00:23David
00:24We'll start with Damien and then go to Luke please.
00:27Eddie, is it fair to say you couldn't really have any complaints about the outcome there?
00:31Yeah, no complaints on the results. I thought we were beaten by the better team today.
00:36For half an hour I thought we gave a really good account of ourselves
00:39and then we fell away and they stepped up and that was a tough 45 minutes at the end.
00:45Luke?
00:46There's been a lot of talk about challenging for Premier League titles and major honours in four years' time by
00:512030.
00:52That's probably a stark reminder of how big that golf can look when City are that good and you're well
00:58beaten at that.
00:59Yeah, I think that they made changes to their team but I think you can see the strength and depth
01:04that they have and they possess.
01:06And I think for us that was probably a step too far for us today against them when they're in
01:10that mood.
01:10I thought they were excellent and we fell away in the game. We seem to lose our energy but they
01:17do that too because they keep the ball so well.
01:19They make you run, they make you chase and then you're tired and then you make another technical mistake and
01:24then you're chasing again.
01:25They've done that for years, that's why for me they've been the best team that we've continually faced.
01:32And I felt today they were in a really good place and we just fell out of energy.
01:38John and then to Daniel please, John.
01:40Hi Liam, you're at the FA Cup in 12th and the Premier League is your season now a pinch on
01:44success in the Champions League?
01:47Well, yeah, I mean, in terms of trying to achieve something really memorable, yes.
01:52So all energy, all focus now goes on to Tuesday.
01:59Eddie, just touching on Luke's question again, clearly the club wants to aspire to be like Manchester City in the
02:06future.
02:06Are you confident that that still will be the case and how many years it takes?
02:11Yeah, it's not really my focus at the moment. I think they're long-term, they're obviously long-term questions.
02:17My focus is really short-term and it's trying to win the game that's in front of me and that's
02:22Barcelona in the Champions League.
02:24I think we have to be, as much as it's easy to be very negative in this moment, I understand
02:28we've gone out the FA Cup
02:30but we have the biggest game in the club's history coming up in no time at all.
02:34We've got to get the players ready for that, we've got no time to dwell on this.
02:37And just on the short-term, I guess, what is the message we've found at this point?
02:41Because yes, there's a point that you're out of the cup now but there is still something to play for
02:44in the Champions League
02:45and the league obviously could be better but it's still possible you could finish the season well.
02:50Yeah, I think that the supporters were incredible today, I have to say, in that second half when it was
02:54very, very difficult for us as a team.
02:56They were still cheering for us, they were still supporting us.
03:00That typifies the crowd at the end with the reaction they gave the team, unbelievable really.
03:04And I was saying that as we were walking around, this is a really unique football club full of incredible
03:09people
03:09and we're going to need every single person that enters the stadium on Tuesday to try and make the difference
03:13for us.
03:14Thank you. We've got Scott Lee and then to Craig, please. Scott?
03:18I know we've talked about this a few times anyway, but I just wonder what you thought of Nick today
03:22in midfield.
03:23It felt like when he first moved there, it looked lean for a little while.
03:28It seems like the last couple of times he's played there, he's found it a lot more difficult maybe?
03:32Yeah, I think for any of our midfielders today, it was difficult because they keep the ball so well,
03:39they do what they do brilliantly. I think that's a difficult game for Nick.
03:44When we're not in possession of the ball, his best qualities are going to be shown when we have the
03:48ball.
03:50But then I think you look at it a different way and go that we had three fit and available
03:55players to play in there today.
03:56Joe Linton, we didn't want to start. We felt it was two bigger injury risks today.
04:02So, you know, we were running out of options in there.
04:04So I thought he did a good job for the team. I've got no issue with his attitude.
04:08He's just come off the back of quite a bad illness actually.
04:10So to get through the minutes he did, I was pleased with him.
04:12So he'll play a lot better than that and we'll play a lot better than that and see a better
04:15version of him in there, I'm sure.
04:17Lee?
04:18Eddie, the team started with good intensity.
04:23I don't think it was necessarily a tactical problem for us.
04:33It was more the way they play and how good they are technically.
04:39They took a stranglehold of the ball and when we got it back, we gave it away too easily, maybe
04:42looking too vertical and not horizontal enough at times.
04:47And then as soon as you make a technical mistake against you, you're not seeing the ball again for long
04:50periods and then your energy just drains away.
04:52That's why they've been the best team for so long.
04:55And I think they're coming back into the type of form that makes them that team again.
05:01They're evolving into a different version of what they've been before but very, very effective.
05:06So that was a tough learning lesson for us in that second half.
05:10We just didn't have the strength to make a dent in them.
05:13Do you think that, obviously, you've got a liberal medal coming back from injury.
05:18It's almost like you're getting close to a rebuild moving into the, so not a total rebuild, but you do
05:23need fresh faces in there.
05:25Some players who are closer to the end of their career than they are at the start.
05:30Yeah, I don't think that's a conversation for now, of course.
05:32I think you're always in slight rebuild, you're always in slight transition because football changes very quickly.
05:39And, you know, we're in a cycle where we just need to get some players back fit and get some
05:43of the strength back in the group again.
05:44I couldn't use Jacob Murphy today because of a neck problem, which he suffered yesterday
05:50and wanted to see how he felt in the warm-up to see if I could use him.
05:54So we were really stretched today again and I think the lads that played gave everything, but we just ran
05:58out of energy.
06:00Yeah, just in terms of that centre-forward position, obviously Asuna played today, but Nick's played there, Johan, Anthony, in
06:09recent months.
06:11Do you still enjoy the challenge of finding and helping and getting that position?
06:17Or do you expect at this level for one of them to go, actually, my performance is that good that
06:23you can't not be good?
06:27I think Anthony's done that in recent weeks, in my opinion. I think he's played really well in that position.
06:33I think he's led the line well. I think he enjoys the responsibility of it.
06:36So I think his performances have been very good.
06:41Yeah, Nick's played there, of course, and he continued to play there.
06:43I've got no doubt about his abilities. For me, the position stuff is sort of immaterial.
06:49He'll end up in between lines. That's where he's at his best, whether he starts high or whether he comes
06:54from a deeper position.
06:55He needs to exist in there for us to see his best qualities.
07:00Johan, we're still building back to fitness.
07:02And Willisula did really well on Wednesday, and I think he's a real positive.
07:05And I thought he did okay today. There was a couple of really big moments for him.
07:07I think the one where he goes through being chased by John Stone is a big moment in the game.
07:12And I think he'd back himself to maybe get that shot away quicker on another day.
07:17But I thought there was a lot of positives in his performance, too.
07:19Thank you. Greg?
07:21Eddie, you certainly made 10 changes. You made four.
07:23But it was almost as if the impact was great, I felt, on yourself.
07:27Was that sort of exemplify where you're at on your respective journeys?
07:30You took out Spain, you know, you've experienced your lead in the start,
07:34you've earned your lead in Anthony Gordon.
07:36But you're just not in a place right now where you can shuffle that Spain in terms of the steel
07:40and energy
07:41that you've played. You can hear what you've got on Wednesday, of course.
07:43Yeah, I think we're in a difficult spot, Craig, because we're trying to get through the games and perform and
07:48to win.
07:50But we're also trying to navigate and keep players fit, which is very, very difficult to do.
07:56The combination of the two, I don't think we've got the strength at the moment to make loads of changes
08:00and keep the same strength in our performance.
08:03We tried to do it with a couple of key players today that we had to protect.
08:07Anthony Gordon's come in with an ankle problem, we had to protect him today.
08:10We had to protect Joe Linton today with past experience.
08:14These players are too big to lose.
08:18Big Dan Byrne was more of a choice to play Sven. Sven's a top-quality player.
08:24Other than that, we were, you know, near enough at full strength.
08:28Chris?
08:30Am I right? Did I hear you say that you think Tuesday is the biggest game in the club's history
08:34coming up?
08:34And if so, can you just explain why you think it is such a big game?
08:38Well, we've never been in this position in the Champions League before.
08:42And it's the best competition there is.
08:44So I think for obvious reasons, I think it's a massive game in our history
08:48and we need to approach it that way and we need the supporters to think that way.
08:52And we need to try and find some energy from somewhere that will elevate our performance
08:57to a level that we've not seen before this season because I think that's the only way we'll get through.
09:00You just mentioned the energy, you've obviously had the play with ten men on Wednesday
09:03and then the game tonight, it's quite a quick turnaround for Tuesday as well.
09:06Yeah, it's a disappointment really for us because we've played Manchester City twice,
09:10once off extra time in the FA Cup the first time and then today off the back of playing with
09:16ten men.
09:16And I think we've gone into both pivotal cup ties, maybe not in our best place.
09:21There's no excuse, they were magnificent today and we weren't.
09:24But it's been a challenging period for us and we're still trying to battle our way through it.
09:29Thank you, everyone. Cheers.
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