It felt like a big statement today...
I think the word to describe it is pride. When you have question marks you have to resolve them straight away. When you have the emotions we had last year in that dressing room, you have to feel them again, realise how nasty they are and then find a way to approach the game differently because demands were going to be different from last year. The boys did that extremely well so I’m really proud of them.
What did you say in the team meeting this morning when referencing last year’s defeat?
We had to feel it. It wasn’t enough just to talk about it, we had to feel it, we had to see it, we had to recognise our faces. Not just the players but what it meant for the staff as well. That’s football. You can win or lose, but that feeling that we didn’t do enough on the day, we had to put it right.
How did the players respond when you showed them the clips?
I was looking at the video so I didn’t see their faces. You don’t have to be a genius to see it. The word was pain and then the desire for revenge. I think they had that today in their bellies.
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How happy were you with how the players responded?
Really good. I think that was going to be really important for the game. It wasn’t only about playing and dominating certain phases, game management against them is something that is huge with the way they play. We had to do that even better than them and I’m really happy with how they’ve done it.
Where does today’s win rank?
Today feels the best because the last one feels that way. We have won at very difficult grounds this season. We’ve done it really consistently in different ways. This game demanded something different to Stamford Bridge or playing against Spurs. We did what the game demanded and that was really smart from us.
Eddie Howe thought the penalty decision changed the momentum of the game…
For sure it was very early in the game and they started the game brightly. That could have changed the course of the game. A few minutes later we scored, that gave us composure, calm and some ability to control the game and play the game they wanted to play very far from what they could do.
Was this almost the opposite to last season?
It was very different that’s for sure yes. It was needed. They are a very good team, the atmosphere they created is incredible so we needed a much better performance than any game we’ve played this season. I said to the players, to win today you’re going to have to be individually the best performance of the season. If not, you’re not gonna win here.
How important was it to show City that you’re not giving up?
That we are there, that we want to keep digging. The prize is there, not too far. The only thing we can do is keep insisting and not turn our backs and lose focus on something else. Be determined every single day. Let’s keep going and see what happens.
How important has Odegaard been this season?
The leadership he is showing and the level of consistency - which is what you demand from those leaders, that it’s not moments, it’s just every single day and home and away he had some huge performances, he’s really helping the team, he’s growing in the right direction and we are all very happy to have him.
Do you think your team could be accused of time wasting today?
For sure, our team is not like that.
Xhaka went down four or five times though?
I don’t even want to get close to that conversation with the game we had to play today.
Does this show the players are gonna fight to end?
It proves that we have done it today, now we have to prove we are able to do it against Brighton. It’s going to be a completely different game. Really demanding and we’re going to have to be at our best to beat them again.
We have done it for 10 months, 10 and a half months, now we have to keep doing it. We are there and now it feels very different to 10 days ago. And we have to now make sure that the momentum is there.
Did you do to Newcastle what they did to you?
We have done what we had to do to win the game and I am very happy with that.
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