(On the return of football)
We've been through very different stages but now we are really excited. We're back doing
what we want to do. Hopefully, we can do it in the right way and sustain it. It's really
important that now everyone knows what is required.
(what have you had to prioritise between fitness and tactics?)
To get to this way of working and we know the limitations. We have tried to make the
most out of it. I think we've found the right balance. The most important thing was to provide
the players a safe environment to work where they could feel no risk or very, very limited
risk to develop their profession. I think we have managed to do that and from now on
the physical part is really good. The mental side has been a challenge over those 3 months,
now let's see how ready we are to compete.
(On Pep Guardiola)
I was 15 and we met in Barcelona both as players. Then obviously in my coaching career and personal
life he has an enormous influence. If I had to talk about the person he is, his
values, the way he's treated me and how he deals with the players and staff around him,
it's phenomenal. As a coach yeah I've learned so much from him. We've spent some amazing
moments together, some difficult as well but the experience next to him has been incredible.
(On Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang)
The next step in his career. In order to do that he needs to feel valued, I think that
he needs to feel that he belongs to us and we want him and then he really needs to believe
that we can take this club forward in the way we want to and that he's going to be a
key player to do that. I think at the moment I'm extremely happy with how he has been performing
and behaving. I think I've got a really good relationship with him where we can discuss
face-to-face a lot of things. So far, as I'm aware, I think he's very happy at the club.
(Why has nothing happened?)
In a different context, we'd have liked to do things much quicker. We were really tight
with time and communication and obviously these unprecedented
times bring a lot of uncertainty. These are getting clearer and clearer every day that
we are step closer to get back playing football and we are going to move forward.
(What did you learn from the friendlies?)
It was a nice practice from us to get a feeling on what it is to compete again in a match,
how it feels to play without any crowds, the protocol we have to go through to be in a good
safe environment as well and physically, yes, we didn't play a game of football in over
three months. We wanted to get the players some minutes. We managed to do that without
any injuries. It was both a really positive test.
(How much will you rely on Eddie Nketiah?)
We treat Eddie as an important part of our squad. We had to make an important decision
not to let him go on loan again after the spell he had at Leeds. I watched him train
and I was very convinced he was the right player for us to move us to the next level,
that he can contribute in a big way to the way we want to play. He has been fantastic so far.
(Will the expanded bench give young players more chances?)
I think it will happen and as well for example in our case, we have five games in 15 days,
that's a game every 3 days, we don't know how the players will respond physically because
they have a really short preparation. so yeah we have to use them. We have some really talented
young boys. They're asking for chances and I'm sure all the clubs the situation will
be the same. At some stage, we'll be forced to use some of them with the amount of games
we'll be playing that short period of time.
(What have you learned from the restart in Germany?)
I watched some aspects we can take advantage of but you have to experience it. We saw some
games in the Bundesliga but then when I was at the Emirates and there is no crowd and
you cannot feel that energy and drive the game is different, the intensity drops a bit.
The physical state of the players is not as it was three months ago. You can sense that
as well. That urgency from the crowd, how passionate the crowd are in England. We have
to adapt. I think we have to experience it and find ways to motivate our players in moments.
Let's see how it goes.
(Will the three-month break disrupt your momentum?)
Well, I hope it doesn't. We've been working on that, to try to maintain or improve the
level we were playing before and improve the results as well. We don't know how we'll respond.
What I can say is we've been doing as much as possible to try to get to this moment with
the best possible chance.
(Will qualifying for the Champions League help convince Aubameyang to stay?)
I think that will help to persuade anybody, but we are very lucky to have the club that
we have right behind us. There are a lot of players who want to come and join us, but
it’s not about who do we want to attract, it’s about how happy the players are that
are here and how convinced they are that they’re at the right place because it’s our
obligation almost to be fighting for every trophy and playing in the Champions League
with this club.