00:00Hi Michael, the defence has obviously struggled this season, there's now ten goals in six
00:04games, can you put your finger on that and maybe explain why that has happened, it's
00:07obviously not the start you would have hoped?
00:09Yes, it's certainly not the start, in that respect we need to improve, no doubt, as
00:15a team collectively, it's not just a back line or certainly as a goalkeeper, it's a
00:23collective thing, so we definitely need to improve that.
00:25I don't know, you said you don't want to speak about individuals there, but Yaro and Heaven
00:29look like they struggled a bit on Wednesday night, is that just part of a young player's
00:32journey to go through those peaks and drops?
00:34I thought they started really well actually in the game, I thought we started really well,
00:38so it's not about them, I think they'll learn from different experiences and they've done
00:46particularly well as well, they're in a good spot, two younger players that have got really
00:52good futures, so unfortunately you go through times in football and you have some good spells
00:58and sometimes you learn a lot from the things that didn't go so well, but I wouldn't isolate
01:04them at all, by all means, if anything from the other night.
01:08Jamie in and Sam.
01:09Alright Michael, your last two results, you lost to City after they went down to ten men,
01:15on Thursday you lost a two goal lead, is it fair to look at that and sort of analyse that
01:22your team lacks the ability to sort of, I don't know, within a game, sense what's needed,
01:28so against City they're down to ten men, let's go for it a bit.
01:32Sabah, we've got a two goal lead, let's just keep the foot on the ball, is that a fair
01:36enough analysis, is that something you would look at?
01:37I think it's quite instant really in terms of the last week or so, certain things have
01:44thrown up in games and it doesn't all of a sudden mean there's a big, huge problem and
01:52that's obviously the balance for me to judge, it's very easy to just because it's happened
01:57recently to all of a sudden think that's the thing that's been coming for a long time
02:03and that's part of us understanding as a team moving forward actually what we do need to,
02:09what can happen in football in certain games and what we need to put right for moving forward.
02:16Just related to that, do you feel your team at the moment plays with enough, I can put it this
02:21way,
02:21the sort of united way of freedom, excitement, front foot, joy, you know, do you think there's enough
02:26I've had a fair few goals recently.
02:28Well you have but you've also, as I say, let slip a two goal, it's almost like you froze in
02:31that game,
02:32that isn't really the united way, you know, you obviously were part of amazing teams that just went for it.
02:37Yeah, I was lucky enough to be part of good teams, yeah, but it's very different though,
02:42you know, we've played some really good football, exciting football, scored a lot of goals,
02:45that's very different to all of a sudden then conceding goals, it's a different thing, you know,
02:51you have to have two sides to you, I'm not downplaying it, you know, we need to stop conceding as
02:58many goals,
02:59that's really obvious to say, but we have scored a lot as well, so there's a balance to that.
03:05Hi Michael, excuse me, just going back to Stephen's point about Lenny, this is his third season at the club
03:09now,
03:10has this got to be the season where, I understand that he's obviously still at a young age,
03:13but there has to be a cut off point where he steps up and starts performing and acting like this?
03:18No, he's 20 Lenny, you know, and again in context he's got a fantastic future ahead of him and a
03:28lot of potential,
03:30he's learning, he's developing, he's, you know, to be at this club and play as a centre-back at such
03:38a young age,
03:38which is, it's a challenging position, it's one that he can do for sure, it's one that Aiden can do
03:44for sure,
03:45but there's no cut off point, you know, some players progress and find when they're 18,
03:52they're in the peak, not peak, but they're at that level where they can really perform,
04:01some players, like Lenny showed he can perform, I've got no worries for Lenny,
04:05I think he does a lot of really good things and he's part of learning,
04:09sometimes it might be 20, sometimes you see players 22, 23, 24 where they start development,
04:15so there's definitely no cut off point, he's just got to keep progressing and moving in the right direction,
04:20wanting to learn, keep improving, getting more opportunities, he's doing a lot of good things
04:25and I think we've got to be careful again and that certainly won't do it,
04:28is making knee-jerk decisions on certain players just because of one game or one half or one moment in
04:34a game,
04:35we've got a lot of belief in Lenny for sure.
04:38Is it helpful for him that he's got Johnny and Jonathan to learn from, given that Johnny had Rio,
04:44Nemanja, West Brown, Gary Neville, Jonathan had Lucas Radderby,
04:49it felt like they could be eased into a team that had some very proven defenders,
04:53but it doesn't feel like this defence has a lot of experience there but maybe not the same stability?
04:58Yeah, there's a lot of experience, Lenny's fortunate as he has, he's got some really good coaches that have lived
05:06it
05:07and understand his position, Lenny's got a big future ahead of him and learning,
05:13and sometimes learning live in the moment, sometimes it's tough, other times he's done particularly well,
05:21so he'll keep developing, he'll keep developing, he'll keep learning, he's in a good place, he's got a big future.
05:29That's all for Chris.
05:30Thank you Michael.
05:32You mentioned earlier the goal that shouldn't have been, I don't think we've had a chance to speak to you
05:36since VAR, since ProRef, what do they call themselves these days, came out and said that they got it wrong.
05:44We mentioned last week after the game whether an apology would help and you were quite dismissive at the time,
05:49now that it has been forthcoming, they've got it wrong, is there any consolation to you whatsoever
05:54and as you move forward into your next game and the rest of the season, do you have faith in
05:58the system that it does work?
06:02Yeah, listen, one-off things can happen, at the time it was a pretty big one, we know that, I
06:09don't think I need to go over that,
06:11but I've got faith in it of course, it's the system that we work towards and that's been used,
06:19so the apology doesn't mean an awful lot, I can appreciate it and I respect it for them putting their
06:25hands up and saying
06:27we got that wrong, I think it happens, it does happen, but moving forward, yeah, we just have to deal
06:35with it,
06:36what's thrown in front of us and maybe we get one or two decisions on the back of how it
06:43balances out,
06:44percentages or low of averages or whatever that may be, but that was a pretty big one to take
06:49and had a huge impact on that game and that's why it was particularly tough.
06:54It is a big one, you've been talking in the past few days about how quickly things can catch fire
06:59here,
07:00that late goal at Everton takes it in a whole different direction, that call against City,
07:06suddenly you're on the back foot, things like that can have a massive impact on your season.
07:11In the moment in time they can have a big impact, we can't let it have an impact on the
07:16rest of the season,
07:17so that's for us to get back to winning as soon as possible.
07:23Thanks everyone.
07:24Alright, cheers.
07:26Okay.
07:27Okay.
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