patrick vieira manager
Team news for Liverpool?
Jeffrey Schlupp is getting better but is not going to be involved tomorrow. He didn’t have enough training with the squad so will stay behind and do a session tomorrow, before getting with the team on Monday morning.
Update on Eze?
He’s improving, he’s going to start working outside very soon. Him and Nathan [Ferguson] are getting better.
Any date on Eze coming back?
No, we can’t put any date. The positive side is he is getting better and that is positive, but we can’t put any date because we don’t want to push him. There’s a medical journey that we have to take into consideration and then we’ll know the next step with him. The same for Nathan.
Are the team improving?
We saw the team was improving. There was a lot to work on, we had a very good performance against Spurs but it’s about looking at the side of the game we can still improve. The positive side about that game is we were better than the game before that. We still need to improve but I always say with the squad we have we can perform in the Premier League and I think we have a team that allows us to compete in every single game.
Does Spurs win help confidence going to Anfield?
Outside of the result, the performance is the game produce on the day that allowed us to have that result. Going to Anfield will be really challenging, there’s no fear, just excitement for us to play against one of the best sides in Europe. We know it’s going to be challenging and it’s going to be difficult but we are really looking forward to the game and to challenge ourselves.
Edouard in your office demanding to start?
It was a really good start, coming on and scoring those two goals was good for his confidence. There’s nothing better for a new player than scoring twice on debut. It’s a process and a team, I’m really happy with the forwards that we have. I don’t take away the hard work from Christian [Benteke] in the first 75 minutes, we have a squad and I was really happy with the team performance on the day.
So will he start against Liverpool?
He’s going to be in the squad and in the team travelling to Liverpool but I was really happy with the way Christian performed in his 75 minutes and there’s still time to make a decision and we will make a final decision tomorrow morning.
Can they play together?
I believe good players can always play together, they both love the No 9 position but Edouard can come back as a winger and play between the lines. He used to do this and did it a couple of times when he was younger in France.
Conor Gallagher could get an England call-up?
This is the biggest problem in our world is that when we have one or two performances we think they earn a national call. I still believe that he needs to be more consistent on his performance. He has the ability but I believe as well it is too early for the call for him, he still has to improve. All the credit to Chelsea because he’s not just a really good football player but he’s a good human as well. I enjoy working with him, talking with him. His time will come but first what he needs to do is perform on a consistent basis to allow him to go higher and to a national level. But he needs to perform well week in, week out with us and the Under-21s and that will allow him to go to the national team. At the moment his focus and concentration has to be with us – how can he repeat these kinds of performances we’ve seen in the last couple of games.
Is Conor’s form making it harder for Will Hughes to get into the midfield?
No, what is important for Will, Jairo [Riedewald] and Luka [Milivojevic] is to keep challenging those players and make it difficult for me to choose the 11. They will get a chance and have to take it but we have a good squad. At the back we have James [Tomkins] who can challenge Macca [James McCarthy] and Joel Ward to start. This competition we want to have in our football club.
What’s the mood been like?
It’s always good to win games, it will give you more confidence and belief about the game we want to play. But there’s still a lot of the game we need to improve and we need to be consistent with our performances. We had a good game, yes. But can we repeat the performances? That is the challenge.
What areas do you feel your team need to improve on?
We always want to create more chances and we always want to score more goals. It’s about how can we find those players between the line and have more people running in behind to stretch the opposition, how can we defend better to concede less chances, how can we be in a position to stop crosses. We can score more goals from set pieces. Those parts of the game to improve, to be stronger and more consistent and having a positive result.
Michael Olise, how is he?
It’s good to have in the squad coming back from injuries. He played ten minutes against Spurs and one hour with our U23. He’s feeling much better. We know his technical ability to change the game, to create and score goals, he’s a really talented young player and we need to keep working with him to keep improving his ability.
Wilfried Zaha motivating players
Wilf has a really good experience in the Premier League and the confidence to help perform against any team. These are players who like to win every game and every single game in the training ground. To have this character in the squad is something positive.
Liverpool test
You’re speaking about one of the greatest teams in Europe, not just the Premier League. They are always been up with the best. We know really well their strengths, we know their front players and what they are capable of doing, we know them well. We can’t be surprised by the way they are performing week-in, week-out. We have to be prepared. We have to go on the field with personality and try to give them problems because there are some weaknesses we have to exploit. To exploit those weaknesses we have to be brave. If we go there and are thinking about defending for 90 minutes they will score goals because they have the ability to do it. We need to take our chances. We need to play with 100% belief and confidence. If not there is no point going there. It will be tough and challenging but these are exciting games to get involved and try to perform in.
