00:00 What is it like to be a reality check?
00:20 "For it to be a reality check, it would have been something that... I've spent 11 years
00:25 of my life in the Premier League, so I have a pretty good understanding of what the level
00:30 is.
00:31 "I don't think anyone is naive going into this division.
00:34 We know it's a challenge and if you look at the total amount of points that the promoted
00:39 teams have got so far this season, you realise obviously that every game is going to be tough.
00:45 This one was no different.
00:47 Quality side, lots of attacking threat.
00:52 At times, especially in the second half, more than the first half, the second half, at times
00:56 we had a period of time where we weren't able to compete.
01:01 Probably either side of that period there's some positives, but not enough to compete
01:06 with that level of teams at the moment."
01:09 Are you happy with the result?
01:17 "It's not something I'm happy about, but I always think and I said it as well, it's
01:26 easier to solve the defensive side and to solve the fact that you have a lack of chances
01:30 in the team.
01:31 "I think we create chances at a very high level, so against teams like Villas, City
01:36 and now today against Tottenham.
01:38 "That's something we have to keep in our game and obviously we need to become more
01:43 solid but that's something that you can work on, you can really work on that and our
01:49 team has still got a lot of improvement in it."
01:51 How do you feel about the start of the season?
01:58 "That's the biggest thing.
02:00 We started well and obviously these teams at Premier League level, they tweak little
02:07 things and they change bits in the game where you've got to then be able to either adapt
02:12 yourself or a little bit control the game until you've got the time to adapt.
02:18 "We were not able to do that.
02:20 The moment we lost a little bit of control over the game, then it became very difficult
02:26 for us to stop them from having chances.
02:27 The moment we got control again of the game or control or we were back into the game,
02:32 let's put it this way, because it's hard to control the game against these teams, then
02:38 we looked like we were able to defend and we looked like we were able again to create
02:42 some more chances.
02:43 It's just difficult.
02:44 It's a high level of opponent that you face of course."
02:46 How do you feel about the international break?
03:08 "I think if I speak for myself during my career, I think I've not just been probably
03:17 a good leader or captain because of the good times.
03:19 It's easy to be a good leader in good times.
03:20 I think it's in these moments that I feel most confident in just what you need to be
03:28 doing to get better.
03:30 It's usually keeping people calm, focusing on doing the analysis of things that need
03:34 to be better and then deciding for yourself what you want as a next step to improve and
03:39 to face these opponents.
03:41 My goal is to say, 'OK, next time we go and play Tottenham and City, can we again
03:46 show that we've either closed the gap or even given ourselves a chance to win those
03:50 games?'
03:51 That's how you approach it.
03:52 Usually, the emotional side gets in the way of it because people either panic.
03:57 But in my character, that's not my character.
04:01 I'll say that you'll do everything you can to avoid defeats but in these moments
04:06 also where you learn the most about the characters of your players, the people in the dressing
04:10 room, about how your team can respond and get better."
04:13 How important is it to stick to the principles?
04:16 You mentioned panic day.
04:17 People would think, 'Do you need to be more solid?
04:18 Do you need to put more defence into things?'
04:19 How important is it to stick to your principles?
04:20 "I think it's not this.
04:30 I think you get a person, I think as a coach, by the moment, by just the name of the coach,
04:38 you kind of get what that person is.
04:41 And so this is something that I can't change.
04:45 It's not in my nature.
04:48 And as well, we've had success so we can never forget this.
04:51 And like I said before, to make adjustments, that's something different.
05:00 If you look at teams that have been successful and unsuccessful over the years, it's always
05:06 the same in football.
05:07 Once something doesn't work, you do the exact opposite and when that doesn't work, you go
05:10 and do the opposite again.
05:12 So it's the opposite of my character that as well."
05:21 "Thank you."
05:33 "Thank you."
05:40 "Thank you."
05:47 "Thank you."
05:54 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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