00:00 Good afternoon, guys, hope you're well.
00:11 Same process as ever, mics on either side, just be mindful that it's a busier open section
00:14 than it's been in Sunday's embargo.
00:16 We'll set that towards the end for 10.30 on Saturday evening.
00:19 We'll start with Damien, please.
00:21 Good afternoon.
00:24 What's the news on Jack Grealish?
00:26 He looked very upset after the Luton game.
00:29 Is he fit this weekend? How long might he be out?
00:32 No, he will not be fit for this weekend.
00:35 When he comes back, I don't know.
00:38 Knowing him very well, does he have the kind of character, the personality to cope with this kind of setback?
00:44 Yes. He doesn't have another alternative.
00:48 Setbacks in life are always there, it's how you overcome.
00:54 You spoke last week about the fatigue of the players.
00:58 I just wondered, has preparations this week been just merely about resting up and preparing by relaxing?
01:05 Tuesday to Sunday is enough, it's a dream.
01:09 We'll recover well.
01:11 The problem is Saturday to Tuesday with trips, that is less recovery.
01:15 But the players again behaved extraordinarily in the game against Luton.
01:19 Now we have two days off, rest, don't see each other, two days to prepare the game against United.
01:26 Manchester derby, to whet the appetite, what are you expecting from Manchester United this weekend?
01:33 Always I expect the best from our opponents, always.
01:37 The best performance of them is always what I expect.
01:40 Pep, the big criticism that's levelled at Eric Ten Hag for observers
01:49 is that they don't understand his philosophy and the way he's asking his teams to play.
01:53 I understand your question, I don't talk about the opponents.
01:56 I'm sure you don't watch them, what do you see, what are you expecting from them?
02:00 We'll know my players.
02:02 I expect the best for United, but I don't talk one word about what they do,
02:08 what the opponents do, because I respect them too much.
02:11 I don't want to misunderstand my words, but when I have comments,
02:15 people always say, "Pep, jeep, pep, jeep."
02:19 It's never my intention, that's why it's better not to say anything.
02:23 I know them, a lot of respect for the institution, United, of course Eric and the players,
02:28 but when I see what they have to do, my players will know it today and tomorrow.
02:34 Speaking of your players, Phil Foden has four goals in his last three starts against United,
02:40 Erling Haaland has five in his last four starts against United.
02:44 Is it just coincidence or is there something about them being City fans this game means more to you?
02:48 I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen,
02:51 and I would like to know which players have scored goals they will play.
02:55 I'm not able, I'm a good manager, but I'm not able to see the future,
02:59 to read the future, to foresee the future.
03:01 So I don't know.
03:03 One final one from me, does this fixture in particular highlight the success you've had here?
03:10 Because United were obviously the dominant force in English football for 20 years,
03:14 but since you've been here, the city has been blue every single season.
03:18 18th was Liverpool, 19th was United, and now we are this many years,
03:24 we're in seven Premier Leagues in the last decade, 11, 12 years, so yeah, we are.
03:30 But it happened.
03:33 In 50 years or 60 years, there's never been one country, one club dominated and controlled everything.
03:40 So I try to, in this organisation, as much as possible,
03:44 extend for many years what we are trying to do,
03:49 especially the consistency that proves the game against Luton.
03:55 With all respect, Rob Edwards is doing in the team, in the way they play,
04:00 going there and behaving that, is that proof of what we have done in these many years.
04:04 And that makes me so proud.
04:07 Hi Pep, you've been involved in a lot of derby games in Spain, in Germany and in the Premier League.
04:14 Does this game excite you as much as games have in the past,
04:17 because Manchester United have not really been your biggest rivals since you've been in the Premier League?
04:22 I've been good in seasons with Jose Mourinho, one season with Ole,
04:26 I've done second fighting, not until the end, but they were there.
04:32 So, when I learn my experience in this type of game, it's more calm, relaxed,
04:39 don't talk much about many, many things, just focus on the tactical issue.
04:44 What do you have to do to beat them?
04:46 Not about the emotional, because the emotional will be there, without a doubt.
04:51 So that's why I relax and prepare the game as best as possible, knowing the quality,
04:56 because they are able to go in walls, how difficult it is to beat them,
05:01 go to Luton, I know how difficult it is in the Premier League to beat them,
05:04 and the quality to go to Aston Villa and win, not a month ago, a few weeks ago.
05:16 So they have the biggest, incredible quality of that.
05:19 So, from one action, they create something special in set-pieces, in transition,
05:26 in open play, connections with a few players, and a score of goals.
05:29 So, always have been united in that way.
05:32 When they play good, they win games.
05:34 When they are OK, they have no stress, they are able to win games.
05:39 We are in March already, 2024, they lost just one game, it was last week at home.
05:45 So, the consistency I proved this season is there, and especially this year.
05:51 So, prepare the game tactically, what you have to do to try to get three points
05:56 and continue being up there.
05:58 Pep, I think last week, or maybe the week before, you said you expect a big improvement
06:03 under United, now Jim Ratcliffe is there and the Ineos people are there,
06:07 you expect them to improve.
06:09 Can you see them challenging for the title in the two or three years that Ratcliffe has said
06:12 he thinks it will take them to get back to that level?
06:15 Can you see them challenging for the title when you are still manager here?
06:18 Sir, Jim Ratcliffe and the people know exactly the diagnosis of the club.
06:22 I don't have nothing about that club.
06:26 So, if Sir Jim Ratcliffe says they need two or three years to be there,
06:31 who am I to say the opposite?
06:34 I am pretty sure they will work to reduce that gap, but the rest of that
06:39 I cannot give you an answer because I am not there.
06:42 I don't know the diagnosis that they have right now, what happened in Man United.
06:47 But in terms of, you have faced them many times here as a manager,
06:49 so in terms of football, in terms of the level of football and the style
06:53 and the level they are at, do you think they could be title contenders
06:56 within two or three years?
06:58 I am not the right person to know it.
07:00 Who is the right person to ask?
07:01 The people who work inside, in Man United, is every day there.
07:06 If you ask me the diagnosis of my club, I will tell you, but not United.
07:09 I am not there.
07:11 Hi Pep, the game on Sunday starts a run in the Premier League
07:14 where you face Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal
07:16 with Champions League and FA Cup in between.
07:18 West Ham Villa.
07:20 So it is a very difficult period in terms of the games,
07:25 teams in the top six.
07:27 I prefer that than the opposite.
07:31 So is it the time where you look at your key players
07:34 to see how they step up at this point, when the running is starting at this period?
07:39 The key players? We have 20 key players.
07:42 I know you are talking about, but before they were injured for many years
07:45 and we were there with the other players.
07:47 We are a team and the key players are everyone.
07:50 Everyone is so important and it is so nice to leave that picture.
07:56 We have United after the chance to get qualified in the Champions League
07:59 and of course we have Anfield and before the international break
08:05 we have the chance against Newcastle, which is always the fourth time we play this season,
08:10 to reach the semi-final of the FA Cup.
08:13 We worked so hard until we arrived here to live these kind of moments.
08:18 Step one at a time, United here, two days before the game and try to do our best.
08:24 Do you enjoy these moments?
08:25 Yeah, absolutely, the best.
08:28 Marta?
08:29 Hi Pep, just on Jack again, there is an international break in two weeks,
08:34 any chance we see him again before then?
08:36 I don't think so, I did speak with Gareth but I think he will not be ready.
08:42 Ofieta, I don't know exactly, I think he has to recover well.
08:45 You know, because we make a setback and we have to recover well to use him as much as possible.
08:53 Just one more Pep on, Rodri, he needs one more game without defeats
08:58 for the longest ever unbeaten run in English football,
09:01 it's quite an achievement, he's so important to you, isn't he?
09:04 Hopefully it can happen with three points on Sunday, yeah, definitely.
09:07 Once Alex Ferguson retired there was a lot of speculation in this country
09:14 that you were one of the managers he would have liked to be manager of Man Utd,
09:18 but given the stability you've had here, the success you've had here,
09:22 you must be very happy with the decision you made, the choice you made to come here.
09:26 I've not done it alone, I've not done it alone.
09:30 This kind of success for a long time doesn't depend on the manager.
09:34 If the people believe it's just me, they are making a mistake,
09:38 if the opponents can believe that, they are making a mistake, they are wrong.
09:42 It's the hierarchy, stability in decisions for the CEO, the PCCO,
09:47 the support directors, the players, all the people working in the club.
09:52 I'm involved with that, I'm part of that, but I'm not the only one,
09:55 the only reason for the success we've had in the last years.
09:59 Jim Radcliffe said that since you've been here there's been a lot of Man Utd managers,
10:03 they've had Ali, Jose, now they've had Eric,
10:07 because all of those have failed to some degree,
10:09 the problem can't be with the managers, it has to be with the club.
10:12 Would you agree with that?
10:15 I would say in the big clubs you have to win and win,
10:19 it doesn't happen just in United, in the big clubs you have to...
10:24 And it's not easy for United, you come from an incredible,
10:28 incredible successful period with Sir Alex, and to cope with that is not easy.
10:34 And sometimes I can't understand it,
10:37 the big clubs before England had more patience with the managers,
10:41 today everyone has a lot of pressure,
10:45 but the diagnosis, what I said before, I don't know the reason why I'm not there.
10:50 Okay.
10:51 That's the embargo for 10th of July.
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