Do your results recently send a message to the other title contenders?
There’s no messages to opponents, just to our players to do what we do better. That’s the only discussion around the squad.
How important has it been to bounce back after suffering bad results?
Really important. It gives you momentum, it gives you confidence, it puts you in a much better position on the table which is the most important at the end. The team is in a really good place and looking forward to the game tomorrow.
How’s Gabriel Jesus?
He’s not far now. I don’t want to give a timeline, but he’s doing certain things with the team and certain things outside the team still. He’s not very close, but he’s not very far. He’s feeling better every day and the doctors are feeling confident with how he’s evolving. We are in a good place with him, I think.
How straightforward has his recovery been?
It’s been pretty straightforward. At the beginning we were pretty concerned about the possible extent of the injury because there were a few options there and thankfully it wasn’t that bad. But it was a long-term injury, required surgery and it was not pleasing, especially the first few weeks. Knowing Gabi, he has been through that before, his mentality is just incredible and the team has done a really good job with him to put him in the position he’s in today.
How important is it signing Saka and Saliba to new contracts and can you update us on them?
Every player is very important. There are obviously players with special circumstances contractually and we are trying to deal with them. I don’t want to distract them in this moment with any of them. So the moment something has been done, we will announce it.
Do you take notice of results from the other teams with City playing first?
We are looking at the games for sure when they’re live before that. It can become a stimulus. But I don’t think there’s need for extra motivation. We know the difficulty of the challenge, we are looking forward to it, and we go game, by game.
Nketiah looked like he was limping at the end of the last game. Is he ok?
Yeah he was. We are assessing him. It’s a bit uncertain what will happen with him to be honest in the training sessions. Let’s see, let’s keep the options open. He’s very positive about it and hopefully he’ll be fine.
Is there a risk of Eddie being long term?
Hopefully not.
But you’re not sure?
No.
How’s Jorginho?
Jorgi’s fine. He had an illness, he was suffering, but he put in a great shift but we decided to take him off. He’s fine.
How do you see the Bournemouth threat?
I watch the games against Brighton, Wolves, Newcastle and Manchester City and to be fair I’m really impressed with what they are doing. They haven’t conceded much in those games and they could have had very different results in two of those games. The Man City game, obviously, the quality when they open up and they finish the actions it makes the score big, but they were really competitive again.
Do you have a plan for the run in?
We don’t look that far. We’ve never talked that far, but we always have a plan of what we do in the following weeks and we’ll assess where we are until a month’s time.
Do you have to call on your experience of the intensity of the spring time?
They know. A lot of them have already experienced it. They have challenged for different things, but the closer that it gets to the end the attention will be higher and the demands will be higher than it has all season.
What do you make of the story about how Newcastle were purchased?
I’m sorry but I’m not gonna make any comment on that.
Do you think we’ve seen your team’s full potential?
Much more to come. We can do things much better in many aspects of the game, we still have players with immense growth potential individually and collectively. As a club as well, we have stuff we can do much better as well. That’s the aim and seeking the right people to do that and take us to the next level.
Do you think Zinchenko is playing in his best position or can he play further forward?
He can and he adapts to certain positions that we have in a great way. Sometimes he occupies those spaces. We will see. Sometimes teams put you questions and you need Alex in certain positions. He can play wider and higher up the pitch as well and it’s good to have versatility in certain players.
How important has energy been to the team?
Really important, it’s part of our identity and the way we want to play the game. We demand that of ourselves every day and without that, I think we become an average team.
How hard is it stepping up from being an assistant to being a manager like Gary O'Neil has?
I’ve known him for many years because we’ve been in the league together, and I’ve been really impressed with what he’s done throughout his career and the way he approaches every game, the way he sets the team and what the team is doing right now. I know him personally as well, so I think he is doing a great job [at Bournemouth]. It is great to see managers of that age as well occupying those roles and doing well.
Could Jesus be back before the international break?
So you want me to give you a timeframe?! We don’t know, I’m saying we’re not far away but obviously he has to do much more with the team. Let’s see how the next week, 10 days develop and we’ll have a much better picture.
Does it say a lot that he's not necessarily guaranteed a starting spot when he comes back?
Probably that wouldn’t be fair on him because he was starting every single game and what he produced for the team was phenomenal. It is true that we need to see when he’s back what level he is, how we’re going to fit him in and how we’re going to load him with minutes and in which games. Like everybody else, he’ll have to earn his place but we know what Gabby can give to the team.
How much have you changed since your first game against Bournemouth?
That’s probably a question for somebody else, it’s not for myself to judge how I am.
What have you learnt since then?
A lot has happened, I have learnt a lot. I have had great moments, with a lot of people. They are experiences in your life that mark you forever, especially when you have a role like the one I have at the club. Looking back, I think it’s been a fascinating journey in the past three years.
Has Jesus started contact training yet?
There’s no contact (training) yet.
Could Jesus be playing in under-21s games before he rejoins the first team?
We need to see how busy the schedule is and where we have space between the games to fit that in. Whether we feel he needs that and how much we will get from it. There are some good questions we need to ask in the next seven to 10 days I think.
Do you think you'll play two separate teams now the Europa League is back?
It depends, obviously we haven’t have two teams available for the past five months. So we didn’t have more than 16/17 outfield players so that would have been impossible. Let’s see if we have the chance to do that, and if we want to manage the rotation in that way, it’s a possibility. But at the end players have to earn the right to play, and not because you have two games a week, so we will see what we will do.
Zinchenko popped up out of position for the assist for the first goal against Everton. Do you encourage that?
If he gives the ball away there and we have a counter-attack and they score, I would be really upset! But like every manager, he puts a great ball in, Bukayo is inside and he scores, happy flowers! We are all happy. He has the freedom to move in certain spaces like he does and the action where he receives the ball, especially in certain games where we face a certain block. But at the same time we require a certain discipline in positions to do what you have to do.
Do you have confidence that the team can cope with more injuries until the end of the season?
Yes because (losing Jesus) was a huge blow for the team first of all. We knew the importance of Gaby, what he was bringing to the team and the way he transformed this period and the belief and in the end the level of performance we could reach. But to be fair the team took a step forward, individually players took more responsibility and they were really keen to maintain that level. We have done that so far, it’s really pleasing to see players are not looking for an excuse or look aside and expect someone else to do it, but they took initiative and developing those leadership qualities is really important.
Have you seen players like Gabriel Martinelli step up in Gabriel Jesus' absence?
I think Gabi in particular was really good playing with big Gaby (Jesus) but we needed something different from the team and we had to adapt a little bit our way of playing because of the qualities Gaby has. That was really pleasing to see, so in general it went probably better than expected, and now we have to continue to do that, hopefully bring him back so he can help to take us to a different level.
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