Given the week your side have had,
how nice is is to see the intensity, the result and performance
at a place like this that was rocking?
Yeah, it was incredibly difficult for the boys today, that's clear.
We played two-and-a-half days ago, if you want.
Coming here, [against] a team in form, six home wins on the bounce, great weather,
everybody in a good mood [and] actually,
pretty much everything is prepared for another home win.
The only group who wanted to avoid that were my players.
It was an outstanding football game, to be honest.
[In the] first 15 minutes we had to adapt slightly a little bit, that's normal.
Obviously, Newcastle changed a little bit,
put Joelinton on the right side - left side, our right -
and kept the ball there and went for second balls.
We struggled a bit, tried to adapt to it, did better.
When the ball was on the ground we had a really good game already,
I really liked how we played, how we put them [and] kept them quiet.
Can't remember a lot of counter-attacks,
there was the offside goal they scored and there might [have been] one second half,
[but] the chance they had was offside as well.
In the circumstances, top-class performance. Really happy.
How do you keep churning out performances like that,
you made four changes today...
Five.
And the lads who came in were just as good.
Yeah, that's cool, huh?
Yeah, that’s the only reason why we are where we are. That’s how it is.
That’s the only reason - the boys buy completely into the situation.
The boys who didn’t come on today,
you should’ve seen their faces on the bench when the final whistle went.
It’s absolutely outstanding. We know that.
The group is exceptional, exceptionally talented and has a really good character.
That’s very helpful.
James Milner, I think it was his first Premier League start since January 2nd,
to come in and play like that in such a big game, what does that say about him?
Yeah, outstanding.
Millie is incredibly important for us, that’s very important,
because people think if you talk about the dressing room...
Yes, it is helpful.
He’s very helpful there, especially with a manager who is not a native speaker!
But on the pitch as well, he played a super game. Super game.
I don’t want to take anything away from him,
but I liked Naby’s performance as well, a little bit.
Hendo on No. 6, that worked really well.
The boys were on fire, we played football, we kept the ball in the right moments.
We struggled around the second-ball fights, we knew that before the game
because there’s no way - that I know at least - to defend them 100 per cent.
So it's tricky, 50-50, in between balls - that’s not cool to defend.
But apart from that I really loved the game.
James was a massive part of it.
Jürgen, you've achieved an awful lot in your career already,
but how excited are you going into the last few weeks of the season with what's at stake?
Very excited, but not because [of] the prospect of winning something,
because I never understood that.
It’s like...say we are five points ahead in the league, for example,
and then you have four games to play and nearly all the time people ask you,
"Now it’s here... looking forward to..."
No, no, no - you are just concerned about winning the next game.
If somebody tells you it’s done, then you can think about all the rest,
so I am not smart enough to try two things at the same time.
When we finished the game, our analyst was in the dressing room
and I asked him how Villarreal is playing because they play today as well -
they were 2-1 down, made a few changes line-up-wise - so that’s our life.
We are excited, I love this football team and we go into the next [game]
and try to be as good as somehow possible, but that’s it pretty much.
It’s a good situation, but for us the number of games we still have to play is a lot;
with or without the Champions League final it’s a lot,
so we better win everything because otherwise it could be tricky.
Jürgen, when you make those big decisions about changing the team,
how do you make them? Because obviously you can't change everyone
so some of them have to play every week.
Look, it’s my job to make decisions,
I don’t have to do a lot of other things.
For example, Kostas Tsimikas would’ve deserved to play
and Robbo would have had a break as well,
but when you change one full-back and a centre-half
and there are three changes in the back four, what I think then is,
"No, don’t do that, let’s do it like this."
The decisions are not that difficult
because the boys are all in good shape, really all in good shape.
We had Divock Origi with a little bit of vomiting and stuff like this,
stomach problems.
We had that before with Curtis and Kostas, so we have to be careful
to make sure it’s not really going around. That’s why he was not involved.
It’s...hard in the moments for the players not to play,
but with the quality the boys offer, it's not that difficult for me.
James Milner made his debut 20 years ago...
Why were people whistling a little when he had the ball?
With Hendo I understand it, but Millie when he got the corner?
He got applause though.
He got applause as well?
They quite like James generally.
Oh, good! I just wanted to ask.
But he's been playing 20 years, he's 36, have you met a fitter 36-year-old...
No.
..a more dedicated professional, anywhere you've worked?
No, but it would be interesting to look at Luka Modric - is he not 36 as well?
Obviously a good generation!
It’s difficult to be fitter than Millie.
He’s a role model; I told him and I can tell the world -
nothing what we achieved in the last few years
would have happened without James Milner.
Easy as that, whether he was on the pitch or not.
It’s because he set the standards in a way not a lot of people can set standards.
He has educated all of us.
Another James Milner question.
Great.
What's the latest on his future?
Nothing. Millie decides that.
Nothing new.