Ralph, what did you think of that? How did you see it?
I think the second half was the better one.
We were struggling in the first half to start with to find our
Rhythm
possibly because of that long break and the international
break. Most of the players were run on International Duty.
As I said, second drop was better than giving away a goal.
On a transitional moment that we had ourselves
didn't make life easier. I think the reaction after that
goal that we conceded was good was okay.
We came back, scored a goal.
And then in the last
Two minutes had two or three good moments where we
could have scored the winning goal,
but we didn't. So in the end.
We are not happy with the result. But I think
overall, the second half was okay.
I know it was forced on you to an extent. It wasn't your first
choice, but do you think not having recognized Striker
had a big impact in that first
45? 50 minutes.
Well, the only one we had two on the bench was Marcus.
Yes, that was after knowing
last night or this morning. Morning at the latest that
Cristiano couldn't play. We had to decide between playing
Marcus as a striker to start with or
in Midfield with Paul Pogba. We decided for Paul Pogba to start
with
and yeah in the second half after 60 minutes, we made that
change. We had
a third Striker or a central Striker on the pitch and why
not Marcus wash for just start with all those players out.
What does it say about his form and confidence that your
student picking?
I mean, yeah, it's no, it's no secret. That he was not
full of confidence in the last
couple of weeks.
He was training with us in training. He's he's looking well,
but as I said, that was the question yesterday
between Paul and
and Marcus and we decided to go for Paul. What did you make of
hiring
Harry Maguire's performance today and also the reaction
of the Manchester United fans
to him before the game and throughout
Both as expected,
the reaction of our supporters was,
as it already is
our, our supporters are one of the best, if not the best in
England, and
how we played. Well,
he had a almost Flawless game today.
Defensively or offensively a good and solid performance by
him. Did you change something for him today? Did you change
the side? He plays on, and why?
Yeah. Well, since I arrived, we've been discussing this because
he prefers to play.
The left side, although he's right footed. And now I saw him
play for England last week, where he played in the back for
on the right side. So that's why I decided that he should
play on the right side, which is better for him. Anyway, when
we
open up the game from from our back line
for him as a right-footed player. I think it's a lot
easier to play from there. And how is Luke show.
He has problems with his with his leg,
with the old former injury and he had pain. Even last week
when he was with the international with the England
team.
And this showed up again today.
You've talked a bit about the performance and result being
disappointing.
Was that the performance of a team that really believes it
can still make Champions League.
Well, as I said, I think after conceding the goal,
the reaction of the team was good. I couldn't, I couldn't say that
they didn't try and even in the last 15 minutes. We tried
with all we could to to score a goal. But we do in this game.
We didn't score that late goal that we scored in in games like
West Ham or Tottenham.
But as I said, we don't have that many offensive players
anymore. Jesse lingard was on the bench, but he couldn't play
because he felt sick. The last one and a half weeks.
He was even feeling extremely bad before the game. So we only
had the man on the bench
as a formality actually. So
yeah, that was all the offensive players we had were
on the pitch at the end. Do you still feel like top for is
possible? Do you think he is?
As long as it is possible, mathematically, it is possible.
But
no matter if, it's How likely it might be. It's our job and
our duty for ourselves for our supporters. For everybody to do
our very best to finish off that season on the best
possible note.
And that means now preparing for an away game at Everton and
try to win that and how much in your other rollers consultant.
You starting to build a picture
for what the next manager
might need and have to
a fix Manchester United.
What the picture for me is pretty clear. Not only now but
also a couple of weeks ago. And
internally, we spoke about that already,
but
there is nothing else that I can say at this stage.
Thank you. Pleasure is mine.