Was that a nice kick-about with the boys?
(chuckles) I’m really pleased the way we played. The performance how we controlled certain areas of the game that are very much needed if you want to dominate the game against Brentford and obviously really pleased to win the match and go top if the league into the break.
How impressed were you by Xhaka and what do you put this upturn in his form down to?
His consistency. How he goes about every day, how he’s learned through different moments in his career whether they are here or with the national team and his willingness over time to stay humble, look forward and try to get better and when you do that normally good things happen.
Real performance of leadership today?
Absolutely and he was demanding it as well. I think he feels now that that love and respect goes both ways. I think you see our supporters the way they were singing to him as well. It makes him emotional, it makes him try to give even more and I’m really pleased for him because in my opinion he fully deserves it.
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Fabio Vieira – feel like he can nail down a starting spot in your side?
I think he is having a good progression. He has missed the whole pre-season due to an injury and that was very unlucky but we know his talent. We know the reason why we signed him and what he can bring to the team but to do it against Brentford in this ground on his PL debut is a different story and he shows again his character and his quality.
Where do you feel he (Fabio Vieira) can fit in your system?
That’s something that still needs to be decided but in those two attacking midfield positions for sure, and I think he’s played off the sides as well. It’s more about the relationships he’s building in his unit and his side and where he feels more comfortable. But the position he played today suits him really well.
On Fabio (Vieira), he’s been someone you’ve been quite excited about. Is that because of his risk taking?
He is like this. He’s a creative player who needs to play with his gut feeling and his instinct. That’s what he needs to do and we need to create as much scenarios as possible for him to put his talent to the service of the team. But what I like as well is the way he competes. To come here (Brentford) and the way he went about the ugly part of the game, I was really impressed.
You’ve set Premier League history with Ethan. Tell us about him as a kid
It was a pure gut feeling. I met the boy (and) really liked what I saw. Per Mertesacker and the academy staff are giving me really good information, Edu as well. I met him, he’s trained a couple of times with us. Yesterday he had to come because we have injuries, especially the injury of Martin (Odegaard), and then I had that feeling from yesterday that if the opportunity could come that I was going to do it and I just done it.
Was that a reward for what he’s shown?
It’s another step, another experience. In your career all the steps are not going to be forward. After that maybe he needs three backwards to go another forward, but I think he deserved it. It sends a really strong message about who we are as a club as well.
How good a year has Gabriel Martinelli had?
If you look at the game he played a year ago here and today it is just incredible how fast they grow, they mature, they recognise situations, execution levels, and their understanding. He looks like a different player. I thought he was really good today.
Does this show how far you've come that you coped with injuries much better?
It is true that we replaced them with different players. We have to be honest with that and (whereas) a lot of people described last season here as a bad day, an embarrassing day, I looked at it as a good building character day. You want to become a different team, you have to learn from those moments and you have to go through those moments and then days like today happen which everyone is really happy in the dressing room with the way we played. We are enjoying our football and it is another step.
When is it ok to ask if you're in the title race?
You can ask me every day. Today we are top of the league, I am so happy. Yesterday I was so annoyed because we lost it and we used that to want to get back there and show that we want to be there. That is what we are going to do – push to be the best we can be. That is the aim. The table won’t lie after 38 games normally.
What did you say to Ethan in dressing room?
Those things it is better not to tell them. Just throw him there and see what happens.
Did you speak to Nwaneri at all before he came on?
I told him yesterday that he was going to be with us and that I want him to experience how it is to be in the hotel, to do a preparation of the game to be around the boys and that he had to be ready. If you’re going to be on that bench you have to be ready. The boy just looks in your eyes and he’s ready.
What was your message as he was coming on?
Just congratulations and enjoy.
Do you take a personal interest in the player after making him a record breaker like that?
All the decisions that we take and that I take are for the club. It’s not for me, it’s not for the player, it’s because we believe that he has a talent that has to be developed incredibly in the next two or three years. We will see how we manage that but the boy will dictate. Normally it’s not us, normally the players tell you and demand of you how far you can go on that.
Does it give you more self confidence to come back here 13 months on from last time with a better performance and result?
Obviously it makes me feel much better because I saw a team that plays the way we want to play the way we train every single day and that shows the character and quality to do what we’ve done on that pitch against a really good Brentford side that you see every week how much they make the opposition teams suffer.
What are your plans for the international break?
Maldives! No I don’t know yet. I want to spend some time with my kids and my family, I don’t know if that will be in London or away. And I want to look after the boys who are here because we have quite a few. We need to look after them as well because some of them are injured. We need to start to prepare because we have a beautiful game coming up pretty soon.
Was that gut feeling with Ethan about him as a player or as a person?
I don’t know what it is for him. When I met him, when I look at him, I had that feeling.
What is the message you feel it sends about the club?
That we want to give opportunities when there is talent, when there is personality and when there are players who love what they do so much and when they have no fear. The doors are open to explore where they can go.
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