00:00That was nearly a brilliant weight performance. What's your analysis now?
00:09Tough week. Thursday, Sunday, coming to London like it's so demanding for a question of time,
00:17for recovery, especially against that team. It's by far one of the best teams in Europe.
00:26Our resilience was fantastic, otherwise you can survive. We get the chances in transition,
00:36but it's difficult to play what you want to play when you're not able to make a good build-up
00:41and our pressing isn't effective because they spread a lot, the two structures that they have.
00:48Yes, so I have the ability to put bowling behind with the people tough as players, Martinelli,
00:53with Aftasaka, with Trozard or Madweke and the other players. They are so close, they open so wide,
01:00they are so close for that. It's not easy to defend that concept. After you drop and after you have to
01:06use the transition, like sometimes happened when we had Leroy or Raheem or this type of players,
01:11always we could do it with Kevin. Yes, it's a period. That's football, right? Last season,
01:18we equalized in the last minute in Atihad. Today they did it in the last minute, so it's football.
01:24And yes, we take that point. It's been, in general, a really, really good week. And yes,
01:32make the Carabao Cup and the last three games before the international break.
01:37Harlan looked exceptional, didn't it? Sorry? Harlan looked exceptional.
01:42Yeah, the first three of the balls, Kuguna win the duels. And after I knocked the door,
01:46and after I won all the duels with Saka, you know, Dil, Gabriel and Saliba, sorry Saka,
01:52Saliba is not, I would say, it's not easy. And Atihad was exhausted, a lot of pain in his back.
01:58He suffered last day, so this was demanding and we will take a break a little bit to the last games.
02:04The percentage of possession you had was the lowest you've ever had. Do you think that's a reflection
02:11of the circumstances of the week you've had and the way Arsenal played, or was it also to do with
02:16the way you were going to play? I cannot live in this country with another record, you know that?
02:22So I'm so proud of that. I give a lot of credit Arsenal, what they have done, a lot of credit.
02:27So sometimes you want it, sometimes you can't, so it's really good, especially when defending five, but
02:32there's no big bill for that, but we have to accept it. When a team in that percentage is better,
02:37it's because they are better.
02:38And we often use the phrase parking the bus quite negatively. Do you see parking the bus as being negative,
02:45or is it a justifiable thing to do when it's a difficult match?
02:49Well, Arsenal was better in that term, so we don't want it, but sometimes it happens.
02:55OK, one time in ten years is not bad, right? So that was good. I had to prove myself again
03:00for that strategy. Now I'm a transition team. Do you know that?
03:04You've spoken quite a lot in the last few weeks about polylanguage. With the way that the team
03:13played last Sunday, and actually then into today, do you think that has really grown in that sense?
03:22Absolutely. Without that we would not survive. Especially players come back, but Kusanov now is injured,
03:28John played a few minutes, but he's away still for his best, and Nathan as well. So, yeah, that's why
03:35the effort for the guys who played three games is magnificent, especially against that team. Last
03:41season we lost 5-1, today we draw, we were close, and the resilience that defend always.
03:47You know, let me add, so I would prefer to play another way, but when we play sometimes a lot of games
03:55during ten years, the teams defend deep, deep, deep, and take a result of fantastic performance,
04:01mindset, strategy, and the other one. So sometimes it happens. You have to defend, honestly,
04:06it's because the opponent is better, and when you have to live, you have to accept it,
04:09you have to survive it that way. And you did it.
04:13Quite a lot of people that watch you would say that it's a team that wouldn't have been able to survive in
04:19our life. Ourself? Yeah, people would criticize you, but...
04:24I'm open for that. I'm sitting here to accept that. Three days ago, against the best team in Italy
04:30by far, we played differently, right? Even 11 against 11, we were better. So today was a three-day recovery,
04:38we could do that, and Erling and the other one didn't have the energy maybe to do the first step,
04:42we were in support from behind, and the opponent is good. So we'll see. And of course, the people can say,
04:48they won't really, really believe. Arsenal last season was in 10 against 11,
04:54but always they played 60-70 minutes, and there were they close to win the game. So sometimes,
05:00sometimes it happens.
05:07Oh yeah, that's for sure. It surprised me too. It surprised me too.
05:13Like Napoli has done against us, 10 against 11, this resilience is
05:16how we want to. We want to block the shoots and the other one. Wow. I said we're not able.
05:23Okay, we can step up. I want to be honest. So it's a team like,
05:29it's nine players new from December today, a lot of mechanisms, and our keeper is against
05:36man to man to man is the man free, step-by-step GG. He can do it because we have a good pass in between,
05:42not too long like Eddie because no one can do that. But we have to know that, we have that,
05:49but to arrive at last stages, we have to improve. So I want to be close to the team like Napoli in some
05:57moments against United, 11 against 11. I'm not talking against 10 because it's easier than today.
06:02But again, I said for the compliment for Mikel's team. So when it's good, they are good. We have to accept it.
06:08So we just learn, we can do better. And hopefully in the second leg, when we're going to play in Etihad,
06:14we can do something much better to more control, to create more chances, because we are able to do that.
06:20We are able. And I wouldn't be honest. I would like to say, it's a pity.
06:28Russell is far, right? So I think they have a lot of threats in the corners. We had the clear chances
06:35in the transition, but in general, who controlled the game was Arsenal, it was not us. And that's why
06:40when that's happened, 1-1, I take it.
06:42When you went to a pool of fans at the end, you looked fairly emotional as part of them when you were clapping them.
06:48Was that just because of what your players gave you today and in terms of back to the wall?
06:53Is that what kind of brought that to you?
06:54Absolutely. And I was watching my daughter. I tried to look for her, but I didn't find her.
06:59And at the end, when everybody went home, went home to drink a good beer, so I saw my daughter.
07:05So I was watching there if I found her, but I didn't find her. At the end, I found her.
07:10So, but yes, so I said many times to the team, the way fans are special and they came here for,
07:18you know, for the effort to come, for the tickets, for the travel. So it's not easy for them.
07:22And you have to have a huge respect for them.
07:27When you're in a game like that and you also defend so much the terms, do you enjoy seeing your team as you hate it?
07:35I suffer. I don't like you.
07:39I want the ball away, away now. I want to be close Raya, not close Gigi.
07:44But I said the same time. The opening is do good things.
07:50You have to accept it. And from that, we improve.
07:52And improve what that happened with, what I said many times to Jack and every day is a press conference
07:58about the body languages and how we celebrate, how we are communicating, how you make an effort for the other one.
08:04And we lost it a lot last season. And I said this season, I don't give up about the results.
08:11I want to see the spirit back in the training sessions and enjoy and, you know, and after the tactics.
08:18We lost it last season and you have to recover. And this week we recover. And you have to continue.
08:24And from there, we learn the process, the tactics, a little bit of our, you know, way that we feel more comfortable
08:33to be close to win games and games and make proud of ourselves and our people.
08:39Pep, I know we're speaking about the team defending so deep, but that's two weeks in a row now that Erling scored on the break.
08:46Is that what they're thinking as well?
08:48It's an option. It's an option. But I have the feeling that when we play every three days, three days, three days, three days,
08:54and this amount of effort, you cannot sustain it. You have to control more the game. And after that,
08:59even less efforts, less actions. And always I said, we have to use the actions for the break,
09:07the counter-attacks to break it. You have to. I said before, so when we had in that moment,
09:13Leroy and Raheem in his prime and Kevin in opposition, David Silva, sometimes we defend and
09:19we use that a thousand million times, right? And we have to use it. But is the way I think
09:26this team has been built for the way the manager believes or the players we try to bring here to
09:31believe? No. But in Champions League, when the team is good, you have to defend, you go in the top teams,
09:37you have to do it. But you have to grow as a team with the ball and defensively as a ball,
09:42you know, we have to do it. Thank you everyone. Okay. Thank you.
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