How good of a win was that?
It was an excellent win. I thought Bournemouth still put us under pressure, they had quite a few opportunities but we were clinical ourselves when we got our opportunities. We got off to a great start to the game and especially after a midweek game, it gave us a real lift but I thought the players went into the game with a lot of confidence and self belief from reaching another semi-final and obviously we had a really good comeback against Arsenal last week.
How pleasing has the last week been?
It has been an excellent week. I’ve got to say the players have done a great job, you can sense they are gaining a bit of confidence and we are looking a little bit more like ourselves in terms of scoring. We got four in midweek, we got four today and two the week before so we are seeing signs we are becoming more of a team who can score which has been a problem most of the season. We defended the box well enough, I didn’t like that we gave up so many opportunities but we have done that part well too.
You’ve scored four goals four times in the last two months and twice this week. How much has that helped you to set a tone?
If you look really closely, the biggest thing we were always missing was goals. Defensively, we had been relatively okay, maybe we could do better but we have just been missing it. Today, we had counter attack moments which over the last couple of years, we’ve had. Maybe, just the way and the position we are in the league at the moment, we are having to find a way of making that work, but we’re looking a little bit more clinical and a little bit more like we might score when we get in at the moment. We had a goal chalked off, we had another couple of half chances. I thought Bournemouth had a couple of opportunities as well.
What did you make of Pablo Fornals’ goal and was there any reasons for his emotional reaction to it?
Let me tell you, he is a brilliant, brilliant team player. He’s a great lad. He’s probably not had enough minutes and I’ve found it difficult to find him [some]. It’s not because of his form, because he’s a really great player. I hope we can, I hope we can find a way of getting him more minutes because what Pablo does, Pablo scores goals as well as his all-round play and it’s been pretty difficult to give him as much as time. I’m sure he was emotional, because he wants to play and today, he deserved it. I think nearly set up another one as well, he set up the one for Maxi so he was on the verge of a goal and assist and he was maybe on for only 20 minutes or so. I’m really pleased for Pablo.
What did you make of the goal?
I’ve not see it back yet, I was just thrilled that we got it because even at three, you were always saying if they get a goal, you can always put yourself [under]. More so than ever, we are seeing teams coming from comebacks and we were 2-0 down last week. We saw Arsenal Southampton, 3-1 and a comeback, you never know at the moment how these things are going. It’ll be a good goal for everyone to look at, I don’t know if yous have seen it but as I said, he’s got the ability this boy of getting goals and getting in goal-scoring positions. I’m really pleased for him.
How impressive was Declan Rice? Did you enjoy the chant from West Ham’s fans for him?
Yeah, look I say it and I have been saying it for a long time, he’s a top player. I thought in the first half he was a wee bit below and I know he got his goal but I thought he was a wee bit below it in the first half an hour with his passing. Overall, he is a really, really good player and you can see it. He has different attributes to the way he plays. He can play different ways. If you want him to join in or if you want him to sit and hold or take the ball. He can do all the bits and pieces and he can finish when asked to do so, as we’re beginning to see a little bit more. Overall, look I can’t say too much because I talk so glowing about him and I want to make sure the other players in the team realise they are as important, if not more important. They have to keep stepping up, we all have to keep stepping up to make sure we keep going. We’re in good momentum and we have still got quite a lot to play for. We’ve still got to make sure we’re a Premier League club and we’re in the semi-finals of a European competition now, so if we can keep this run going until the end of the season it will give us a great chance.
What did you say to him when you had words with him just before his goal?
I told him that I didn’t think his passing had been good enough in the opening part of the game. That’s something, his standards are so high but we’re not just going to pat him on the back all of the time. Too much praise makes you soft.
Have you changed anything over the last week that has led to these results?
I think obviously we’ve had to look closely at what we’ve done over the season. We bought in a lot of new players to develop and become better in certain aspects. A lot of it, to be honest, hasn’t worked as well as we’d have liked. I thought today for example, what we saw from Lucas Paqueta is you’re seeing that he’s beginning to show, got us a really good goal. Probably how he played today was what through we had and what we bought. Over the rest of the season, we’ve not quite as much as that. I thought midweek, he played very well. I think he’s got a wee bit to prove at the moment, but I thought he played very well today.
Have you changed your approach in the last week?
No, there’s no prep. If you think, two weeks ago, we had a week with three games in six days. Then, at the end of that week had to play Gent away in the week and play Arsenal. Now, if you play today’s game, we play next Saturday. We’ve got to play today, we’ve got to play Wednesday and we’ve got to play Saturday. I don’t know how many teams at the moment have played three times in six days, then three times in seven days, then back to three games in six days again. The schedule is meaning that the prep’s not changed, maybe our boys just need to keep playing and not train.
How impressed at losing just once from your seven games so far this month?
I know that by the end of April, we would have played more games than any other team in April. I think we’re on nine by the end of it. It’s a really tough schedule and we’ve got to think how we try and get the balance, but somewhere along the line I need to work out how I change it.
How impressed were you by Vladimir Coufal’s performance?
By the way, I think he’s played so, so well. The boys who have watched us more often will know he’s had a dip undoubtedly, but I think he’s come back. Really determined, he chips the ball up for Lucas at the back post. I actually think he’s improved greatly in the last [few months]. He’s probably been the one whose kept his head above water, he played really, really well today.
