00:14Evening.
00:28Ready when you are.
00:41I suppose, yeah.
00:44I think it was a performance filled with grit, personality, character, ability, bravery.
00:54Different stages of the game, obviously.
00:57When we were in control, relative control, lost control and then regained it back and looked so dangerous.
01:05Loved us from set pieces tonight, thought we were a constant threat.
01:09Thought we played with a real determination to go and get the three points.
01:13We weren't content with the result going to 1-1.
01:16We really pushed on and I think it's fair to say in the last stages we were the more likely
01:21team looking likely to win the game.
01:24It's all been talk about set pieces with Arsenal this season, but you caused them so many injuries in those
01:30positions with a throw into the corners.
01:31Did you identify that as a key area where you could hurt them?
01:35Well, I think if you're going to score a goal against Arsenal, it's going to be hard-earned.
01:40I think the stats don't lie on what a good outfit they are without the ball.
01:44So you have to try and cause a little bit of chaos.
01:48I think we did that in the game.
01:50We definitely did it from set pieces, we did it from transitions.
01:54But every game for us has a set piece of focus.
01:59Yep.
02:00Hi.
02:01Michael has been much more than just a lot of players.
02:05What can you tell about him and his game today?
02:09And hopefully he's trying to put together the team to go to the World Cup playoffs.
02:15If Gennaro Gokuso would call you about Michael, what would you tell him?
02:19What would I tell him?
02:20I'd probably tell him what he probably already knows, that he's a very good player,
02:24that he's playing to a very, very high level on a weekly basis.
02:29At such a young age, he plays with such maturity.
02:33And you're right, I've said this for quite a while,
02:35it wouldn't be correct if anybody just assessed Michael and focused on his long throw.
02:41That's just one part of his game.
02:42He's constantly evolving his game.
02:45Defensively, he's outstanding.
02:46Absolutely outstanding, the way he deals with opposition wingers,
02:49again, of a high level on a weekly basis.
02:52How he approaches that with a smile on his face is a pleasure to work with.
02:59A lot of the big teams want to control games, though.
03:02It seems like his players are getting very open in the quality of the transition.
03:07How are you doing that better than so many other teams?
03:11Yeah, I think you're right.
03:12I think most teams want control of a game.
03:17What that looks like for the big teams, obviously, when they have the ball for large parts of the game.
03:23And you've got to have different plans of where you are on the pitch and how you can disrupt that,
03:28I suppose.
03:29I thought we did that really well when we jumped on them and released and went really aggressive,
03:34but equally when we were a little bit lower, how we tried to nullify spaces.
03:39And then with the ball, obviously, we play our game and we try and make things pretty unpredictable for the
03:45opposition.
03:45I think there's a real willingness to do the basics of the game, which I hold in a really high
03:51place of priorities.
03:55Yeah, I always want to cause chaos here and I want us to play in a relentless fashion.
03:59I said that on day one when I actually took over, I want us to play relentless football.
04:02And I think we've built that as the season's gone on and I just love watching us play the game.
04:07I want us to play in a certain way where if I was a paying fan, I would like to
04:12watch this team.
04:12And I think we've been doing that pretty consistently.
04:16Could people understand Luis Potra accept this and how he would get into it?
04:25Yeah, maybe a little bit. I worked a lot with him last year, obviously, on that front.
04:30I love his movement. I love the way he gambles and the timing of his runs.
04:35He's got a good leap, as you're seeing tonight. So, yeah, quite possibly.
04:40I thought he was utilised really well tonight and he's a bright player.
04:44He takes information on board really well. Very diligent of the role he had to do from set pieces tonight.
04:50But we're out of possession as well. He had a very specific role tonight,
04:52which I thought he took on board brilliantly tonight.
05:06Did Arsenal fans think that? No.
05:09I thought it was a second yellow.
05:12Do you think that would have changed the game?
05:16I think it was the 82nd minute, wasn't it?
05:18So, you would have had whatever it was.
05:20It was five minutes, 17 minutes or so with ten men.
05:23I think it would have made a little bit of a difference for sure.
05:27But it is what it is.
05:29Keeping Arsenal to the next year at 4.6, just two attempts on target.
05:34And the goal and that late save, I think.
05:38Was you very pleased with how the organisation and defensive structures worked?
05:43Yeah, bravery, I would say, was the key word.
05:46Let's be brave with the ball and without the ball.
05:49Let's not take steps back when we can take steps forward.
05:52And the communication, the encouragement from the man behind
05:54and the unit behind was key tonight and being vocal.
05:57Let's not take steps back. I don't want us to be that team.
06:00And you're right, I think to keep a team of that calibre,
06:04which I hold in the highest regard of how they play, the individuals they have,
06:08they can conjure something up from nothing.
06:11Yeah, it was really pleasing.
06:14How are you, mate?
06:15Arsenal were the best team in the country yesterday.
06:19On a performance like that, what would it say about your side?
06:22We're a pretty good team, aren't we?
06:28We're constantly growing, I think.
06:30In fact, I know we're playing in a fearless manner.
06:34Will that always give us the result we want? Obviously not.
06:36But as long as we continue to strive towards that,
06:39it just fills me with pride.
06:41The way I watch the team, the way I watch the individuals attack it
06:44and embrace the challenge and just get after teams.
06:47So, yeah, they are an unbelievable team
06:50and we've gone toe-to-toe sometimes.
06:52I know you don't like to talk about Europe,
06:54but I just want to ask, when you have nights at this at Tuesday,
06:57does it feel like you're capable of reaching new heights?
07:03Yeah, I'm not going to speak about that.
07:06There is 12 games left, but I do promise you
07:09we're going to attack every single one of them
07:11and push and continue to push really hard to see how much we can achieve this year.
07:17But that's a long way off.
07:22Do you enjoy potentially having a say in the title race
07:25and being the sort of fixture that champions have to prove their metal in,
07:29or does that matter to you?
07:30Yeah, it didn't really matter to me, to be honest.
07:32I was watching Man City-Liverpool the other day
07:35and then obviously Man City playing against Fulham
07:38and I knew that was a factor in it,
07:39but not a big factor for me, really.
07:43To be honest, it's solely focused on us and what we can achieve
07:47and just pushing hard to try and achieve something pretty special.
07:54And we were pretty close to doing that tonight
07:56by getting three points, unfortunately we couldn't quite get the second.
08:00OK. We'll leave it there, everyone. Thank you very much.
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