00:01Long time no see.
00:05That's not completely true, because I do see you on the screen.
00:13No, no, definitely not.
00:14Arne, first of all, obviously our hearts have gone out to you all through such a difficult time,
00:25bitterly there will be more tributes to Diogo, such a lovely life.
00:30How have the tributes that have gone before as well impacted you guys here?
00:36First of all, the tragedy impacted us of course most,
00:40but again, it impacted far more his wife, children, parents.
00:45But it impacted us definitely as well,
00:49and the tributes that have been done since were all very emotional and impressive,
00:56so every time we were somewhere started off I think in Preston,
01:01and in Asia as well it's been emotional but impressive as well.
01:07We obviously now look towards the game,
01:12but also look at things off the field,
01:16because Darwin, it seems, is on his way out,
01:19can you use your thoughts on his departure,
01:21how necessary it will be to replace him,
01:24and could his replacement be out on the east side?
01:27These are a lot of questions anyway.
01:30As you know from me, and I think every manager works like this,
01:35you never talk about players that are not yours,
01:37so I can talk to you about Hugo, which we've signed recently and has done really well till now.
01:44I, we are very happy with the squad we are having,
01:51and there's every reason to be happy about that,
01:54because we won the league last season, OK, players left,
01:57but we've brought players in as well, and youngsters are doing good.
02:01So at this moment of time Darwin might leave indeed,
02:08but things are not signed yet,
02:11so you need to wait maybe a few days before that's completely done,
02:16but there is indeed a chance that he's going to leave.
02:20Do you think there will be more incomings between now and the end of the transfer window though?
02:24Because I appreciate that Ryan, Andy Robertson and Nando can all play at centre-half,
02:28but it appears that you could also still do with a centre-half.
02:32Do you feel you need to bring in another option at centre-half as well?
02:35No, what you just said, they can definitely play there as well,
02:39and you forget to mention Joe Gomez.
02:42Unfortunately he has a minor injury at the moment,
02:46but he will be back with the team very soon,
02:48so we still have numerous options that can play there.
02:52But as always, what I always say,
02:54it's the same boring answer as with players that we might bring in or not.
03:00I'm really happy with the players we are having,
03:04and we have numerous players that can play in that position.
03:09And a chance now to win your first trophy of the season?
03:11Yeah, which is nice if you can start the season with the chance of winning something,
03:17because normally you have to play numerous games before you can win something,
03:23if it's the League Cup, FA Cup, let alone Premier League or Champions League,
03:27normally you win something in the end of the season.
03:29And now we have a chance to win something in the beginning of the season.
03:32Unfortunately, we face a very good Crystal Palace,
03:36that have been very difficult to win against for us,
03:40because we played 1-1 against them in the last game of the season,
03:44and they showed in the last final, and in the semi-final by the way as well,
03:48how hard it is to win a one-off game of them.
03:51So I think most of the players that they have are still there.
03:57So, yeah, even more reason to know what a difficult team it is to play against.
04:07What did you learn from your last trip to Wembley?
04:13Obviously it didn't end with the trophy,
04:15but I'm just wondering how does this link to this one,
04:17and are you looking back to what happened against Newcastle?
04:20Not looking back because it's a different system that Newcastle is playing,
04:24but maybe the way Newcastle played that final could be quite similar
04:30to the way Palace might play this final,
04:35so Newcastle used almost every free-kick they got,
04:39no matter where it was on the pitch, to bring it into our box.
04:43And that's a style of play Palace also uses,
04:46so they also like to bring the ball out from the back,
04:49but they also are a fret in set-pieces and long throw-ins and all these kind of things.
04:53So there are maybe a few overlaps, is that the way you say?
04:57Yeah, overlaps between the two teams,
05:00but I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow,
05:04but Newcastle was going man-f-man all over the pitch,
05:08high up the pitch, high press normally,
05:11but maybe they will change it for tomorrow.
05:13Crystal Palace goes to a low block and defends in and around their own 18-yard box,
05:18and that is for every team very difficult to find gaps and to create your chances.
05:24So goals are in every game very important,
05:29but I think on Sunday one goal is worth a lot.
05:34There's a lot of excitement around 16-year-old Rio at the moment,
05:39and he was on the school sheet, Anfield got an assist as well.
05:42How do you as a manager go about supporting him, I guess,
05:46because there's already such a spotlight on him at such a young age?
05:50Yeah, and that is sometimes also difficult,
05:53and you never know how an individual handles that situation,
05:56but it was a year ago when Trey Neone scored a goal,
05:59I think against Sevilla, when he was also maybe 17, very young.
06:04So they have an incredible chance to work and be every day around players like Virgil van Dijk, Mo Salah,
06:13and all these others, to see what they do, to be ready to perform every three days,
06:18and that is a step these players definitely have to make,
06:21which is completely normal if you are 16 or 17.
06:23It's already nice if they can play once a week at a good level,
06:27and we just try to develop them in the best way we can,
06:31but we also have to take care of them because new players that come in that are 24, 23, 22
06:38already experience that the intensity levels are quite high,
06:42either during the games or in training sessions,
06:46let alone for players that are 16 and coming through the academy.
06:49So we are aware of that, but it's been a promising start for him,
06:55like for Trey Neone as well, because I think Trey also played a very good game at Anfield three days ago.
07:04Just picking up on what you were talking about Sunday,
07:08you've played a lot of different teams in pre-season,
07:11but are Palace actually the perfect opponent to set you up for the season,
07:14such a mature side, set style of play, they'll threaten you in multiple different ways?
07:20Yeah, that last thing they indeed do, counterattacks, set pieces, long ball to Mateta,
07:29so they have also the individual quality of their forwards who can create out of nothing something,
07:35so very good team, and it indeed gives us, but that's I think what Bilbao did and Milan also already did as well,
07:43and the Japanese team, by the way, also gave us a lot of competition,
07:48and that's definitely what Palace is going to do, because they kept their team together,
07:53so they just hit the ground running again probably after being a few days off,
08:00and they're still the same team, so a team that performed really well,
08:05especially in the end of last season, and so yeah, a good challenge for us to start the season with.
08:14And considering how much you had to acclimatise to last summer and how late players arrived,
08:18just how valuable from a coaching point have you found this pre-season?
08:23That's completely true, the good thing about last season was that the whole squad stayed,
08:29so they knew each other very well already, now a few players have left,
08:34we brought a few players in, so that always takes a bit of adaptation as well,
08:38because the players we've brought in, some of them have different qualities
08:41than the qualities we already had, so they need to adjust to their new teammates,
08:46but I, we have to adjust to them as well, and it's a good thing,
08:50we could have worked already for four weeks now, I think,
08:53so yeah, that's the pleasing part of not having a World Cup or another tournament in the summer,
09:01that you can work with them from the start.
09:04Hi Arne, I wanted to ask you a little bit about the attacking depth of the squad,
09:08first out of the season. Last year in the Premier League,
09:12you were able to make five senior attackers in 32 of the 38 league games,
09:16and six senior attackers in 13 of the 38 league games.
09:20I wonder what importance that depth, not only on the pitch but on the bench,
09:25had to the success last season, and are you trying to replicate it again this year?
09:31I don't know what senior players exactly means,
09:34does that mean that you play for your country or you have a certain age,
09:37or because a player like Rio showed in the last few games he played for us
09:43that at senior level he can have an impact as well,
09:47so I think, we think, we already have a lot of attacking power in our team,
09:54so when I think about Cody Kakpo, Federico Chiesa, Hugo Higetike, Mo Salah,
10:01Jeremy Frimpong, who can play as a right winger, Florian Wiets, who can play as a left winger,
10:06so I already feel I have a lot of attacking options in my current squad.
10:12But as always, as a club, we are always looking at the chances in the market,
10:17but that can also be in the midfield or in the last line.
10:21Also, with obviously last season Mo Salah being so consistent in his appearances,
10:28they didn't really give a lot of opportunities for someone like a creator.
10:31This year, obviously, we've got the FN Cup of Nations coming,
10:34so there's going to be a little bit of time then, Mo Salah isn't around.
10:37Are you going to be thinking about that in terms of squad building and recruitment,
10:40or does, as I say, this give more opportunity to someone like a creator?
10:44Yes, we definitely thought about that, and we brought in Jeremy Frimpong
10:49because we think he can play as a right full-back,
10:51but I also think and feel he can play as a right winger.
10:54So, yes, I thought about the fact that we're going to miss Mo,
11:01I think as a maximum six games, but that's quite a lot in the Premier League,
11:06especially if you see how well he did last season.
11:09So, yes, signing Jeremy Frimpong was for multiple reasons,
11:13but one of them was also that he could replace Mo if Mo is not there,
11:20but there are other options for me to replace Mo with as well.
11:25But Jeremy is definitely one of them.
11:28Sorry.
11:29He will be in the squad, yeah.
11:42He only played, he was out for two months, I think, or longer,
11:46because we didn't play him in the last four games of the season.
11:49He trained with us since a week now, played 30 minutes, 45 minutes,
11:54so that's not a situation where you would start a player or play him for 90 minutes.
11:58Starting is possible, but definitely not for 90 minutes.
12:02Yeah.
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