A couple of days in now, have the players responded, what are seeing on the training ground from them and have you managed to get enough work into them to give you the confidence that you can go to Manchester City and to get a win?
Well, I think that first in terms of response, couldn't be any more pleased about the fact that the players have aired their views, which is very important for me about how to go forward. We've come on together and put a plan together to start as quickly as possible with a couple of days we've had to only talk about Manchester City and the big task we do have in front of us. Then we've gone on to the training ground and into this room to analyse the best way we can to play on Saturday. Around that we've been listening to a lot of the staff that's already here, what the player can and cannot do and what is his best position and how best you play him in what system does he play the best? So we've done all that and formulated an idea.
We’ll tell them the starting XI this morning when they finally finish a bit of analysis when we've got rid of you lot because they'll come in here and we'll finish up so. We’ll be on the pitch to do the final bits and pieces and then they can get off and we can get to Manchester.
You made a few headlines on Wednesday with your comment about Pep, Klopp and Arteta. But how much are you relishing that tactical battle this weekend?
What a man, I think he’s brilliant. He’s done a huge amount for the Premier League since he's been here and I think that when you when you see what he's achieved. We can talk about the backing, every successful football club, it's not just to coach the players, it's the backing behind that, the recruitment behind that and the recruitment and they've had has been big spot on and his management style over the years has been fabulous.
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The sad thing is for us is they’re in the best form they’ve been in all season because they’ve won nine on the trot. So we hope we can find a space or two to cause some problems and if we get a chance we'd have to score I think, I don't think we could afford to miss any chances or opportunities we might get in in City's box. We'd have to be ruthless, clinical and defensively the team will have to be the best it's been this season, which obviously has been a bit frail but we're going to try and put that right obviously, while we're here.
You managed over 500 games in the Premier League so you're in a good position to judge, is this the best ever Premier League team?
I'm not sure I can go that far. Because it's been so long I've been in the Premier League, so when you go back to Sir Alex’s treble team, was that the best one? It's difficult to say but it’ll be one or two between them too. I think there's nobody else can match that so Alex Ferguson era and now Pep.
How have you managed to rebuild them mentally would you say in the last 48 hours?
I can smile and ask the players to try and come in and put a smile back on the face and try and lighten the training somewhat. All the staff, nothing better than Robbie Keane for that, by the way. So he's going amongst the players, he's joined in ,done a bit of coaching with them and we’ve got Karl who's the same, so we've created a bit of an atmosphere like we like to create and how we like to work on the fact that the training ground is a nice place to come. Of course, that doesn't feel like that where the results lead to that recently. It's been doom and gloom and we have to try and lift that and obviously we can lift that to a certain degree, but the only way we really get to in the end is to start getting the result. We have to try and do that starting Saturday because there's only four games left to survive in the Premier League.
So how will you look? Will it be square pegs in square holes?
And round pegs in round holes. Yeah, well, as best we can fit where they would prefer to play with tactics in mind. And obviously, there's two ways we play that I think they've lost. In possession I've always seen them to be very, very good so there's not an awful lot of work needs to be done in from that point of view. Out of possession recently has been, as everybody can see by the goals conceded, something that needed most of the work on in the short period of time with that, so balance the two. In possession, fine, carry on the way you carry on to try and create an open opportunities but make sure you know when you lose the ball you block off the openings. If you don't do that against Manchester City, you're going to be facing the big problem.
Are you able to say who you have and who you don’t have?
I've only got Dallas, Adams, Sinisterra and Cooper injured so the rest around that I’ll be picking a team and the system today.
You said the day that obviously the back five has been exposed horribly so can you expect change to be made in front of that?
You can expect a system that you'll see when we get the team out tomorrow. That's about as much as I can say.
Manchester City obviously, West Ham stayed in it for a while the other night, what is the key? Was it more about what Man City did was about what West Ham didn't do?
Well, what we saw, I know Moyesy really, really well. He’d be the most disappointed man because they did so well and slipped up on a free-kick. I mean, if you've going to work that hard, go that long and frustrate Manchester City, the last thing you want to do is give them a goal off a set play that you should have defended better. I mean, so it's trying to avoid everything that Man City do as long as you can. But also what's very important is not giving possession away too often. So when you get possession, make sure you keep it and if that's the case, you can get up the pitch and try and create something against the opposition. But if you switch off for a minute, like West Ham did, and then of course finally in the end they won quite comfortably in the end, it was looking very good but that's why Manchester City have won nine on the trot. They can score many, many different ways with the quality that they've got so we have to block all the opportunities they might be able to create and try and create ourselves.
You mentioned Patrick Bamford the other day and how key he could be for you? Because of that is his chest been puffed out these last few days have you made him feel particularly big?
I try to make everybody feel better. You know a lot of conversations with lads who come in the office, you know all the chat in the office and lots of conversations on the training ground. Nothing to do with football or coaching just life in general. Just to see and find out the personality and try and have a little more light-hearted conversation and finding out more about him gives you gives you a better understanding of everybody. Then get on the pitch and do the business, do the talking on the pitch now. I can talk it as much as I can but I want the players to go out and show that we made a difference and they're passionate enough to keep fighting all the way to the very end.
On a personal level what's the weekend going to be like for you back in your usual environment on the touchline?
Saturday morning I’ll be pretty nervous making sure and hoping nothing pops up. The physio rings and says somebody's got a temperature or you want to avoid anything because you’ve done your plans and you’ve picked the team and you put the put into the mind what we need to do and then you have to disrupt that by somebody having to drop out the starting XI. Finish off a few little bits and pieces in the final meeting on the game before we travel from the hotel to the ground. Short, sharp, punchy, for me. The nerves carry on until the kick-off and once the kick-off happens the nerves disappear because I’m totally focused on what's happening on the pitch. After the game, who knows, I’d like to be able to smile but you know that will be one magnificent result if we get one for me.
Do you make special plans for Erling Haaland?
It's also supply. Stop the supply and stop the big man getting as many chances and then you limit his chances of scoring. Stop the supply but keeping an eye on him at all times particularly in the final third.
Is Liam Cooper going to be able to play again this season?
I have no idea. It's no disrespect but injuries cannot, apart from how quickly they’re going to be fit - yes, I would be interested every day on when he might get back but I haven't really focused on that because I was told that he wouldn't be fit in this game. So I'll only be focused on the players who would be fit to play in this match.
Can you surprise an opposition manager at this stage of the season knows your players quite well?
There can be an element of surprise for me because Pep won't know. He can second guess based on what I've done in the past but that’s quite a while ago and it's a different team and I've got different players who have different strengths and weaknesses. So there can be an element of surprise on how we’re going to set up, what we're going to do, how we're going to try and do it. Let's hope a bit of element of surprise may work in our favour. Of course, once you see what's happening then you, as a coach as a manager, don't get surprised more than five or 10 minutes with what the opposition are doing.
You spoke about Illan, the goalkeeper on Wednesday, when we spoke what have you seen since in training about where his mental stage is at?
Well I don't ever see a problem in training because you know there's no real pressure there like in the game. So with a goalkeeper coach working with him there's nothing you can see to suggest or say anything, other than you look at him and he does what all the keepers do together. They go through the routine, they’re a bit daft, a bit mad, they love what they do. If you did that for an outfield player, they’d get really bored, but the goalkeepers love it. They’re in a good pack together, like a little family of their own. So that will help him hopefully but that for me lies to be one of the probably the biggest decisions I have to make today.
Since Tyler Adams got injured there has been a focus on central midfield and the options available in this squad. What you've seen in your analysis so far, Marc Roca Weston McKennie, and even Adam Forshaw, who you will know by now has had injuries?
Make the midfield as strong as we possibly can, especially against Manchester City.
Obviously the next four games are just really about how many points you can get but given that it is Manchester City will you reflect on the results or the performance?
I think that the fact of the matter is performance defensively because it's just been so poor the last few games. Why are Manchester City top of the league? Because they have the best defensive record. Defensively the best everything. The general public don't look at that but it’s why they’re top now, other teams can have just as many good strikers, score as many goals or score more goals but Manchester City score goals and then have the best defensive record and that's why they win the league. You have to put the two together, so if you’re at the bottom you take over a football club, every time you take over a football club in desperate need it's because the goal difference is so, so bad, they concede more goals than they score and that’s why they are are where they are.
You talk about taking over a team in desperate need, at Huddersfield last night Neil Warnock was saying a lot of similar things to you about from the smiles on the faces and laughs, I just wonder if that's easier for you guys?
I’m hoping it’s going to be a trio, there’s Roy, Neil and me and I hope I get something similar to that in terms of results in the next four games. It would be good for the oldies.
The players have to buy in and I have to extract the best out the player, that’s the job. So we will find out at three o'clock tomorrow, irrespective of the result if I get really good response from the players, that will be the start of hopefully getting out of trouble
Have you brought in a psychologist and are you likely to do?
We already have one. I have met her as well.
Given your predecessor sort of compared the team and the players to a boxer that's kind of punch-drunk, trying to get on their feet and staggering, psychologically, do you think there's a problem that elastic’s kind of snapped in the collective mindset?
Mind is everything and I have to control and talk to the players about controlling the mind, about mindfulness, about concentration on positive thinking. There's huge amounts of research about when you're not here, because when we're here, everything's going on about training, technically, tactically, you talk about, about the mindset and all that, but a player can bring themselves in a very good mindset by relaxing at home and starting to think positively about his game about how he plays his game, about when he played his best game, or who did he play against?
He's putting these positive thoughts into his mind and he's getting himself better prepared to go out and play better. So you can talk about it. I've talked about it, psychologists talk about it. Whether the player takes the time out when he gets home, we don't know, we can't say that really. We just hope that they do because it's proven by the research that it makes a difference. Every little helps. You play in the Premier League, because you've got the best football brain, that’s why you play in the Premier League. It operates all your motor skills, and all your decision making processes. So that's why you pay the Premier League. You can have a much more skilled player in the lower divisions, but unfortunately, their brain doesn't work as quickly as the lads play in the Premier League. So they can't adopt them skills as well as they can or should.
Can I ask what you think is going wrong defensively. Specifically what needs to change?
Protection. Every player has to defend when you haven’t got the ball, so it's an 11-11. When you haven’t got the ball you’re 11 defenders and when you have got the ball you’re 11 attackers, and I think that that sounds simple, but obviously sometimes it's a bit more difficult to get the frontman. Obviously another manager might not see like that. You know, because you can go watch abroad and I've watched it many times where the front three don't defend and they sit in holes and sit in pockets waiting for the rest to win it back and play from there. In the Premier League you can't have that luxury because Manchester City don’t do it. So we can't afford to either. From the front men to the midfield to the back four, to the goalkeeper when we lose the ball we all have to be compact and we all have to do our bit. If whoever's playing up front stops a penetrating pass tomorrow, he’s doing a great defensive job. I'm not asking him to tackle and win it back but I am asking him to make life difficult for that defender to pass it to one of the Manchester City players.
How big is leadership for you and how much do you see in this squad?
I’ll find out a little more, there's a lot of strong players with character who, in the last couple of days, speak out and you can hear them talking and then you've got the quieter ones who just want to do the training and get on with it. So you can pick out one or two of those. When things are not going so well. It can be very difficult to voice an opinion to somebody about how good or how bad they’re playing when you're not playing too good yourself. So you end up not contributing from that point of view. Because it's not an easy job to speak out if your game is not in the right place. So you've got to focus on your game and then help somebody else.
You talked about changing the atmosphere in the training ground. Is there any rules you brought in or changes of policy? Something that you've asked the players to help that?
Not particularly because they're disciplined. I haven't caught anyone late yet and that's unusual. I see everybody turning up on time doing what they're doing but I have a different approach. So I communicate with the players were often other managers, I don't just talk about football I talk about all sorts and if I find an opportunity to crack a joke, sometimes they look at me a bit funny saying does it really mean that or not, but when I start laughing, hopefully they see the funny side of it. It's a communication level that doesn't and doesn't need to get them better, doesn't need to be talked about coaching or sessions because everybody does sessions, everybody does coaching session, everybody has their coaching sessions and tactics. But if you talk in general, between the four, three to four hours that we're together, and that might be in the canteen, might be on the pitch, might be in my office, I'm trying to make players feel comfortable in not just expressing their abilities to the player but expressing what they think. So if they feel comfortable with me they can express from something of what they might think or might help us to overcome this difficult situation. Because they're the only ones who can be responsible for the success of Leeds. I can guide as much as I can, but they are the only ones who can get us out of trouble.
Do you envisage any days off at all for these players?
Oh absolutely. All the rubbish that spouts out from everywhere else other than the training ground to say you keep them in for six hours a day is the biggest load of poppycock, I’ve ever heard in my life. Brain space, shut it down and the players will shut off and they won't be able to perform and then you'll say ‘well, they didn't look like he’s fit, he doesn’t look like he cares’. But he can’t run around because mentally he’s absolutely shot. So spending some time with family and resting up. I mean if they’re not fit now they’re never going to be fit. There's only four games to go.
Did you see what Pep said about you the other night?
Unfortunately, I haven't. I've been far too busy here, in this room and watching the games, tactically technically, set pieces, how they’ve conceded the goals. I haven't seen any news really. I didn't see the all of the game the other night, West Ham-Man City because it was too important for me to be with the staff to try and get through all what we needed to get to give them the best chance we can.
He said basically you, Roy and Neil have got incredible experience, you know the game perfectly, you help them be where they are today. Obviously that's nice that he respects the oldies as you've said it?
It's nice to say that we've always got on I think over the years he's been here when we've bumped into each other and I've obviously met him with the LMA events and stuff like that, especially when he wins it, I get a bit jealous. He's a great guy and his knowledge is fantastic on what he does and achieves. It's great to be pitting your wits against coaches like him and in the Premier League in general, that's where you want to be. If you want to be a player or a coach or a physio or sports psychologist, the Premier League is the only place to be in this country.
How much easier is Pep’s job made by having Erling Haaland?
I think the reason that your team becomes more successful sometimes by one player and one player only is that you've managed to attract into your football club managed to persuade him to come and that's made Manchester City a completely different operation, they function much more differently now from when they didn’t have one. They’ve had to change from no striker to not just the biggest goalscoring striker but one of the biggest players in the league.
The players came out as a group and apologised to fans after a video went viral of them ignoring supporters at a hotel…
You mean the cut video that was edited the wrong way? The one that the family said it was edited the wrong way? No problem. I haven’t seen it.
I think Moyes said the best way to mark Haaland was to be physical?
I'm not sure I could mark him and when I played, I was the most physical player in the league. Yeah, I think that you have to be strong enough to deal with him because he can use his bodyweight brilliantly as well as his talents and skills. I'm more interested in supply. If we can cut the supply down more first and then when he when it does come to him and we limit the amount of times the ball it does come to him, we'll have a better chance of dealing with it. Obviously the players who are there at the time, in close proximity, don't play with fear, play with a positive attitude. So do your job. If you can just stop him scoring a goal you don't need to do anything else in that game on Saturday, you don't need to contribute in any other way. Just stop him scoring and you will have had a fantastic game.
Would you have relished playing against him?
I dealt with lots of centre-forwards like that when I played, they didn't quite score as many goals as that of course. But the big ones are all around like Joe Jordan here with no teeth in and Joe Royle players like that.
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