00:05Good evening, James, are you leading us off?
00:14It looked like you really enjoyed that tonight.
00:17Yeah, I did. I was really looking forward to the game.
00:20I think we've shown different attributes in the last few weeks
00:25where we've had to dig deep, show real grit, resilience,
00:32opposition they're setting up in a very respectful way, I feel,
00:35to try and nullify what we do and then it's on us to try and overcome that.
00:40I felt there was a performance bubbling,
00:43just could see it in the players' eyes over the last couple of days.
00:46I think the approach has been really focused
00:48and I thought in the second half in particular we showed exactly what we are.
00:53You didn't feel like there was much in the game
00:55until you got that first goal.
00:56In terms of that set-piece, was that something specifically you worked on for this?
01:01Because you went and hugged the set-piece coach straight off the goal.
01:04Yeah, every set-piece is worked on, yeah.
01:06Sometimes you might get a stroke of luck if it doesn't go in the right area
01:09and someone pops up.
01:11Yeah, it's obviously something we paid close attention to
01:13and we felt there was an opportunity tonight.
01:16If it was going to be the difference and a game decided on set-pieces,
01:19we wanted it to be on our side.
01:21Just a final one from me, three seasons in a row,
01:24the home form at the start of the season has been superb.
01:27What have you put that down to?
01:34Listen, the last game we were outplayed in the first half really against Sunderland.
01:39We were exhilarated in the first game against Spurs.
01:41But tonight, again, we had to show different traits and attributes within the game
01:46in different ways.
01:46I just think there's a really nice connection at the moment between the fans
01:50and the players and the club in general.
01:52I think it's growing all the time.
01:54I think everyone's enjoying the journey that we're on, especially me.
02:00I just love watching us play.
02:01I love being here.
02:02I love feeling that energy from the crowd and the way we play.
02:06We want it to be a very difficult place for teams to come
02:09and we need to consistently try and evolve how we play and how we do things.
02:14We'll go to Clare next.
02:16Hi, Keith Clare.
02:17Have you just given an assessment of Kevin Sharpe's performance
02:19and what makes him so valuable even after the 3-0?
02:22I think you didn't stop pressing his opponents at some speed.
02:25He's a pressing machine.
02:27His work rate is outstanding.
02:29I think it's something that we have to have even from our attacking players.
02:33We have to have a desire to do the ugly side of the game,
02:37the basics of the game, the hard work, the hard yards.
02:40I think Kevin consistently does that.
02:42I don't think he gets the recognition that he deserves,
02:44but he's in a really good rhythm of his game now, the way he's playing,
02:48the way he can evolve from dropping in, running in behind, set pieces.
02:52He's immense, as you've seen tonight.
02:55He's in a good place.
02:55And he never mind sacrificing himself on the team?
03:01I don't think so.
03:04He's a very honest player.
03:06I think he knows why it's so important.
03:09We revisit those aspects of the game pretty often.
03:13Why it's so important.
03:14We see it all the time in opposition players when they don't do that,
03:17and we can exploit that.
03:20So it's ingrained in Kevin there.
03:23I know you played Dan Pigo's sort of goalless run at the start of the season,
03:28but he seemed to enjoy that moment.
03:29Why wouldn't he?
03:31Yeah.
03:31He's not goalless.
03:32He scored in the Cup, which everybody seems to forget.
03:35He's come back from the World Cup in an unbelievable place.
03:40How fit and sharp he's been focused he's been throughout the pre-season,
03:45the condensed pre-season that he's had.
03:48And his overall performance has been really, really good.
03:51So I wasn't worried.
03:53The reality is he set the bar so high last year, everybody analysed him.
03:57But the reality is as well, opposition defenders are very aware of him,
04:00and tonight's a good example of that.
04:02The way Chelsea set up was very, very respectful of us
04:05and the traits and the attributes we have to try and exploit opposition defences,
04:09and they double-marked him practically for a large part of the game
04:13because they were that respectful of him.
04:15So, yeah, I'm delighted he's up and running in the Premier League,
04:18but I have to say it wasn't a huge concern for me.
04:21It was still emotional for him, wasn't it?
04:23So what do you think that was down to?
04:25Why was it emotional for him?
04:26He loves scoring goals, and he wants to score goals.
04:30And he's an emotional individual that plays off his emotions and his passion really well.
04:40I just asked him, what's it like when your recruitment team comes to you?
04:44Say, we've found his 20-year-old posturing centre-back,
04:48and he's going to be pretty decent, and then you see him play,
04:50and he's going to play like that today.
04:52I mean, it just must have been amazing.
04:54Yeah, well, he was 19 at the time.
04:56But, yeah, I loved him from the second I seen him.
05:00And what I loved about him was his fearlessness.
05:06You could see his character from watching clips.
05:10You could just see how he reacted to mistakes in a game,
05:13and he's just wholehearted.
05:14He's a character.
05:16He has personality.
05:17He has aggression.
05:19The way he defends his box, he loves defending.
05:23The reality is, as well, you never truly know how they're going to settle into a league like this,
05:28and the level of opposition.
05:30So to say I'm delighted with him and the recruitment team is an understatement.
05:44What reception did he get?
05:47Yeah, I have to say I wasn't really focused on that.
05:50I was quite engrossed in our performance.
05:53OK.
05:54Cheers.
05:56Is there one more?
05:58Last one, final one.
05:59Two players obviously got selected for the German squad,
06:02with Vitaliyana and Kevin Charles.
06:04Did you both call you?
06:05What was the exception?
06:07No, he didn't, but I'm delighted they're both in.
06:10Kevin has obviously been in previously.
06:12I think when you say that out loud, two players playing for Germany,
06:16it's pretty special, isn't it?
06:18And Vitaly in particular, Kevin's been in before.
06:20For Vitaly, for the age he is, the consistency he's shown,
06:24he's been amazing for me since I've been head coach.
06:28He's the glue on our team.
06:29He knits everything together.
06:30Sometimes you might not see everything he does,
06:32but behind the scenes, in possession,
06:35how he organises out of possession,
06:36it's something that he absolutely deserves.
06:39And I'll be wearing a Germany shirt for the game.
06:42What's your name tonight?
06:43Vitaly.
06:44He was pretty happy.
06:46Thank you, everybody.
06:47See you soon.
06:49See you, buddy.
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