How important are their performances for your team in pursuit of European football?
Thank you to the supporters again for the atmosphere they created. I understand they love that song because they are players who have been raised in our system. I’m really happy that we have players who have come, taken responsibility and managed to win games for us which is really impressive at that age.
Were you concerned before Smith Rowe got the first goal?
I think we played really well and created so many chances and shots and attempts on goal in the first half, but we didn’t score a goal. In the Premier League you’ve got to put those chances away you want to win. We came in the second half really convincing, we scored a goal and then it was a matter of killing the game. Overall I think we should be happy with the result and the performance.
Does it feel that top four is in your hands now?
It’s a long way to go. We are a little bit closer today because we won our game and it’s what we want to do. We’ve got to go Thursday again and win our game against Wolves. It’s going to be a really difficult match. We need to play better and better and better. That’s the aim.
The form has been very good since the turn of the year. You’re
We want to win every game. As I said before that’s in the back of something. We know we cannot look too far. Things change very quickly, it’s very difficult to win match in this league. We go again and prepare the match against Wolves.
Right the wrong against Wolves?
We tried to transmit it to the players and we understood what happened. We analysed the context that we were in and it was really difficult to play that game. The players that we had on that pitch were nothing to do with the players we had today. But we learned a lot as a team.
There’s competition for places at Arsenal right now?
Yes, but the performances on the pitch as well for the way they train. We play once a week, it’s tough to see players training the right way and not being able to give them minutes on the weekend.
Do you see a difference in the way the mental state of the side is?
Yes but I think I said it when we played Norwich. It was a time where I could understand the people around the club. The more difficult the situation was getting, the more united and close and convinced we were. That was a game changer because we probably learned more in the difficult moments.
What did you learn in that difficult period?
That nobody was blaming eachother, that everyone wanted to contribute, nobody wanted hide and wanted to be part of what we're doing. They showed that attitude to transmit it to everyone at the club. You saw the reaction of the supporters as they can see what we're trying to do.
How proud are you of the turnaround?
Very happy, especially the way we are playing and the way we are going because that will lead to good results.
We have 15 games and we're still really far. We have to focus on the next match. Things change very quickly. There's still going to be a lot of turnarounds, you see it every week. We need to keep everyone fit and with the right belief. We want to play better to win matches.
