What is the latest on Vladimir Coufal and Michail Antonio after both missed training today?
Just as you’ve sort of answered, Vladimir Coufal still has got a problem with his foot and Michail Antonio picked up a bit of a calf injury which he picked up in Cyprus last week
Any idea when they are due to return?
I couldn’t tell you at the moment, I’m not sure yet.
Is tomorrow’s second leg against AEK Larnaca a good opportunity to get some more momentum?
It sure is. It’s something we worked really hard for last year, we finished seventh in the league which gave us a chance to be in the Conference League. We’re enjoying it, we’ve enjoyed our trips to Europe. We enjoyed the result last week. We’ve got a job to do on Thursday night to make sure we get the job done and finish the job off and if we can do that, then we would reach another quarter-final in a European competition for two years in a row. It’s important, it really is.
What do you think has been key to your Europa Conference League form compared to that in the Premier League?
We were successful last year and we were really successful in the league last year as well, so I think it’s a too simplistic a question to give you an easy answer. But, our form in Europe at the moment is good and we’re hoping we can keep it going.
How do you approach this game, currently 2-0 up and with no game this weekend? Do you plan to rotate from the draw with Aston Villa?
We plan to change a little but ultimately, we need to be ready for the game. We want to qualify. I would never take anything for granted. We have to do the job, being 2-0 up might sound good. It would be nice if you were 3-0 or 4-0 up because it’s more but at the moment, 2-0 up could be a difficult result. We don’t want to give the opponent any opportunity to get back into the game if we can help it and we know we have to do a really professional job.
Are you pleased to have this game at home, with around 40,000 supporters expected?
We are and we’ve had great crowds over the last two seasons. I think the West Ham fans have enjoyed the European games, we took a big crowd away and they’ll all be really hoping we can get to the quarter-finals and hopefully further this year as well.
One of Gianluca Scamacca’s former Sassuolo teammates has said that Scamacca has claimed that training in England is more intense and mentally, they are years behind you in terms of gym work. Have you found that with Scamacca?
I think we find it with everyone who comes to the Premier League has got to get used to the level and intensity, it’s not just anybody for Italy and it’s not just Gianluca Scamacca, a lot of players who come over here. You hear me and you certainly hear it from other managers, it takes players time to adjust to the levels of the Premier League. Also, the speed, the intensity, the demands of the games, the regular demands. For a lot of teams now, we’ve all had really difficult schedules so I think that for someone coming from overseas it’s not as bad as what we feel as if we get it coming into the Premier League.
Where do you think your new signings are in terms of adapting to the Premier League?
I think they are much further on now than they have been, they’re getting much close to understanding exactly what it’s like. I think they’ll get better now and grow and improve as we go on, so let’s hope that we can show that in our games coming up.
What would it mean to get to another quarter-final in a European competition?
It would be great, it’s a big job, it’s the first thing you have to do. The big thing then that we really want is to reach the final, but we can’t get to the final unless we reach the quarter-finals first and we have to be focussed completely on doing that job.
You said Gianluca Scamacca’s physical data needs to be much better – can you elaborate on that? What exactly about it isn’t good enough?
I am not going to elaborate on that. We want him to be physically working hard for the team, getting in the right goal scoring positions, playing like a six foot four centre forward and covering all the ground. That’s what we want from him. In the early part of the season we saw that. I just think we haven’t seen it since he came back from his injury in November around the World Cup. He got injured in a friendly around that time. We have not seen him back to that level when he first arrived and that’s what we are looking for.
We know he didn’t have a pre-season, as well as injuries and illness – is there frustration with him, everyone looked at him as your biggest signing of the summer?
Everybody does. Centre forwards are the names that get talked about more. That’s why when you bring them in you need them to do really well.
Are you worried that he will now struggle to find his best form at all this season – looking to next season?
It can depend. If you thought of all the players in the summer, I don’t know how many players were bought in the Premier League. Let’s say 150. How many of them do you think have been a success this year? I don’t think you would be thinking of too many names. How many have stood out? Not sure. So to put it in perspective, it is not just Gianluca. It is a difficult league to come into and get settled. He will come back soon. His form in the first two or three months wasn’t too bad, but how long did we play him in most games? 60 minutes? So, I am sure you can work out some of the things yourself.
Is it a good chance for Gianluca Scamacca to start against Larnaca?
Yes it is. A good chance. We want him back. He’s got something. We like him a lot. He is a great boy. A really good boy. In fact, a very good boy. We want him to do well. we want our Gianluca back who we had from August to November. The one we have got right now looks slightly different. We need him to get back to those levels because we could use him, we could play him, he scored some goals, had some contributions, was still growing into it.
Does the arrival of Danny Ings help him?
I think so but if Gianluca had not been injured then we may not have bought Danny Ings. These things happen, you need to be ready for it. There are challenges now. We have centre forwards to choose from and Gianluca is an Italian international who has so many good qualities. We want to see them come out.
Does it help that you want him to succeed because you like him?
We’re all really supportive of him, there’s no problem with him or anything like that. We’re just trying to say hey, come on, the supporters want to see you, but I’m seeing you every day. Come on, you’re going to have to show this. You were in Cyprus the other day so you’ve got an idea of what you saw yourself so you’re seeing that we really want him to step up. I think he’s got it, he knows and we’re hoping that we will.
How do you think the signings you have made this season have lived up to your hopes for them when you bought them to the club?
I think if you said to me that we’re going to sign a German international, Brazilian international, two Italian internationals, a Moroccan international to the squad, and I might have forgotten some, I would’ve said: ‘Wow, you’re going to have a much stronger squad.’ We’ve gone out to add and strengthen to the team and strengthen the squad. To be fair, the club supported me greatly in that, it’s just disappointing that we’ve not had the results which I think we should have because we’ve got a good team and a good squad but we’ve just not been able to produce the results.
Does the game against AEK Larnaca give you a chance to give Maxwel Cornet some more minutes?
He’s been out for five months and we put him in on Sunday because we thought there was more chance for him to run in behind late on and it was the case. We’ll try and get him some minutes tomorrow night but again, we’re bringing him back. If anybody was out for five months, they’d normally be needing a really good pre-season and friendly games etc. We know we’re in a situation where we’ve got to add quite quickly and he has, he’s showed a couple of bits. He made a great pass for Lucas Paqueta in the first game when he came on and put Paqueta through the other day. I think his attribute is that he’s got the ability to get around the goals or be around that end so let’s hope we can get him to do that.
This is your last game before the international break. Do you see this as an opportunity for them to get more game time and confidence and come back better for it?
I actually do, I hope that’s the case and hopefully for us, it might freshen a few of them up as well. When you’re in a position where you’re not quite doing so well, hopefully getting away for a bit can do some good. Let’s hope that they all come back in really good shape and are ready to go when we return
Is that also partly to do with your hectic schedule when coming back?
It’s incredible the amount of games, I was actually looking at the schedule when we come back. We’ve actually got Southampton on the Sunday, then we have to play Newcastle on the Wednesday and then the Saturday. You wonder why couldn’t our game be Saturday? Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday? We accept that’s the way it is, but we’ve had to go to a Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday, so we’ve got three games in six days. Nine games in a month, so they’re the bits where we’re getting everybody fit and ready and trying to get them some game time etc, it’s really important.
How pleased are you to see Krisztian Hegyi get his first call up to Hungary’s senior squad?
I have to say Xavi the goalkeeping coach works really hard with the goalkeepers and he’s got a little bit of a conveyor belt of how he sees it going and he’s done a job of trying to develop the goalkeepers and he’s keen on them. It’s quite a long process to be a goalkeeper, it’s only one position and trying to get in the team. When do you put them out on loan and when are they ready etc, so it’s actually quite a job to get the goalkeepers to. I’m really pleased for Eggy, as we call him, he’s doing well, he’s a big lad and he’s improving. We’re pleased for him and it’s a big thing to get called up for your national team, you’re a young player. It’s really important.
What have you made of Jarrod Bowen’s recent form with the England squad due to be announced soon?
I thought Sunday was Jarrod’s best game for a long time. He played really well. He attacked people – took them on the inside and outside, got to the byline – and he did an awful lot of good things. Jarrod’s been a little bit behind but it’s not unexpected. He’s had a couple of years in the Premier League, pushed on and had a little bit of a dip. I’m hoping he’s on his way back into top form. He’s so important to us as a goalscorer because we see him as a wide player who creates but also as an inside forward who can get a few goals as well. His goals have been crucial over the past few years and we’ve missed them to be honest.
Do you have real belief in him, with only Declan Rice getting more minutes this season?
We’ve wanted to show real belief in him because on his day he can be a game changer, he has a goal in him, which we’ve been lacking for most of the season. All those parts of his game are things we hope he can produce today. He produced it on Sunday. Not many chances fell to him but he was the one who was most attack-minded and the biggest threat for us in the game.
Does Lukasz Fabianski wearing a mask mean he can return sooner?
He is desperate to come back. He feels like he is ready. Medically we are a little bit unsure as they are worried about him getting a ball in the face. He is saying he is not bothered about that and wants to get back playing. He wants to actually play without the mask. The mask is just there for training to protect him and no risk. More than likely, by the time we come back in a couple of weeks time, hopefully he won’t be too far away.
Would you be happy if the medical team said he needed to wear a mask to play?
I have got no problem with that, but I haven’t got a strong enough opinion on it. Sometimes anything on your face means you don’t see other things, if you wear a hat or glasses, so a mask like that may not be great for a goalkeeper.
