Iraola on Bournemouth 2-0 FA Cup win at Everton

sportslounge.tv

Iraola on Bournemouth 2-0 FA Cup win at Everton   08/02/2025  Goodison Park, Liverpool, Uk

Transcript

00:00How satisfied are you with that performance?

00:12Very satisfied. I think in the cup competitions, obviously the most important thing is to go

00:18to the next round, to be in the draw, but overall the performance I think has been very

00:23good. Probably different halves. I think we were better in the first half. We played,

00:29I think, on the ball and with our press quite well. We had good chances, we scored the goals

00:37and probably it was the moment where we made the difference. The second half was completely

00:41different. I think they pushed us much more. I think we had to be more in a low block for

00:47more time. I think in a different way, probably not playing as well as in the first half,

00:54we competed well.

00:55Was the instruction to put everything on the back foot immediately? It was a very fast start and the press was obviously very good as well.

01:00Yes, I think we normally try, especially away from home, to start strong and to be quite

01:07brave and go for the game because I think it's good if the game is open for us. We

01:15try to play as fast as possible. I think when you have also fresh legs it's always easier

01:22and in the second half we couldn't fight. These moments of more calm on the ball, of

01:27more transitions, I think Everton went a little bit more direct and we had to defend differently

01:34and I think we finished the game quite well. It's true that we had especially that play

01:40when they hit both posts. You have your little lag in your side that helps you but I'm happy

01:49of the... I think we look quite solid considering how they pressed us, yes.

01:54Do you need a little move like that to go a long way?

01:58No, no, the gap is about the small details and when there is extra time, the penalty,

02:02the small things and we knew we had a difficult game today. I think Everton are in a really

02:09good place. I'm pleased with how we played, especially in the first half, because I think

02:18it's not going to be easy to play Everton, especially at home.

02:21A second ever start for Jefferson as well, the second FA Cup goal, still only 21. What

02:27more do you think you can get out of him?

02:29I think Djevo has been helping us. Probably he has had the first part of the season where

02:35he has suffered because he hasn't been playing at Watford and he has come with a clear mind

02:42of whatever they need me for, I'm ready to help. He's helping us in the Premier League,

02:48normally in the last minutes of the games and today we can see that it was a good game

02:54for him and I'm happy. Not because only he scored, because it's always difficult to play

03:00against Tarkovski, against Grant Waite. It's not going to be an easy day for you but I

03:04think also it made them uncomfortable and I'm happy for it, yes.

03:13Hi Antonio, I need to talk to you about your rotation this Saturday as well. You've had

03:18to play a lot of injuries, not many that came off the bench that really made an impact but

03:23Antoine Semenya was absolutely fantastic today. He was really calm on the dribble as well,

03:28always looking to take the pass, scored a fantastic penalty. How is it with the fact

03:32that Winterberg came into the team and he looked like he wasn't out of place at all?

03:37Yes, I think the Cup is a different competition and for me always it's important the players

03:45that finish games but especially in the Cup you have to consider there is an option, there is an

03:49extra time, it can be very important who finishes the game. So we decided to, as you said, to

03:57probably leave on the bench players that have started recently like Dango, Justin, Bruxy,

04:04to have always the chance to finish strong and I think probably Ben and Yebo played

04:15at a high level so we didn't need to put them straight away, the ones that we had on the

04:21bench. The other question about Antoine, Antoine is in a lovely moment, he's full of confidence,

04:27he's finishing with both legs, even today at the end I think he cleared over the line

04:36defensively, I think he's associating very well with Milos in that left side and I'm happy and

04:44we will try to keep him there and as long as he can continue doing the things that he's doing

04:50it's going to be very, very valuable for us, yes.

04:53And you've got a young front-fitter in your team as well, you mentioned Miloš Šerkez, you've got

05:01Dejan Sava, it's looking like a really mature young team which is good to see as well,

05:07so there's a lot of prospect for the future as well. Are you looking at,

05:11maybe even looking for a cup run?

05:16This is not about looking at a run, you have to earn the right to play one more game,

05:21is what we want today and for me the draw is very important in this kind of competition,

05:28but whatever is the draw we have, who will be fighting next round to play, I think if we win

05:34FA Cup quarter-finals, we had the chance last season and we lost it in extra time against

05:39Leicester and probably there is a part of, we regret some things about that game and let's see

05:46this season, we are able to go at least one step forward and keep fighting because

05:55you have to keep believing, this competition is about not just how you play, it's about soul,

06:01it's about belief, it's about the willingness to sacrifice whatever is needed to go to the

06:08next round and I trust that we have this, even in a young team like you said, I think

06:16they are adding experience, Sava, Milos are players that are really young but

06:20they've been there before, they've played a good amount of games so it's not like they

06:26are immature, I think they are only adding solidity to their game, yes.

06:37Starting with Marcus Tavernier, obviously coming back in from the start for the first time since

06:41injury, how has he been with his show? I think his injury has gone quite smoothly,

06:49has been a muscle injury, has come back when we expected, has played some minutes during

06:54a couple of games, today was his first start and I think also he has finished it quite strong and

07:02I'm happy because always after the muscle injuries you are careful and I think he has

07:10helped us from the bench today from the start in XI and he is an important player for us,

07:16because we talked about this, he can play different positions and in a moment where

07:21we don't have a lot of players, this kind of players are valuable, yes.

07:25On the topic of injuries, you spoke about City yesterday,

07:31but are you hoping that this next week might yield some more returns like Alex Scott potentially

07:35coming back into the squad for the Club 700? Yes, I hope so, it's difficult to say for me,

07:41but I expect according to how they are going, I think Alex can have a chance,

07:47Ini can have a chance, I think they are the ones that are closer to return, but

07:52I will talk in the preview because it's still one week and I don't want to

07:58say that they will be there because I really don't know.

08:01And last week, speaking about small details, perhaps costing you against Liverpool,

08:07perhaps it's the other way around today with them hitting the post so many times and

08:13Antoine, as you say, getting back to clear off the line,

08:17I guess that's sort of lady luck and football coming back to repay you for last week?

08:22Yes, I think not last week, I think last week we've been hitting the post,

08:27disallowed goals, small things that can change games and today it happened the opposite,

08:33especially that I think they hit the post twice, at the end they scored 2-1,

08:38with the atmosphere, the pressure they put on you, it's definitely the end of the game that

08:45you don't want, so I think it's small things that in this kind of tournament make a big difference

08:52and this time it was on our side, but also I think especially centre-back, defenders,

09:00Kepa made great clearances, blocks, saves in key moments of the game.

09:07Funny for me, the final minute, that's three wins out of four for you,

09:12one as a player, two as a manager, are you pleased to see the fact of it or are you

09:18hoping that, are you disappointed that that run can't continue?

09:22No, I'm happy to play here because I love the stadium, I think the atmosphere here is really

09:27nice, I think you feel the support is very close to the pitch and it's true that we had good results,

09:34it's true that the three nil they beat us, it was one of our worst games I remember,

09:39but in the positive side the new stadium looks really nice, from all the things I've seen,

09:44looks really everything like quite close, also quite vertical and

09:50I'm also looking forward to playing the new one because it looks nice.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended