What can you tell us about Saliba?
There’s not been a real improvement unfortunately on him, so we’re still waiting. We’re still hopeful, but another week has gone by and he hasn’t been able to train with the team.
Can you tell us about the specifics of the injury?
I’ll leave that to the doctors to explain.
Are you preparing for the rest of the season without him?
At the moment we don’t have him. We are preparing the game without him and probably the next game will come too soon as well. We have to go week by week at the moment.
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Is Xhaka OK?
Granit has been out. Hopefully, he’ll be able to train today but he’s still a doubt.
Anyone else a doubt?
No, the rest are OK.
What do you feel was the cause of the errors vs Southampton?
Human errors. Players make a lot of fantastic decisions, but they also make a lot of mistakes. The areas where they make mistakes probably define the extent and the consequences of those mistakes. Where we made those mistakes punished us heavily. Looking at the last two games back, taking them apart, we deserved to win both games without a question of a doubt.
How do you get to the bottom of why they’re making errors now when they haven’t been all season?
We have made some errors but we’ve won those games and then those errors get resolved. But we’ve had some of them where we’ve managed to do that. Certainly, in certain areas you have to minimise the errors as much as possible because the margins become much smaller.
Is it pressure that’s causing them?
I don’t think it’s about that. It’s decision making, sometimes execution, sometimes the opponents as well who put you in certain positions to force those mistakes. We’ve done some in the past as well that I can remember especially at home where it’s cost us something and we’ve still managed to win the games.
Is the message keep the belief despite the run?
100%. We knew from the beginning that City was the team to beat with Liverpool because of what those teams have done in the past few years. They fully deserve that credit and to be at the top. We wanted to close that gap as much as we could and we’re toe-to-toe with them. We knew we had to go to the Etihad, we know that after that we’re going to have five more difficult games. We know tonight is going to be a massive game. Is it going to define the season? The answer is no.
How much of it is about belief and psychology at this stage of the season?
A lot. It plays a huge part. Obviously the belief is there. When I look at how they trained, how they reacted after that, the mood in the dressing room, how they’ve been defending each other in every moment. We really want it and we’re going to show that again tomorrow night. Then you have to deliver in the right moment, the right performance and it has to be perfection because that’s what this last level demands – absolute perfection in every single ball.
You’ve played in finals but as a coach is this the biggest game you’ve had to prepare for?
Now for sure. If you asked me in my career a final is probably something else because it’s lifting the trophy or go home in tears. Those situations make you better coach. They allow you to understand the team better. It’s incredible to be in the position that we’re in trying to prepare the game as we always do to win it.
How big is it?
Very big as it's the one we have to play tomorrow!
In both your hands. How do you cancel out the narrative that it's on a plate for City?
Like we've been doing for the last nine or ten months. Focusing on what we can do, don't get dragged down whether it is extremely or really negative. Be stable in our thoughts and in our process and be at our best every day.
We don't know the outcome so what was being written eight months ago is probably not relevant as they said something that didn't happen for eight months. It doesn't matter, it's about tomorrow. You have to go back and read what was said.
How much are you leaning on Jesus and Zinchenko?
For sure. The experience is key when you've been in those moments, how to handle those moments, to understand the importance of certain things and the capacity to transmit to the rest of the team are all very important. Some of them are young but they have played a lot of football games already.
Last conversation with Guardiola?
Probably last time we played.
Been in touch this week?
No.
Focusing on how to deal with Halaand?
Obviously, we are working on their threats and weaknesses, and we know where they are. The issue with a team like City is that it starts with the goalkeeper. He is a threat when the ball is with him. You have to control every single one.
Just focus on us. We know what they want to do and will try to do. They can do various things. They play with a box inside, they can play with a diamond, they can build the game with three, they can be asymmetric on one side, they can play Bernardo on the right and play with a diamond with Walker higher.
They can do so many things that you have to be adaptable and focus on certain principles to take the game where you want it.
Is this winner takes all?
No, if we win tomorrow night we haven't won, for sure.
You would be overwhelming favourites though?
It would shift the percentage a little bit but five games in this league with the games we still have to play it's very tricky still.
Are nerves playing a factor?
"It's more about the situations in key moments in games haven't gone our way. I still say that even with those moments we still deserve to win the last two games by quite far. We haven't been able to do that so efficiency is key. In front of goal there were some moments we should have done much better and we conceded sloppy goals.
How are you involving experienced players like Zinchenko and Jesus?
In a very natural way. When they came in, because they have been where they have been, after two or three weeks they said, 'We can win this league'. It's not something we have started to feel or they have tried to transmit the idea, it's been going on since August. It's not something you only rely on them now, this process has been going on for a long time."
If you were to win the title it’d be something exceptional...
Yeah, but the biggest game is the next one and the biggest game of my career was the game we played against Southampton. If we won that game we would have been in a much better position. You have to live the day. After City, the biggest one for sure because if we win, the next one will be that. If not then it will be Wolves, the last one is the biggest one. It is going to change every single week.
City hard to stop when they get on a roll, would you have preferred this game 2-3 months ago?
We cannot change that. They’ve been in incredible form but look where we are in the table. That means we’ve been in incredible form as well. That’s why we are where we are.
A lot of talk about how hard it is to go to Man City, it’s a night to enjoy, isn’t it?
Yeah, it’s going to be a tough night and challenge but the opportunity is incredible for us. We knew from the beginning, if you want to win a Premier League, you have to go to Spurs and beat them. You have to go to Chelsea and you have to beat them. You have to go away from home and win. This is what we’ve been doing. This is why we’re here. Now you have to go to City and you have to beat them. If you want to be champions you have to win those matches. It’s as simple as that.
Focusing on yourself, something of a shift?
I said that we have to focus a lot in us. We need to understand what they can do and we have to be prepared for those changes, which is a lot because they can do it at the beginning, after 20 minutes, at half time, the last 20 minutes. You have to be really prepared for that but this cannot absorb your energy to be constantly adapting. We have to focus because we have a lot of strengths and can cause them problems.
What are your memories of beating City in 2012?
I didn’t use to score a lot of goals. I have good memories of that.
You mentioned all the ways City could play, do you feel like you know what they’re going to do?
The answer is no. I don’t know the lineup. Once we have the lineup we’ll have more of a rough idea but it depends on who he plays, they can do something different… like we can.
You mentioned individual errors changing the course of games...
We’ve done them. We’re not going to do them anymore.
Was the City game at the Emirates another game where result didn’t reflect the game?
The margins, you cannot give anything away. Against big teams they punish you straight away. That game, for many periods, we did really, really well and deserved much better. But again we had one or two moments that we gave them and the game was over.
You have such a clear style, do you have to modify your approach?
That’s what we do every game in certain areas. Are you talking in ball possession, out of possession, in transition, at restarts, on set pieces, emotional state? You have to shift it all the time. Every opponent demands and questions different things of you and gives you different opportunities. There’s no difference with that team, it’s just obviously the quality of the opponent is as good as it gets anywhere in the world.
How has Haaland changed City?
When you look at the numbers there’s no comparison with anyone else. He’s able to produce that because the setup is done in the right way for him, the players that they’ve got around him, the way he’s coached, the qualities that he has. There are a lot of things that have to be in the right way. With him they have the capacity to play in different ways, when you play really far from your goal they have the capacity to exploit open spaces and when they’re attacking low blocks they have a different threat because they are a very physical team right now.
Is the biggest challenge stopping the supply to him?
Obviously preventing the source is probably the best recipe.
At this stage last season, you adapted at Stamford Bridge, are you tempted to do something different again?
We will see tomorrow.
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