Fixture congestion is nothing new to you. Of all managers in the Premier League, you’re used to every weekday and weekend?
For me, it’s not a problem. We found out we had some physical numbers that we looked at from the 2019-20 to 2020-21 season, and our physical stats were higher last season. For me, it’s fine but what I was also happy with is that we had five subs.
Injury news?
Bryan Mbeumo is likely to miss Wednesday, and Vitaly Janelt is out. Mads Roerslev could return, but he cannot play 90 minutes. Mathias Zanka and Charlie Goode will also be out for the game.
How do you stop Manchester City?
Very good question! We are playing against the team with the one of the biggest budgets in the league. I think the greatest manager of the modern era, unbelievable players and a very specific style of play that makes it difficult for teams like us to try and get something out of it, because they’re so good in keeping the ball. It is going to be very difficult, the good news is that we have done quite well against Liverpool and Chelsea, the two other top teams in the division. I wanted to play [City] with a full-strength team, and unfortunately we are hit with injuries. When we played Chelsea and Liverpool, we played our strongest side and that’s where it proves we could do something. I promise you that we will put a side out there that will run, fight and will do everything we can and of course, I fully believe that we can get something out of that game. I massively believe that our fans will be bang on it and they need to be so fantastic to encourage us through the game because it’s football, anything can happen. We actually have decent quality but we know it’s going to be very difficult, the only problem for me is that I wanted to play with a full-strength side.
You’re a student of the game. Is Pep Guardiola a manager you’ve spoken to and asked him about his footballing philosophy?
Unfortunately not, I’ve never faced him in a game or met him. He’s a coach I’ve studied a lot, especially in his Barcelona time and after that, I’ve followed him at Bayern Munich and now at City. He’s a very innovative coach, and always tweaks it with the positions so I would say especially the build-up from behind, the way they keep the ball and the breakthroughs is something I’ve been studying for years. It’s difficult to copy, you need decent players but it’s nice to get inspiration from that.
How hard is it for Brentford to go toe-to-toe with such expensively built teams?
It is almost impossible to be competitive against a team like Man City, not for one game of course. In one game, everything can happen when they lost to Crystal Palace at home where one mistake from them, a goal and a red card. Especially a team like City, they must be one of the teams that have the best results against teams in the lower end of the table because they are dominating so much. Against a team like Brighton, we didn’t show it first half last night, but in general before that game, both teams were on 20 points, so I think we have shown that so far is that the challenge is to do it week in week out over one season, two seasons. That is where you need to do an unbelievable job as staff and players, and hope to build. I think it’s possible if you have a clear strategy and work very hard. You just try to develop it bit by bit.
