Injury news? How are Joachim Andersen and Eberechi Eze?
They are both doing well. Joachim trained with the team and will be part of the group that travels to Burnley. Eze is doing really well. He played two games of 90 minutes and he has been training with the team and he will be part of the group that will travel to Burnley.
Excited to have Eze back?
He is a talented player but he still has a long way to go from his best. We have to remind ourselves that he will need to get back to where he was because of the injuries that he had. But he will get there. He’s building up his confidence week after week. He played two games with the Under-23s and we played an in-house game, a friendly that he was feeling really well [in]. He is improving, but I think we have to give him time to get to where he was before his injuries.
Happy to see Conor Gallagher get his England call-up?
Yeah, but it’s all credit to Conor and obviously to the work that’s been done by Dougie and the scouting. Sometimes players need to be at the right place to express themselves to have this confidence to play at the level that we know he can do. I think the match between our football club and Conor is good and he’s really enjoying himself. He has huge respect from the players from the dressing room, not because he came from Chelsea but because of the work he’s doing on the field every day.
How good is he?
There are still a lot of parts of the game that he needs to improve. I think on the tactical level and obviously, the quality of his passing and he still has some aspects of the game that he needs to keep working on. We are really pleased to have him in the football club and working with him and making him improve as a player. And then where he can go will be up to him about how hungry he will be every day and how far is prepared to challenge himself.
Chances at Burnley?
It’s not an easy place to go. At the moment we are in a good period – we are playing well. We are creating chances, we managed to score a couple of goals. We have to keep challenging ourselves, keep doing the right thing. We will see. Obviously, it will be challenging, a different challenge, but we will go there and believe in ourselves ad give our best to take something from the game.
Thoughts on the job Sean Dyche has done at Burnley?
It’s not easy to say at the same club for nine years, he’s been doing some wonderful work there. A career of a manager can be judged by what he is winning but also the stability in a football club. i call that a success, spending nine years in a football club. It’s something that doesn’t happen often in our days.
James McArthur injury?
James has a hamstring issue, he is going to be out for the next couple of weeks. We have to look at how he will progress week after week and hopefully he will be back soon because he is an important player for us. He is [one of] the leaders of the team. He brings his energy, his experience to the team and his competitiveness. We have a squad though. Injuries will give opportunities to somebody else who hasn’t played too much to come and take their chance.
Building momentum?
Yes, it will be important for us to try to keep that momentum. We know how difficult it is to win back to back games in the Premier League. And we were really pleased but we still want to improve, we still want to challenge ourselves, we still want to compete in the Premier League as it is a really long season. And the biggest challenge now for us is to keep challenging ourselves to improve to keep improving.
Back to back clean sheets – how much does that please you?
I think is the team performance. I think when you don’t concede a goal I strongly believe the work that been made by front players is important to stop the opposition team to develop the game.The way that the way we want to play the game and when we score goals is because our buildup from the back is good and that allowed us to create the space. But it’s a team performance. And at the moment we are pleased with the level that we are at, but we still need to improve. We want to give fewer chances to the opposition team, we still want to score more goals and this is our challenge.
Does the international break stop the momentum?
No, the international break is good as well because the ones going to international are focusing on the qualification and the ones here are doing work as well to go to a different level in the tactical and the physical work. The good news for us is that everybody’s back with no injuries from international and this is good. We know it’s important for us is to keep challenging ourselves. It is important for myself and the staff to demand even more from the players because they still have a lot to give to the team and we want to keep winning games and it’s very difficult to create that momentum and we have that momentum and we have to take care of it. We have to do the right things so that hopefully it will last long.
Still too early to discuss Conor Gallagher signing?
We knew the player that we are going to have in our football club and then the international England call came and it is good news for him, it is good news for the football club.It is still too early to talk about him if we’re going to sign him or not – he is a Chelsea player, we have him for the year and we will keep working with him to try to improve his skills and then if we can make him an international player, we will be really proud of that. Then the decision we will see at the end of the season.
Any other injury news?
No, the only one that starts training with the team is Nathan [Ferguson]. From next week he will do even more with the first team so I’m glad to have all the players available.
Is drawing games you should have won the only annoyance of yours so far this season?
Annoyed? No, because we knew that those draws are just the game and that’s just showing the part of the game that we needed to improve and we still need to improve. I was pleased with the way that we were playing the game but what was missing was the three points – was the win. We keep working and be more demanding to the players and we have to keep being more demanding on them to keep challenging ourselves, to keep improving ourselves and to try to win football matches. We are in a good period, and when you are in a good period the challenge is always to try to keep doing the right things. That is a challenge for myself and the staff to keep players working well, working hard and doing the right things for the team
Eze boost
He is a really talented player, there is no doubt about it. But we still need time to train, we have to be patient with him, we have to give him the time to get back to his best and he is arriving into a team where some players are playing well. And he will have to work hard to get into the squad. His attitude has been really good and we and he has to be as well patient with himself.
Hard because of the depth?
This is a good chance for the players as well. I think when you have different players who are challenging themselves, I think that raises the quality of the training and I think that is showing as well. The quality of the players we have in our football club. They are still young players who still need to improve a lot. We have to be demanding on them but at the same time knowing that some of them like Eze come from long term injuries. Some of them don’t have so much experience in the Premier League so we have to work well and be really demanding but at the same time don’t forget where they came from.
Gallagher, Guehi, Eze – all outside shots to be in the World Cup squad?
I think this is a challenge for them. I think they have to do well for our football club. And if the club doing well, if the team is doing well, they will have more chance but I’m sure this is in the back of their mind. I think these are the challenges they need to drive them and we will support them and we will work with them because I think that will be a fantastic achievement for them to get to that England squad. it’s not going to be easy because of the number of players that there is around so it’s good for them to have that on their mind.
Do you think England could win the World Cup next winter?
Yeah, I think they have a massive chance. I think you just need to look at how they performed in the last international competition, looking at how young they are, looking at the potential and looking at the manager that they have, I believe that they will be one of the favourites for the next World Cup.
Eze’s position on the pitch?
I saw him play some games last year on the left-hand side and he did really well. I think from the left-hand side you can’t ask him to stay on the wing, you have to give him this freedom to come inside and to combine because he’s the type of player who likes to touch the ball. But we try him as well inside, in the midfield three as more of a number ten and it was really good as well. So there’s a couple of positions that I believe he can help the team to perform.
A good option to have then?
Yeah, I think he can evaluate in an old position that you mentioned. But my role and responsibility as well is to find the best role that will allow him to express his talent. And I believe that is more in the central area.
