”
Touchline antics – what’s it like?
“I said to the team actually after we played Brighton there was a moment where Brighton had made a couple of decisions on the pitch and I was trying to explain to us that we can continue to work on our understanding of the game and how to make the right kind of decisions. I showed that was up and Graham Potter was not, and I said listen we have different styles but the goal for me is always to sit down and allow the team to carry out exactly the plan because they’re so clear on what we are and we’re working towards that. But we’re not there yet. Some of the emotions you see from me are towards the referee at times. I do feel like in the last two performances we can get a better performance but I understand that they’re always humans and they have bad performances sometimes too. We have a lot of referees that retired last year. We went through this in the managerial meeting that we have a lot of new referees that haven’t done many Premier League games and it will take time to adapt to the level and I understand that. I have empathy for them, I really do, I may not show it always but I do. I thought I was actually calm for the most part last game and tried to stay calm and I try to do that the best I can.”
Brentford – how well has Thomas Frank done early on in terms of keeping Brentford level headed?
“It’s hard for me but I look at them from a scouting perspective and I see angles from how they play and I can analyse the intelligence of how they play on the pitch, more than about the energy inside the team, other than when you read in the week leading up to when you play them and try capture where the mentality is of the opponent. However, from watching him from afar he has a really good demeanour, a good rapport with his players. From watching his team tactically I can see there is a lot of intelligence and variability in what they do. I already set set-pieces they are one of the best in the world so he has a way. That’s what I always like – when a manager has a way – I find that interesting and there’s things that can be learned from what they do. Again, for us it’s not the easiest opponent to prepare for because of all the types of things you have to understand, including long throws which could always say they’re incredible at. It will be a big challenge for us.”
How have you found working with Victor Orta?
"I think we operate on the same frequency, really, there's very few conversations we have - the only thing is understanding his English sometimes - I understand more his mannerisms and energy, even when I don't understand his English. We have a great relationship and he comes every day with passion and he listens. As much as he comes with energy, he's also a listener. When it comes to us having really important discussions, we can really quickly get to the core of what we want, which is effective and then I also think you have to include Angus and his ability to work closely with us and bring a calm presence and logically think about solutions in addition to the passion and emotion that he and I have. Victor is the reason I'm here more than anything and we continue to work really well together and have a lot of fun in the process."
How much communication do you have with the squad about recruitment?
"I'm pretty open with them, it's a good question. I explained with them today where the situation was, that's the way I am with you guys a lot. Not today, but normally, because I don't like having secrets in the team. I like everybody to feel secure with what we're doing and how it pertains to their responsibility and I find that if you invest in people that way and show trust then you get it in return. It's a respect thing but it's also what relationships are about. I want them to also understand the why, the why behind some decisions."
How would you describe the last 24 hours in the window, how it's gone and how satisfied are you with the targets?
"I'm satisfied. It hasn't been easy, it's required a lot of conversations with; agents, players, sporting directors, people. But that's important and I think in the end when you make decisions, when everybody has the information and understands exactly what we're trying to achieve. You have to start off on the right foot when you're bringing in new people and make sure there's real clarity on expectations and processes. Yeah, lets see. There'll be some difficult decisions even at the end to be made and we'll have to figure out how to make the right ones."
Is this where good planning comes into play?
"I think in general, why we acted so quickly from the beginning was because we didn't want to be stuck in massive situations at the end where we had to rely on a lot of other things. Then when a couple of targets didn't come through in the way we wanted, we had to think about how to manage the market in a way to fit with out budget and what we foresee as necessary within the team. I also think that getting the season started and seeing exactly where we were at was going to be important to figure out what we needed. There's a number of scenarios that have panned out to be more positive than even we had hoped and it's allowed us to be more patient. So, lets see what happens in the next few hours."
With everybody back, who is the best pairing at centre-back?
"I think Liam is an incredibly important person in this team and I think he brings a lot to us in all moments. Certainly when he's on the field, even coming off last year, looking at it, it was Liam and Diego and what they had accomplished. Robin has emerged as an incredible player and maybe our best player in our first five games. I think he's really inserted himself into the future in a really good way. Then Pascal, in this left-back quasi centre-back sometimes three build-up, sometimes four build-up, has also been fantastic, much better than we had hoped. All four of those guys are going to play a big role. I think there's competition now in the squad, in a really healthy and competitive way. I think guys understand that first, they have to be fit and they have to be sharp, and that the team is getting better, in order to stay on the pitch you have to be ready to perform in training. I've talked to a lot of guys, that I watch training every day, I run training every day and the main reason is I want to make sure that we're getting the most out of every single guy at every single moment. It looked like Diego and Coops but Robin has emerged and Pascal is playing great."
To what extent does your trust in Victor allow you to focus on Brentford?
"Yeah, I do trust Victor explicitly and Andrea has been a great partner as well. I always feel with recruitment, if you feel like you need to strengthen in a certain position, that you have option a, option b and option c. Maybe that's for salary structure one or transfer structure one, then you have transfer structure two in the same position. When we go through it, it's not just picking names out of the air but, if you know Victor and his team, they have this down to a science almost. One of the first meetings I had at Thorp Arch was with the scouting department and taking them through a style of play perspective and exactly what we're looking for in each position and what are the qualities and mentalities. I think that they've tried to carry that out to the best of their abilities. This is an important part of any club, maybe the most important part."
At this stage are you happy to leave Victor to it - you've clearly had an impact based on the players signed so far?
"Again, I think we have a strategy in place - A,B and C and to enact that transfer strategy. It's been a lot for him. He was in Holland last night and he's moving around. He's trying everything he can to create the right kind of relationships and seal some things that would help us. Lets see how that goes."
How would Bamford and Gelhardt starting together work in team formation?
"Joffy has played mostly striker here but if you were to talk to him he's more comfortable coming away from defenders and being more underneath than being on the last line. One of his strengths is his ability to move and his flexibility to move within both positions. In that sense, if you play with two strikers and Patrick drifts more on the last line, he drifts more underneath and is ready for some later runs, Patrick's ready at the right time to come underneath, we can create some tactical clarity and ease for them to play together, I think there will be times we do that. In there, is the factor that I think we're getting a lot out of Jack Harrison and Brenden Aaronson right now, and then I think Luis Sinisterra is going to emerge as a big player for us. We have other options in there as well, now that Rodrigo has the flexibility to play as a striker or a ten as well, I like that about all them and it gives us some flexibility to be intelligent and use them. Then it's just about educating them more and more on how to play with each other and what their roles are."
Have they been impressive paired together?
"First of all, they have a really good relationship. Patrick has really taken Joffy under his wing and tried to help mentor him in a way to help him grow and to be a really good striker. Obviously as the leader I love seeing that. I think Joffy loves it too. At one point, when Patrick was hurt last year, I think before the Brentford game, Patrick had Covid and he sent Joffy a to-do list almost of things that he should bee thinking about in the match. He sent it to me and said 'Do you think it's ok if I send this to Joffy?' I said 'Perfect. Do it. Great.' That's what I want. I want to leave room for leadership and I want these guys to believe they have a big role in developing the team."
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