00:00No, because you ask them to, yeah, you have some really bad faces, terrible attitude there,
00:07you will be questioning, have you seen your boys training? It's just ridiculous, you know,
00:11it's not to the standards. I prefer if it happens in this manner, again, it's not ideal,
00:19but that's the culture that we have. When we are out there, we train, and we train to the highest
00:24standards, demands, and they compete to win, and that's a consequence of the team that we are.
00:30We're going to speak to Big Gabi afterwards, and I was just wondering, I mean, it takes proper courage,
00:36doesn't it, to kind of take a penalty? We saw that in the Champions League final. I mean, that speaks
00:42to
00:42his personality and his desire, doesn't it? And what a good teammate and player. I mean, a few of us
00:49spoke to Eze in the World Cup, and he was talking about he wouldn't hesitate doing it again,
00:53and I guess it might be the same for Gabi. Yeah, I think Gabi's transformation since he joined
00:59from Lille has been incredible to witness. I'm so proud of what he's done in the manner that he's done
01:06it. First of all, his personal transformation, and then the way he has evolved all the qualities
01:13that he already has to become one of the big leaders of the team and of the club, and he
01:19certainly
01:20deserves that, and that comes with responsibility. And he took that responsibility in that moment.
01:25He didn't go the right way, but I'm sure if we have the chance to do it again, that he
01:30will be there again.
01:32Hi, Mikel. Lionel Messi recently put Max Darwin in his top ten future stars of the future.
01:38I don't know if you saw that. How far are we away from seeing him fully released? We've
01:41seen him in drips and drabs so far, but how far from him being completely unleashed into the
01:45first-team line-up? As close as Messi says. Messi, which is the best ever player, says
01:52that his eyes are, I think, better than anybody else's, so hopefully he's right.
01:58And what is it about Max that people like Messi and others obviously value him so highly?
02:03He's not obviously, he's only played a sample amount of games, but what is it so far that
02:08encapsulates him to everyone?
02:10That he's got something special. I mean, in the few appearances that he had, he has
02:15already done remarkable things. And that's somebody that is touched with a special gift
02:20and it's a joy to watch. The way he moves, the way he touches the wall, the way he carries
02:26himself is just different. And that's what makes him unique.
02:30Hi, Mikel. A question on Bukayo. He's getting into very aggressive positions this season.
02:36He's scoring from close-range tap-ins. You've got a smile on your face. Is that a deliberate
02:40thing that you've been working on him with? And is that what you want to see more of?
02:44That's what we need to get him. And if he misses the chance, so be it at the end, the
02:48more
02:48volume we generate, the bigger the probability of him scoring more goals. And he's been getting
02:53in great position. He's getting shots. He's getting one-touch finishes, tap-ins. And that's
03:00the kind of unpredictability that we have created with that player, because otherwise we know
03:05how the opponent is going to protect him. And he's doing weight. And he could have another
03:09four or five goals by now, easily. But if he continues like that, we know. So when he
03:15talks about, I want to score a certain amount of goals, he needs to be thinking about to
03:20score a certain amount of goals per game, in terms of at the end of the season. And if
03:24that shifts that mentality, he will get into those positions and score more goals.
03:28Is that the next sort of evolution for him, do you think, going those numbers, basically?
03:32Yeah, for sure. And he can do that.
03:34Josh?
03:36Hi, Mikel. You spoke a bit about how the injuries might impact this game. Obviously, when you
03:45come into this part of the season, we start seeing more of the weekend football, midweek
03:49football, and the schedule gets even busier. You've got quite a few players who could be given
03:54an opportunity who maybe haven't started so far this season. How big of an opportunity
03:57is a game like this, where you might have to or be forced to rotate, whether it's through
04:02injuries or just for squad management, for those players to make a mistake to play?
04:06Well, it's an opportunity, again, to impact the game and win it, which is the outcome that
04:11we want every three days. And that's it. That's everybody's responsibility. The biggest game
04:17that we're going to play is the next one. And it's tomorrow against that. Again, a really,
04:21really tough opponent, I repeat myself. And the players that are on that pitch, they're
04:25going to have to do their best to have the team to win. That's it.
04:29Eze might not have been knocking on your door, but when Victor Jokeres came on at the weekend,
04:33it looked like he was maybe not physically knocking on your door, but it looked like he
04:36was trying to prove a point the second he came on. Has he been saying anything to you
04:40about just trying to get out on that pitch? Because he's obviously not started yet.
04:43I think that, but the same that when Bruno came in or Julian came in or Piero came in on
04:47that pitch, you could sense that they were desperate to help and impact the team. It's
04:52not towards me. I make the decisions based on what I think is better on the moment to
04:57increase the probability of winning the match and being superior to the opponent. That's
05:01it. And the moment that I decide to change three players is to have a knock on effect
05:05immediately. And they've been phenomenal at doing that. If that's what they need, that
05:09fuel inside them. So be it, because I'm sure he's going to help the team.
05:13And finally, Ed.
05:14Hi, Mikel. Just on Saka and scoring a few more goals, it's been, I think it's four years
05:20ago he scored 20. That's his most. Are those the sort of numbers that you think that he's
05:25capable of?
05:26No, I think the numbers should go to score two or three per game. That's it. That's the
05:31mindset. And then if you score one, so be it, you score two. So be it, because B has
05:35the ability to score in many ways. But no, B, I will go to all the attackers. And that's
05:40the way I think you have to attack something. Because if you go 20, OK, where we are? In
05:45October, I still have eight months to score 17 more goals. That's not the mindset at all.
05:51That's not going to take you there.
05:53OK, and just on the Champions League, you've spoken a lot about how it's obviously
05:58the Champions League. Was that the main motivation behind you signing a new contract to finally
06:05end that?
06:07Well, I think it's to bring the biggest trophies and success that we possibly can to this football
06:13club. And that's it. We were one penalty away from doing that after going to extra time.
06:22And that tells you how thin the line is, that we should have done something remarkable. And
06:27there were a lot of things in that game as well that were probably not to the standards
06:33that are needed to win a final. But yeah, we want to get there again, that's for sure.
06:41Can you remember back to then what weren't up to standards?
06:45A lot of things that were related to us and some things that weren't related to us.
06:49OK, everyone, thanks very much. Let's go.
