Tonight was not about the result but was about the young players, how did you think they do?
I thought the young players really did well and recovered after a really early goal. We got a fluke against Chelsea which was quite similar. But apart from that I thought the young boys did really well.
You must be looking forward to the last-16 with some big names in March?
I’m really looking forward to it, I think at the start if you’d said we’d have European football after Xmas we’d have been really pleased. But we won the group so we don’t need to get into gear until March and now we are looking forward to the knockout part of the competition.
Did the young players take their chance?
I think it was a tough game for them. Ideally wouldn’t have played five but we were slightly forced into it but they all acquitted themselves well. At times you could see the youthfulness, they didn’t always make the right choices, but I think you could see some of them could go on to be first-team players.
Do you have any fear of the teams left in the tournament?
We’ve got a lot of big teams to play but I think we’re a big team at the moment. A lot of teams will be worried about playing us. We hope we’re in good shape and good form when those games come around. I’m a winner and I’m disappointed I’ve not got something out the game. But it’s important the young players see that as well.
Are you disappointed in the senior players?
[Yarmolenko] should have pressed. But it’s a game when it’s always going to be difficult. You give the youngsters some leeway and expect more from the seniors but it’s not easy for the seniors. But he should have closed it down when the boy shot.
Did Dinamo surprise you?
I actually think Dinamo got a lift coming to the stadium. I know about their result at the weekend, they started well. But as the game wore on we had opportunities – maybe not enough to make the difference but I thought we had the best opportunities to equalise in the second half.
What did you make of Nikola Vlasic tonight?
I thought he got better as the game went on. It’s a difficult game for the senior players, having a young centre-forward makes you not feel you will take the chances. But that’s credit to Dinamo.
Why are you so willing to give young players a chance?
I am always happy to give young players a chance but they have to earn the right to play. None of them let us down tonight. But would’ve liked a situation where we didn’t have so many of them on the pitch at once.
After the cases at Tottenham, there are Covid-19 restrictions again, what are your feelings on that and any cases at West Ham?
I’m disappointed to hear that and hope Tottenham staff and players get well quickly. Touch wood we’re ok. But I would never say that, whatever walk of life the virus can spread. Look the names in the competition make it really difficult. The teams who drop down tend to be the teams who get to the final. But if we can take on the Champions League finalists and the Champions League winners in recent weeks I think we’ll give them a good game.
