How proud of the boys are you for the second half performance?
Absolutely. Big character, big personalities, stuck together, kept believing and acted as a team throughout the whole game. That pleases me after what happened at the weekend because we probably didn’t have that as a group.
And off the back of how the first half went in terms of the scoreline, to go out at half-time and stick together, fight for each other and really got our fans involved, I thought they helped us massively, and it’s pleasing. It proves a lot to me what I already thought about this group but to see that on to the pitch is a good feeling.
Did you feel like you had done enough at the end to win the game?
Yeah, we created many chances. I thought in the first half we created a couple as well and maybe if we were a bit more clinical then the flow of the game would have been different. The second half we kept pushing, had some real clear openings and maybe if we got the second goal earlier we could have kept pushing.
I felt once we had got the second goal the lads had sort of invested so much energy into it that we went a little bit flat and they took a little bit control of the game without really creating anything. To come off 2-2 off the back of going in 2-0 down at half-time is a positive.
What did you say at half-time?
I’ve always remained quite consistent with this group of players and I always will. You have to stick together in every moment. If you want to be a team regardless of what is happening on the pitch, you have to stick together and fight for each other.
When you do that, football is football, results take care of themselves but to see a team that was working for each other, and I felt our fans must have seen a team that was fighting for each other and running for each other, it’s important in football. Probably the most important thing.
How did you see the two goals you conceded?
They were clinical. The first goal I feel we could have done better in terms of blocking the pass in between the lanes and showing them inside as well as allowing them to shoot. Second goal was a moment of brilliance, but at the same time we could have been better in securing our position when we were in their half. I think it might have come off the back of us having that 1v1 one against De Gea as well.
Maybe if that goal had gone in at 1-1 then the feeling is completely different. That is football. When you come up against quality players they can be clinical. It’s disappointing as we made some mistakes and I understand that. At the same time in football when you fight for each other and act as a unit and act together small mistakes are irrelevant because of the energy we created in the stadium was excellent in the second half. I thought we fully deserved to come out with a draw.
In your first game against Southampton you talked about lifting the players’ confidence and making them believe, was that a similar thing this time?
Yeah of course. It’s been difficult after Sunday because the manner in which we lost wasn’t nice for anyone to be involved with. But the most important thing now until the end of the season will always be to stick together as a team.
Football – small details can change games, change results but ultimately the most important thing is to be together. And to everyone – the fans, the outside world looking in they’ll see a team that’s solid and united together. And when you are that you have a chance of success.
Where you tempted to go for the win with the team that got back to 2-2 rather than revert to a more neutral setup?
We invested so much energy into getting that scoreline at 2-2. Felt like we were almost acting a little emotionally to try and get that third, and sometimes that’s great but at the same time I felt there were a couple of moments when we looked a bit leggy, a bit open unnecessarily. So we changed it a little bit – still try and win the game but at the same time recognise the game and moment we were in.
Pleased to see Son keep going as he looked frustrated after missing the first chance?
That’s down to mental strength. The top players they put things behind them and Sonny kept making the runs and believing the ball would come to him and he seemed very pleased with the goal in the second half.
