00:00Yeah, it's a great start, there's no getting away from that, to be honest, before the game
00:22with coaches we spoke and we said the boys were in a good place, we were quite happy
00:28with the days, how we prepared for it, emotionally where the boys were, the state they were at
00:34leaving the changing room, so I was quite happy with that leading into the game, but
00:39then, listen, City are an unbelievable team with talent and they can rotate and change
00:43things, so there's a plan and then you've got to go plan B and C and work around it,
00:47so you never really know how the game's going to go, but for it to pan out like that, the
00:51boys were fantastic today, I have to say in so many ways, and to manage it emotionally
00:57with the information we've given them and pulling it together, yeah, it was pretty good.
01:02Michael, I just wonder, especially with Bruno Camando as another assistant in the season,
01:09I just wonder this week what conversations did you have with him as captain and also,
01:12do you think he's enjoying playing as a tennis player, playing as a team player?
01:15Yeah, I mean, obviously I've spoke to Bruno, I've known him a long time now and I thought
01:22he was, again, I thought he was fantastic today, the way he played the position, you know, he's
01:26so clever and he takes up spaces and he had a big disciplined role, him and Brian defensively
01:32as well, to protect the team from anything coming through the middle as much as possible,
01:35so it wasn't all kind of playing and positivity to that point, but he's just got so much quality,
01:42Bruno, you know, and he can adapt and playing in that position, he's a real threat and he
01:47made the difference.
01:48Yeah, I thought Kobe was great alongside Kassa, I thought between the two of them and I thought
02:03it gave us a foundation really, Leitcha and Harry and the kind of block really and I thought
02:08that gave us a really strong foundation and I felt it was a game for experience and knowing
02:14what it feels like, it was a big ask for it, I have to say, and credit to him, I think,
02:22taking for granted sometimes what players do, but for him to play it today and come through
02:26it and taking, I'm not going to lie, it was a bit of a calculated gamble as well of how
02:31long he could play and could he get through it because he's literally trained for two or
02:34three days for probably eight weeks, nine weeks, so it just shows you what it means really
02:41to him and I thought he was fantastic, I thought between him and Leitcha they were so
02:44solid at the back and give us the foundation to build on.
02:48Michael, how long have you been thinking about this, I know you've been working for three
02:54days with the team, but when you've seen Manchester United play have you had in your mind thought,
02:59well, if I was manager of that team I'd do this with it, how long have you been thinking
03:05about what you might do?
03:07Not consciously really, I think it's, it's obviously something that clicks into gear when
03:12you think, maybe I might be on my toes to do something about it, but it's, there's obviously,
03:18listen, I've watched a lot, I've came here, we've got season tickets and my family comes,
03:21so I've came to a lot of games over recent times and you get to know the players in your
03:27own eye, everyone has an opinion and your instincts and then there was a little bit of what was going
03:32to take for today and we had three days to prepare, so the balance of how much information, what
03:40the lads could take on, being fair to them to not overdo it, but actually City's probably
03:44asking you as much questions as anyone could possibly ask, so you've got to have the answers
03:50to that, so it was a real balance and the coaches I have to say for the last three or four days have been,
03:55showed how good they are in terms of how much they give the players, ways of doing it, being quite creative,
04:01and then they've always taken it on board.
04:04Sorry, I was just going to say, because the fans bought, whatever it was, the fans bought into it,
04:08you know, when we've not really seen it.
04:11Yeah, and I hope so, I hope so, you know, and I think the players certainly fed off it,
04:15the players left the changing room unbelievably desperate to do well, almost I was thinking,
04:20don't be too desperate where you end up, it can cloud your judgement and you make decisions
04:24because you're emotionally so invested in it, but I thought they got the balance so right
04:29and the supporters were incredible, and I said yesterday, this can be a magical place, you know,
04:36and it does some funny things, and today to get that feeling is exactly what we want.
04:42Hopefully it's just a start, something we need to build on, so we're not getting carried away massively,
04:48but you've got to enjoy the feeling, certainly when you get it.
04:52Michael, that was a performance full of attacking intent and intensity,
04:57maybe we've not always seen over the last few years.
04:59Did you sense the players wanted that, did you sense they've reacted to that this week,
05:04that they wanted to be and let off the leash to really have a go at it?
05:08No, I don't know about so much left, I just think the boys have shown me that they're really willing to listen
05:16and learn and that are really, yeah, as I said, almost desperate, they wanted so much
05:21and the willingness to take the information on and change things a little bit
05:29and be willing to adapt.
05:32You know, we obviously put a game plan and a strategy together that tried to achieve certain things,
05:39you know, and everyone played their part in the end.
05:44Hi Matt, I played Wynn of course.
05:46You also had three goals short of and hit the woodwork twice.
05:50First of all, is it fair to say that it could have been more,
05:53and secondly, that Guardiola was in there a short while ago saying that the LL challenge on
05:57and what's your view of that?
06:01Yeah, I'm not giving you that answer, but I haven't seen it to be honest.
06:06So, generally I haven't seen it.
06:08I thought at the time Diogo actually got a foot on the ball, that's from my ankle,
06:11I thought he had kicked it out, so I didn't even for one second think it was a bad challenge.
06:16I got told that there was a lack of force, that's why, so I've not seen it.
06:23I don't know, to be honest with you, I don't know.
06:25These type of games have swings and momentums and decisions, and like you say,
06:31we could have scored more for the slight offsides, however close they were.
06:35I've not looked at them back, but I felt we looked and we felt dangerous in the game all the time,
06:40even right from the start with Harry's header.
06:44I thought we had that, which we wanted to have that intent.
06:47We knew they were so good at having possession and they asked questions of you,
06:51and certain times you can't chase the ball and do that for the whole game.
06:56So, we wanted to have a real attack and intent, and I thought the front four,
07:00backed up by what was behind them, I thought were pretty special today, I have to say.
07:06Last question for James.
07:07Michael, amidst a lot of the quality shows, there was obviously a huge fight and aggression
07:13from every player there, and obviously fans have not often seen that regularly delivered,
07:20how are you going to go about channelling that sort of level of fight and aggression
07:27today over the remains of the game to make sure it's not a one-off?
07:31That's the challenge ultimately, and I think it needs to be a version of normal.
07:37Certainly, we're not going to have games with the emotion and the feeling,
07:41and everything that today brought, I think we all understand that,
07:44but there's definitely a level of standards and expectation that we need to live up to
07:50from ourselves as much as anyone on the outside.
07:53I'm totally aware of that, consistency is the key to any success,
07:58and if you can find that, then you're on to a winner.
08:01So that's our challenge, you know, we've got to find a way of doing that.
08:04Big one next week, obviously, another tough one, but on the back of today,
08:08we've got a good foundation to build on.
08:11Thanks, everyone.
08:12Alright, cheers, guys, thanks a lot.
08:14Well, thank you.
