Hi, Jürgen, just thought we'd start with an injury update, please,
first of all how serious is the injury to Kostas?
Alisson said he'd be back soon - is this weekend too soon?
And any potential return dates for Thiago, Ox, James Milner and Shaqiri?
So, yes, we had a game two days ago and...
After the game we obviously had some niggles, I would say,
but [they] can be more, we have to see.
The diagnoses are not finally done.
Kostas [Tsimikas] we have to see, Diogo [Jota] we have to see - he got a knock as well.
That’s it from the game, I think.
Apart from that, Oxlade [Chamberlain] is in normal training.
He has been doing parts of training now for...a week or so,
he is now in full training and we will see.
So the situation probably demands to involve him as soon as possible,
but I don’t know if the weekend is that moment already.
Nobody else is coming back, I’m afraid.
OK, you speak as well about being fully focused for Fulham,
I just wonder, the fact you have Spurs to come in midweek as well,
and things are so tight at the top of the table, does that help sharpen the focus even more?
I hope none of our players will think about Tottenham when we're in Fulham.
The situation is like it is at the top of the table, everywhere in the table pretty much,
there is not a lot of distance in between.
We know that and I don’t have to tell the boys constantly.
Fulham are a really good football-playing side and the performances they showed
were not all rewarded with results.
The fight for staying in the league is a tight one as well, so each point helps
and they will go for everything.
If we let them play, they will play,
and the more we let them play, the more we have to defend,
and the more you have to defend, the more you have to run.
All of these kind of things, we have to be really spot-on in this game.
Since Scott Parker took over there, there is a constant development to see.
Getting promoted from the most difficult second league in the world is a tough one,
and he did that as a pretty young coach.
So, he is doing a really good job and I respect that a lot.
Now we go there, we have to see who is available and then we will try again our best.
You also spoke in midweek about being unsure
as to whether VAR would be a good idea.
I just wonder now, what do you want to see happen with that system?
This is one of these things I don't like,
we played in Midtjylland, it was freezing-cold,
we had three or four decisions and altogether it took 10, 12 minutes,
and it was really cold,
and of course with how it's dealt with now,
in this country, and the Champions League was not much better, to be honest,
why would anyone say, "It's brilliant, let's keep it like this"?
We stop celebrating after goals and wait constantly about everything,
we have less than a millimetre offside decisions and stuff like this.
A lot of things are not like they were before, that's the truth,
but I said, when it first came up I was rather in favour of VAR,
because I thought it would be nice if we could have the right decisions.
I'm not sure we all thought it through properly - how long will it take to get the right decision?
How much will that take away from a game that we loved before?
So that's all true, but I don't have expectations,
what I don't like about it, other people, you have an opinion about it as well,
write it down and don't only make stories with what we say.
Yes, I said it once like this, I might have been wrong, I don't know 100 per cent.
It's nothing to do with tight decisions against us,
in general a few things are not like they were before,
and they were better before.
If we change something, there should just be improvement, and that's for sure not the case.
Yeah, that's it.
Hi, Andy.
Given how hectic the schedule is,
how relieved are you to put Champions League to bed until February
and focus on this demanding Premier League schedule?
If you could tell me where we put the Champions League in,
there's no time anyway, we have exactly the same schedule like before.
Surprise-surprise, so for us nothing changed, just the name of the opponent
and the trips change,
but imagine if we still had to play Champions League? It would be really funny.
So nothing changed for us, the only fair thing is that all teams from now on
play every two days, all the other teams have to do the same.
There's nothing to enjoy in the moment with the injuries we have,
it was a proper fight so far and it will stay a proper fight.
Just one on Fulham as well, you mentioned they've had performances but not results;
do you feel Scott Parker's side are growing into the Premier League?
Definitely.
When I do the analysis I don't always,
we are on matchday 11 and I didn't see all ten [Fulham] games,
but I've seen the last three, and, yes, of course they are growing into it.
And that is a normal process, by the way,
and when you see then the number of points in that area of the table,
it's not that somebody is already out of the race or something like that.
They all have all the chance to stay in [the league]
and Fulham is even in a slightly better position than others.
That means in this situation, even when the results were so far not perfect,
you can still be confident - and they can have confidence.
That’s what we expect.
It’s a tough one with supporters [at Craven Cottage], I think, in London.
With supporters - we felt a week ago the benefit of having our crowd there,
so now Fulham, a small stadium, 2,000 people in, it will be a proper atmosphere,
so we have to be ready for that.
Jürgen, you touched before on how tight the top of the table is,
I think before this weekend there's only seven points between the top 10.
I know there isn't much to enjoy because of the injuries,
but it is a different season,
do you almost relish the challenge of it being more of a scrap?
A battle compared to the last few seasons when it's been you and Man City mostly?
Look...
I am not the most experienced guy who can tell you how it is
when you have a big gap between you and other teams,
but last year, for whatever reason, it was like this.
But before a game, it's exactly the same like always,
you want to win this game because it is not that you think,
"Oh, there is a gap of 20 points between us and them,
"so we might play at 60 or 70 per cent" - it's not like that.
We felt under pressure from ourselves last year and that’s the same now,
it didn’t change.
You don’t look at other teams, it's much too early in the season.
The last matchday is important, where are the others and where are yourselves?
Before that, you just create a basis for the rest of the year,
and that’s what we are still in.
Whichever situation is there outside us, we cannot change,
so we are not focused on it, we just try to win the next game and that’s difficult enough.
And can I just ask you about Leighton Clarkson, who played in midweek.
I know he's played a couple of games for Liverpool in his career,
but I just wonder how much confidence he will have gained from playing in Europe,
but also he played the full game, that must give him a huge lift psychologically.
Oh, with all the interruptions it was more than 100 minutes he was on the pitch!
Yeah, a really good game for a boy of his age, first Champions League game.
You can imagine how much better he is than he showed that night,
but that's what I say - for a first game it was a really good performance.
For him it's only the start of hopefully a long, long career,
a lot of steps to go and things to improve, but for the first one - really good.
Jürgen, from the outside there still seems to be a bit of uncertainty
about the future of Gini Wijnaldum,
but his performances on the pitch don't seem to have wavered.
Is that a sign of what a top professional he is, with all the talk going on outside the club?
Yeah, absolutely, Gini Wijnaldum's character was never in doubt.
He's been here for four years or so, a long time,
played the majority of the games since then, helped us a lot since he was here,
so, yeah, top player, top character.
Just to go back to the injury situation, you said Ox might be coming back,
I just wonder how welcome a return that is for you and for him?
He's been out since before the start of the season.
Yeah, it's long, huh? I still remember the situation happening in training,
a normal challenge - one gets up, the other doesn't.
That's really hard, a tough time for him, but the sun shines for him already,
for a month or two since he has been doing all the necessary stuff in rehab,
but is on the pitch with the ball, now he's with the team,
so all these steps - it's great for him, great for us.
Again, we cannot and will not rush it,
but when he's been long enough in normal team training,
then of course he becomes an option immediately.
That's good, absolutely.
You usually tell us when someone is close to returning,
but you didn't with Alisson,
so where are with his return?
Oh, sorry, I forgot Ali, it was not intentional.
Ali will train today, that’s what I’ve heard.
I came in and came directly to the press [conference]
so all the meetings are after that,
and, yes, Ali will train, and if he trains and all fine, then he can play.
I just want to ask about Curtis Jones.
You said recently that his personal development
has impressed you even more than his football development,
so specifically what is it about that that's been impressive for you?
Because he does seem have gone past the point where he's a young talent
and now he is part of the first team.
He is a young talent still.
It's not fair that we don't judge him like it, but when you speak about the kids,
it happens that you forget Curtis.
But it's...
How can I explain that? When you are an outstanding talent in all the age groups,
which Curtis obviously was,
then it's completely normal that you develop a specific personality -
very confident, 'nothing can harm me' and this kind of stuff.
That was the kid who came in here - it's not his fault, it's just normal.
And then you realise in the next moment that a lot of real good players are now around you
when you join the first team, they are similarly good or better;
most of them are better because they're more experienced.
That's a situation where a lot of talents struggle to adapt,
from being the prince of whatever team to a normal player in the next one.
And Curtis never struggled with that,
and that's because of the incredible leadership of our more experienced players,
because they showed him exactly the pathway, showed him what he still can be
and what he has to adapt and all this kind of stuff.
So that's only the football part, but when you go to the first team
and have some success - and he had big success,
becoming an English champion last year, involved in the Champions League final,
all this stuff - then a lot of challenges are waiting for you out there,
and again, he passed that as well.
So he's in a good way, I have to say, and if it stays like this, the future's bright.