Igor Tudor spoke to the media at Estadio Metroplitano on Monday evening, ahead of our UEFA Champions League Round of 16, first leg against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night (8pm UK).
Here's what he had to say...
You said on Thursday night about the players who want to be in your boat, and the players who aren't in the boat. Will we know by your team selection tomorrow who's in your boat?
Igor: "First of all, as you know, I never said, but the players who are in this position, I saw this morning in the training, so we are happy that Romero is back, Djed is back, Bissouma is not and Souza, because of the rules of the Champions League. So, the players are coming back, that's important. It's the first time since I'm here and we'll have, let's say, available the players to play in defence, the players who usually play. So, in all three games, we missed the players on their positions, and we missed the players who are usually playing. So, beautiful game to play tomorrow, a totally different competition than the Premier League. There is a good experience from this season, past games. So, let's see what happens tomorrow."
This is the first time you've been able to select Cristian Romero - as a former centre-back yourself, what kind of qualities does he bring, and how determined is he to play his part in turning around this whole situation?
Igor: "He missed a lot. He was also not feeling good to not be able to help the team. Now he's back. He was working these two, three weeks a lot, even with the fitness coach, he did separate running sessions to be in better shape now that he's back. We are happy. I'm sure that tomorrow he'll be a leader like he's always been."
How do you feel about these two games against Atletico - how important are they?
Igor: "Of course, very important, every game is important, as I said, always, after the game, we need to be focused on us, to grow. So, it can be an opportunity, a totally different mentality aspect can be used in this kind of game, so maybe this can help us to see which problems we have. I believe that these kinds of games can help us to switch in the right way, but always focus on us, to grow as a team, to do things better."
There was a lot of passion in today's training, do you feel you're getting a lot more out of these players over the last few days?
Igor: "I saw that more the time has passed, the sessions are always better, there's more quality in everything. Important players are coming back in the team, so that's the key, of course. As I said before, lots of old habits, sometimes take more time than you expected to change. This is also very interesting. This is the thing we are speaking about, me with the staff every day, how fast we can make the changes. When I'm speaking about changes, when I'm speaking about boats, when I'm speaking about that, because it's not easy to change the things you are doing for months or for a year. So, something is moving, not just something. So, we'll see tomorrow. Let's see tomorrow."
In some ways, is this a free hit to try some new things for the Premier League?
Igor: "I agree with both things. As I said, focus on us, playing a team who has a story in this Champions League, they have experienced, they have quality. We need to do our best in terms that we need to grow, as you said also, because our first aim is the Premier League - this needs to be said publicly, it's a normal thing - this is something extra, but that doesn't mean that we don't want to pass and don’t want to go to the next round."
How do you see Richarlison's importance for the team, and is he ready to start again?
Igor: "He will start tomorrow."
In what position?
Igor: "I've already said enough!"
What do you think of this version of Atletico Madrid? When you play Diego Simeone's teams, what specific things do you have to bear in mind?
Igor: "First of all, the mentality of the coach. You know how he was a player, how he's a coach. So the mentality of the team, experience they have in this competition, quality players. Every moment they can score the goal and they never stop running, so, tough opponent to play against. Big motivation from all sides to do what we need to do."
Tell us a bit more about how you see his mentality?
Igor: "We know how he is. Staying here, I don't know how many years in one club. It's been it's been something. I feel big respect for him - amazing coach."