Lopetegui reacts to 2-1 victory over Manchester United

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West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui reacts to 2-1 victory over Manchester United having played a much better second half to bring home the 3 points  27/10/2024  London Stadium, London, UK

Transcript

00:00What was your view on the penalty this week?

00:04I didn't see a penalty until now. I only know that I asked Danny Ince, he said that was a penalty.

00:13And the referee said yes. I think that they have for sure a strong reason to say yes.

00:23But I didn't see. I can't give a very clear opinion.

00:27Harington Hart just said that the best team didn't win today.

00:31Okay, his opinion. I respect his opinion.

00:35But I think that there have been two different halves.

00:40The first half, I know that they were better.

00:46But the second half we changed. I think that we were better in the second half and we deserved to win the second half.

00:54So fortunately we didn't suffer a goal in the first half. It's true that they had chances.

00:59That's why we changed a lot in the first half.

01:02And in the second half I think that we were better than them.

01:06Crescento and Somerville made a big difference coming on at half-time.

01:09Obviously School was going on as well.

01:11What was going through your mind in terms of deciding not to start from the beginning?

01:16Because the media and the journalists always put the focus in the line-up.

01:21But believe me that in all the matches the key players stay on the bench a lot of times.

01:27We were thinking in him for this kind of second half.

01:31Manchester played on Thursday.

01:33We were thinking that in the second half maybe we are going to be able to have more energy with Crescento in this win.

01:43And fortunately it works.

01:46But he did very well.

01:48It doesn't mean that he can't play.

01:50For sure he's going to play in the line-up a lot of times.

01:52But I prefer to highlight his answer in the second half.

01:56Because it was not only him.

01:58And Thomas, Jesse and the rest of the team.

02:01I think that in the second half I would like to highlight the commitment, the energy and the mentality.

02:07And the support for our fans has been key for us in the bad moments above all.

02:12To overcome the bad moments.

02:15After they drew the match we didn't go down.

02:19It's important.

02:20It's important for us to keep this mentality.

02:22And in the end we were able to overcome a very big team.

02:25One of the best teams in the world.

02:27That is Manchester United.

02:28So we are happy.

02:30But we are looking forward.

02:32Does it feel like a significant win?

02:34Because results like last week and a slow start to the season will inevitably build a bit of pressure on players and managers.

02:41Does this feel like a relief?

02:43Relief as a coach is to live under pressure always.

02:46It's our life.

02:48We are happy above all for the fans today.

02:51I have felt one special energy in the stadium.

02:55The London stadium was important for us.

02:58That's why we are very happy for the fans.

03:00To give them this victory.

03:03And for the players too.

03:05They deserve it.

03:06They worked very hard.

03:07We suffered a lot in the first half.

03:08It's true.

03:09It's true.

03:10I always say that when you lose you have to keep positive things.

03:13When you win you have to improve other things.

03:16Today is the same for us.

03:18We are looking forward.

03:19The next step is Nottingham Forest.

03:21To win each match in the Premier League is very, very, very demanding.

03:26We have to go to the limits to keep this mentality until the end.

03:29That's the first step that we have to do.

03:32We are happy for this.

03:35The second half was tremendous.

03:37I want to see what you thought went wrong in the first half that you fixed at half-time.

03:42What were your issues in the first half?

03:44Because in the first half I feel that we don't...

03:47First of all we have two players with yellow cards.

03:49You are under a big demand in matches when you have to be very aggressive

03:53and to have a lot of individual fights.

03:55Staying with two yellow cards is very dangerous for us.

04:01This is the first step.

04:02The second is because I think I have to review the match.

04:04But in my mind I had that we were a very, very long team.

04:09We were not able to arrive in time in the moment, in the trigger moment, in the momentum with the press.

04:16That's why we allowed to run a lot in our back.

04:18We changed this in the half.

04:21We were better.

04:22I think that fortunately we won the match.

04:27You brought Lukasz Fabianski in goal over Alphonso Arreola.

04:31I just wondered what your thoughts were on that match.

04:34Because Lukasz Fabianski is always ready.

04:37Today we think that he is the right decision to put him.

04:42He is always ready.

04:43He is an incredible competitive keeper.

04:47He did very well.

04:48It doesn't mean that we don't trust in Alphonso.

04:51Alphonso has all our trust, our confidence.

04:53But today we were thinking that it was better to put Lukasz.

04:56Fortunately he did very well and we won.

05:00Final one, Jack.

05:02Sorry, sorry.

05:05I am not going to answer you.

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