Another great night for you tonight from defence to attack you must be delighted?
Yeah, I am thrilled with the performance, I thought the players bounced back really well from Sunday’s performance when we didn’t reach our level, but tonight we did and we got a really big victory against a side who have been really good this season.
You threw in Jesse Lingard from the start, as well as his two goals he looked so sharp for a guy who has not played for so long
Well my biggest concern was not really his all-round fitness it was his match fitness and sharpness, so that was what I wasn’t quite so sure about. I knew he had been working hard at Manchester United and training hard so I didn’t really have a great worry about that it was just his sharpness because of lack of minutes really. He didn’t half show he is in good form, he helped us play better and got two goals so it was a brilliant debut for him tonight.
He looked very hungry do you think that he has a point to prove to some as he hasn’t played for so long?Well if he keeps playing as well as he did tonight and he keeps scoring goals then he’ll do a brilliant job for West Ham and if he keeps doing that he’ll get in the England squad as well. The level that he has, it was not that long ago that he was an England international and I hope that he can get back to that standard and if he does it will be great for us at West Ham.
How pleased are you with the signing you have made with some of them not being household names… Soucek, Coufal, Dawson, Bowen
Well, I’m not sure that West Ham are ready to make household name signing, I think we have to find a way of building up and getting ourselves to a level where we can then do that and hopefully that will be in the future. We have to go step by step and we are making a big step at the moment, the players we have got have improved no end, the players in the building their mentality, the way they go about their job has been excellent so the players we have added have done a good job as well.
He has been. Sometimes as a manager you need to get a bit of luck and good fortune, you need to find a player and hopefully, we have found a good player who has made a difference he is a great boy to work with. He was a bit unlucky not to get another goal tonight as well, it just looped over the bar but long may it continue. He has had a great first year in the Premier League, I hope he has a long stay with us and continues to play with the form he is in.
What would you put the return of confidence down to, the run before Liverpool or perhaps Jesse’s impact?
We were surprised with how we played on Sunday, disappointingly surprised with how we played on Sunday. Tonight was more like the levels we have played at, we have played better in some games so I think it was a shock and we just felt as if we didn’t perform [against LIverpool] and the players were well aware of it. They deserve incredible credit for tonight, for going after it and playing against a Villa team who I speak really highly of because they have got some really good young players and they have some exciting players and it was a really tough game for us.
Gareth Southgate was here tonight and would have been impressed by not just Jesse but Mick as well tonightMick played much better tonight, he looked a bigger threat, and maybe Jesse helped him look better and feel better, he got in the right positions. I thought Declan played very well again and I have said a couple of times but if Jesse keeps that form up, I’m not saying he can, but if he keeps that form up Gareth might come knocking again to see what he can do for him.
Did you speak to Jesse about England and possibly getting back into the squad when he joined?
No, I’m a Scotsman! I’m a Scotsman, I’m not going to do that! But overall the point is he will have his own ambitions, his only challenge is to show people that he is at a level and I thought tonight that he showed a really great level as a player. Ross Barkley is very much the same who is doing a great job for Aston Villa, there are a lot of people out there who are pushing hard to try and make the England squad for the Euros and why should Jesse not try and push for it if he continues the form he was on tonight.
Did you say top four there? I nearly choked there when you said that! We are in a really good position but I would be stupid to sit here and say something different because this is what happens, we were set up against Liverpool and we didn’t perform against a really good team. Tonight we played a really good team and we did perform. We are going to keep knocking on the door of course we are. We don’t have European football and this has been an incredibly busy schedule and we have still got it, there is a quick turnaround for Saturday, we have a cup game and then another league, and then it starts to settle down a little bit. Let’s hope we can put ourselves in a position that after the next couple of league games it might give us a chance of capitalising on the other teams who do have European football.
Antonio and Lingard seemed really impressive tonight the way they worked together
I think so. We felt that if we could get Jesse it would give us more creativity. We have asked an awful of Jarrod, Pablo Fornals, Said we have brought in but I just felt with the amount of games we have got we could do with a bit more. Obviously, we know we are short of a striker but if Micky continues to play in the form he played tonight he will be a threat against most people. I am looking forward to getting him regular football and Jesse will get a little bit fitter, Micky Antonio is improving his all the time. Hopefully, we keep them all fit between now and the end of the season, it would be great if we can.
