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00:00 Do you need to refresh and remind that you were top of Christmas and so close to being
00:07 top of New Year? Bring back some of that positivity this week in training but also with the performance
00:14 and the game?
00:15 That's all I've done. You reinforce how good they are, that they accepted first that
00:19 obviously they were peers in the game against Fulham and that we didn't hit the levels
00:23 that we wanted to, to earn the right to win a football match. We accepted that and then
00:28 move on and believe again in what we do and be consistent and continue on that road that
00:35 has taken us so far, much further than a lot of people expected or imagined and we need
00:41 to continue to do that.
00:42 How important is that performance on Sunday for the rest of the squad?
01:08 Well, we have to give certain opportunities to certain players, that's for sure, and to
01:12 decide whether Sunday is the right environment and the right moment to do that. That's a
01:17 question that would have to resolve in the next two days.
01:20 When you face Liverpool, does the epitome never come out of you? Do you feel it more
01:33 when you face a Liverpool side?
01:37 Because of your past experience, you used to live in Italy.
01:43 It is special for me and I have so many memories playing against them and as well because they
01:49 are a top side, so it requires a big preparation and a lot of detail in everything that we
01:55 have to do. That was proven again a week ago too when we played them at Anfield for both
02:01 teams I think.
02:02 Can I ask another question about how the team adapted this season to playing Champions
02:09 League football and the exertions that would have? I know you played Europa League football
02:14 but there is an intensity playing those Champions League nights that you can't really replicate.
02:20 How do you feel your team has adapted to that and do you think that has had an effect on
02:27 those games at the weekend?
02:29 I think for 93% of the players, a new experience. They have a congested period that they never
02:35 had in their lives. But Gabriel Jesus never had it in their lives, or Shynchenko never
02:38 had it even when they were at City. It's the first experience that they ever had at this
02:43 level, ever. And still they are doing so well, so well done to them.
02:48 Is it a factor in terms of physically? Not necessarily physically because you were playing
02:56 Thursday and the weekend is last season. But mentally, is it draining for them?
03:02 I think it's not draining. I think they are incredibly enthusiastic about what they are
03:07 living and they are loving it. But in terms of the man's physical amount of minutes and
03:14 what they have to deal with, it's something new because they haven't done it last year.
03:17 They didn't play that many minutes. I think last year we had one player in a certain amount
03:21 of minutes. This season we have 14. So that's a lot.
03:26 How big a blow was Timba's absence?
03:44 It was a huge blow because I think everybody could see from day one what he was going to
03:49 bring to the team. The versatility, the quality, the kind of leadership and ability that we
03:56 didn't have in that back line. It was a huge blow as well, losing Thomas because we had
04:02 other plans as well with him to become very versatile and unpredictable in our way of
04:07 playing. And we haven't had them and that was difficult. We have them in the building,
04:12 which is a joy to have them, but we haven't had them on the field as much as we wanted.
04:17 Was Timba's signing going to change the way the team looked at it and give you loads of
04:22 different things? We've actually not seen your plan come to fruition yet.
04:27 A little part because he was only available for pre-season a few games and the first game
04:33 of the season.
04:34 Winning the FA Cup as a manager, if anything, did it convince you of your ability to win
04:44 trophies as a manager?
04:54 It gives you confidence that you can win big matches, big matches against top opponents
04:58 because we did it against some of the best teams in England. It was really reinforcing.
05:05 It was a beautiful moment. It was a shame that we didn't have the crowd to share it
05:08 with in that moment, but it still remains a really nice thing.
05:13 How nervous were you before that game?
05:16 Very. Nervous, excited, nervous. You're so willing to make that next step and bring silverware
05:24 to the club after a few difficult years. We had the opportunity. We didn't want to let
05:29 anybody down and we managed to achieve it.
05:32 That FA Cup you won as a player with Arsenal in 2014 was such a big trophy because it's
05:38 going so many years without one. How nervous were you before that one? Did you feel the
05:44 pressure of the club?
05:46 We were a lot of years without winning anything and the feeling that we wanted to do for our
05:54 son. It was a few difficult years for him and we really wanted to deliver for him. It
05:59 was a great opportunity to do that and it was a way of giving something back to him.
06:04 I remember talking about it with a lot of the players.
06:07 So when you went 2-0 down, what was that?
06:10 Give the ball to Santi and he's going to get this sorted. It was an incredible FA Cup final.
06:17 Everything expected in a way that I could never imagine. It got worse a few minutes
06:21 later but then it ended up in a beautiful way.
06:25 Can this game against Liverpool be a way of sending a message that Liverpool are now
06:33 at the top and they're going for the title? It's a way of taking a dent out of the title
06:38 rival, isn't it?
06:41 I think my message is we've been sending very strong performances in the last two years
06:50 for everybody to understand where we are and where we want to be. That's it. We have another
06:54 opportunity to win a game and go to the next round. That's the only thing we have to think of.
06:59 We talk a lot about your team's performances but looking over the past half-season,
07:07 do you sense that opponents have set up differently against you this season than
07:11 they did maybe last season? How big a challenge has that been to adapt?
07:18 Some of them, yes. Some of them, no. Some of them have changed because of game state as well
07:24 and some of them to adapt. Probably they have adapted more than other seasons
07:29 to us which I think is something really positive.
07:32 How do you think they've done that and what do you think they've done?
07:36 Tactically especially.
07:37 In terms of setting data, are they more cautious?
07:41 Not only that. In many ways with the line-ups,
07:43 in certain decisions they make in relation to what they normally do.
07:48 Does that mean that being more flexible and having more strings to your bow is
07:51 even more important this season than it was last season?
07:54 It is always because you become more unpredictable and that's easier for us and more difficult for
08:01 the opponent because they have to spend a lot of time preparing things and that's something
08:04 very good for us. Is that a big target for the second half of the season to develop that?
08:08 That will depend on the players that we have available. We have to play on the players'
08:12 strength. That's the first thing. I don't want to put players to do things that
08:16 they don't feel comfortable doing. That's the first principle that we have to apply.
08:20 Play everywhere in their strength. We have some really good players and we'll win matches for sure.
08:25 I'll ask you to say that confidence is quite a difficult thing to get back once you've lost a
08:33 couple of games and it takes a bit of time. Have you found that because you always make some
08:37 momentum and have you found that when you've lost a couple it's just you to get back?
08:42 What's your way to get it back?
08:45 The thing is I don't know where that confidence is. We cannot measure it. Hopefully I could
08:52 bring in the morning something, take a split, put it there, say confident, 10 out of 10, good.
08:56 The next day it's six. We cannot measure it. We can imagine how they feel like but we cannot
09:01 measure it. It's something that is there and we believe that we understand it but actually it's
09:07 not a fact. It's more a perception and that confidence can change after the first minutes.
09:12 They put a great delivery, they score a goal, that confidence is changed immediately.
09:15 Let's try to give them a lot of love, a lot of confidence and positive reassurance all the time
09:22 and make sure that they know how good they are.
09:24 There must be some things in training or when you see them walking around the training ground
09:27 that you pick up on small things about their demeanour and how they look?
09:34 Yeah, especially with the players that they're not playing a lot. That confidence is not about
09:39 their ability to do things but sometimes the fact that we decide not to play them is going to affect
09:45 them. Their ability to believe that they are capable of doing certain things. Sometimes
09:50 that's our decision as well.
09:51 What context is there when you're playing a title rival in the FA Cup? Can you set a
10:11 barometer for them or can you make a statement for them? How does it affect you in relation to them?
10:17 Winning always helps and if we would have won that game probably that would have helped.
10:21 It was a really close game, we ended up losing 1-0 but we took a lot of positives because we
10:25 made so many rotations as well and they didn't. Sunday will be different, that's it.
10:31 Thank you.