What is the latest team news ahead of facing Liverpool?
Kurt has done a little bit of training, don’t know if it is going to make him right yet. Craig Dawson, we’re unsure about. Probably not much change from where we were on Sunday.
Is it too soon for Maxwel Cornet to feature?
Yes. Maxi has had a little bit of a calf strain, he’s getting close. He’s probably going to start training this week but he’s not ready yet, no.
How pleased are you to have Nayef Aguerd back training, how close is he expected to return?
Really good news that he’s on his way back, we bought him in as a key player for us and he gets injured in just about his first pre-season game. Really difficult for us but he’s very close, he’s started training. He’s not fully integrated with the players yet as far as that goes but he’s getting closer to playing again.
Do you think he will feature before the World Cup?
I definitely think he could feature before the World Cup, but I couldn’t tell you if it’s a week’s time or two weeks time quite yet because he’s had no match practice, he’s not been involved in the Premier League yet. I think it’s more likely we will maybe look to get him games in Europe or [under-21s] games or something like that before we get him in the Premier League.
West Ham United still have eight matches between now and the World Cup. How are you as a group coping with the demands of the schedule?
We’re smiling and we’re trying to keep enjoying things. We’re trying to keep training as light and as easy for them as possible. It’s very difficult to prepare all of the time, especially the Thursday Sunday games, they make it very difficult. Let’s be fair, we don’t have too many Premier League games which come on a weekend and then midweek but we’ve got one this week and we have to get ready as best as we can.
How tough is a challenge at Anfield under the lights against Liverpool?
In football terms, it’s probably as hard a place to go in the world to go and try to win a football game for anybody, you saw that with probably the best manager in the world has found it difficult to go there and get a result. That’s why it’s difficult for us all.
What did you make of Jurgen Klopp’s actions that led to him being sent off on Sunday against Manchester City?
Firstly, I hope he is in the dugout opposite because part of this job is that you want to play against the best and you want to go and compete against them. Jurgen is up there with them all and what he has done with Liverpool over the years. His actions are part of it. If you were in the position, you would probably feel the same but we’ve all got great respect for referees, the work they have to do. I hope in a way they understand that 90 minutes or a bit longer, we can sometimes lose our heads here or there a little bit. If you keep talking about it and bringing it to the attention, then we have to answer the questions. If you don’t ask us any questions about the referees or talk about it then we try and forget about it.
Do you feel the example he set needs to be better?
I don’t think you should really be asking me a question about Jurgen Klopp because I can’t speak for Jurgen Klopp. If you ask me a question about managers, yes, I am really keen to talk about that. For 90 minutes or so, it becomes a really emotional game. Sometimes, you can change your character from maybe what your true character is, but I think if we stood there and did nothing, I think our supporters, the public, you, would probably the questioning why not. Actually, I think if you look at the incident why he got angry, he was correct wasn’t he?
In the crowd at Anfield, there were allegations of coin throwing and chants relating to tragedies. Also, the actions of Anderlecht fans last week. Do you fear that kind of behaviour is returning to football or are these isolated incidents?
I really hope it’s not the case. I really hope we are well gone from that, we are moving on. We’ve got fantastic stadiums all around Europe now, wherever you go and play. I think the policing and all of the stuff people do, they try to do the best they can. I hope that’s not the case but obviously, there’s always going to be an element somewhere in football which might not be the case. We’re bringing that small number to attention by you asking the question about it as well. I’m answering it the best I can but in truth, I hope football is not going anywhere near that again.
Vladimir Coufal received some abuse from West Ham fans online recently, leading to him deleting a social media post. How is he and what is your message to fans who abuse your players?
I don’t do social media so I don’t really know exactly how it feels or what it does, but plenty of times I have been abused quite regularly. It’s not nice for anybody if that is the case but overall, the club is really supportive of the players. I am sure the club will be looking after Vladimir as well. Vladimir has played really, really well. If you think where Vladimir has come from in the last two or three years and think the journey where he has helped us from a relegation side for long periods to a side pushing for the top of the league, Vladimir has played a huge part in that.
After Liverpool’s recent wins against Rangers and Manchester City, does it feel like a turning point in their season?
I hope not, from our point of view. I don’t think anybody really feels that Liverpool are going to be close to the bottom end of the league, I think everybody is quite aware they will be close to the top end of the league. Liverpool are a really good team. I would like to think there are similarities with the teams, we’ve started a bit slow this season and Liverpool have as well. I think Liverpool were in every cup final last year, we had a record number of games we’ve ever had. That in a way has probably not helped the start of the season as much as we would like. Hopefully, we are both beginning to pick up a bit of form.
Recent meetings with them have been tight, are you confident of getting a result?
I’m confident that if we can play well and get our best players on the pitch, we are able to do that. One of things I wanted to do last year was be competitive against the best teams. I thought we done that, probably where we didn’t was against the teams we should have been beating, we didn’t beat. We were relatively better against the so-called better teams last year. I hope we can try and do that this year.”
Although you did not beat Southampton, you remain unbeaten in five matches. Do you feel the team is heading into the right direction?
I do, I do think we are beginning to go in the right direction but I saw Sunday as a little bit of a blip because we didn’t take three points and it was a game I thought we should have won. But maybe going to the start of the season, we haven’t maybe scored enough goals, maybe took enough chances. All of those things were relative. We also had to go into the game without any real recognised central defenders really. We had Thilo but we didn’t have anybody else and that was a little bit similar in the opening three or four games of the season, we didn’t have centre halves which certainly had an effect on us.
What have you had to sacrifice in training recently that you would like to do because of the schedule?
Time, you are not trying to be on your legs as long as you would normally be. You try to give them a bit more time at home, you’re trying to give them more recovery time. You are using some of the training time with maybe more massage time or other parts of it, so that the players can get themselves in the best condition they can. Just because we’ve played more games than anybody else, we are the ones who are finding we need the depth of squad we’ve got. We’ve had injuries, which is always going to make it difficult because it might mean we are having to play more players repetitively. We’ve had a couple of illnesses as well, which is not helped at this time of year. We are not complaining, we’ve got European football and that’s the main reason we’ve got the extra games and we’re happy to have them.
Are managers less sociable in football now than they used to be after games, as we saw on Sunday with Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola?
I think it is. The Premier League and football has changed generally. They are two of the finest managers, if not two of the best managers in football. Obviously there have been other greats, Sir Bobby Robson, Brian Clough, Sir Alex Ferguson, you could name great, great football managers and many more, I’m sure. These two in this era in the Premier League are unbelievable levels and quality of manager. Off the field, I’m sure they have no problem, but competitive they really are. It used to be real big tradition that the managers would go in for a drink, our country especially the ones that did it. By the end of the game, the managers felt that they had the same situations and at the end of the game, they could have a cup of tea or have a glass of wine or a beer. I think it’s much less because we have bought in many more cultures into our league and many of them, several of them, they don’t see that as being part of the end of the game. Over the years, when it was more of a British tradition, was where we would go for a beer together or a quick glass of wine after. Probably the one who was always pushing was Sir Alex, Sir Alex was very, very keen for the managers to be in contact and have 10/15 minutes with each other after the games.
