How are you feeling after the win? “It’s everything. We are so, so happy. We’ve had many performances in the last weeks but we hadn’t reached the end result of winning. Happy to win the game and get my first goal.”
“I’ve been working a lot on the small details and decisions in the final third.”
What can this win mean? “Every game we learned. We’ve played amazing but the end result wasn’t there but our belief stayed and the team mentality was strong.”
On De Zerbi: “I feel amazing with the coach, he helps us and teaches us small details and helps us on a personal basis.”
“He’s intense but I love the intensity and the pasison that he brings to us every day. We believe in the system he plays and our team.”
Thoughts on the game: “We are very happy with the result. Honestly I think we played much better other games, first half against Villa or Everton. I didn’t think we played so well, give Coventry credit for their low block. If you make mistakes or you force the pass, you concede control back and we didn’t. We didn’t create many chances like the last games. James scores a great goal. We celebrate Kulusevski after the game in the dressing room — a great thing for us, for the player, and for the guy.”
“You don’t find that coaches after they win, they say they didn’t play so well. I’m honest because when we play well, I say it too — what I’ve seen in the game. Today we didn’t play with intensity. It was tricky because we played with three at the back but we must play because of injuries and fitness. Mateus Fernandes worked two days because of his wife having a baby. Conor Gallagher was injured two days ago and I tried to give another solution and occupation of space. We suffered because we didn’t play well.”
How did the Robertson, Tosin injuries hamper the second half? “It was tough to react after two injuries especially Robertson who gives us mentality and experience. But Davies, Fernandes, Mathys, gave us good inside the game. You saw eight minutes extra time and for the player who comes inside from the bench 15, 20, 25 minutes, are very important: Crucial.”
You told James Maddison to have fun. How fun was it to watch him? “I said the same to Mateus Fernandes. I think players sometimes forget we are playing football. Great stadium, great fans, but in the last 2, 3, 4 seasons they suffered a lot. It’s a game and I want them to enjoy it. Sometimes pressure and results or the people, the social media, they put too much pressure on players but in the end you have to be clear in your head, especially the creative players: Maddison, Kulusevski, Marmoush. And then put in the work.”
Thoughts on the game: “I thought we were really good in the first half. Hard to say after a 3-1 defeat but the third goal was a mistake and distills the picture of the game. At 2-1 I thought we were the team pushing.”
“We’ve progressed and come here and performed against a fully-loaded squad. We had the boys who helped get us out of the championship and they boys showed a lot competing all the way until the end.”
Just didn’t have the clinical edge after scoring 4 vs Newcastle? “It’s football isn’t it? I get sold on the overall play. Everyone at the stadium knew we were a threat right until the end of the game. You come here away from home against a strong team — their results do not line up with how they are playing. We were more than competitive in the game. You’re never happy with a defeat — you don’t want to overpraise it — but we’re happy come away with the performance.”
Thoughts on not getting a point? “Frustrating. We felt we had done well as a team. We took the game plan to them well. At the end it really could’ve been 2-2. It’s cliche but we have to take the positives with a big game on Saturday.”
Played well but didn’t find clinical edge as vs Newcastle? “Maybe the clinical edge, sometimes stuff doesn’t fall for you — it’s football. What we can do is keep applying pressure, go to good places, and hope it falls for us.”
Conceded right after drawing level at 1: “Maybe we dropped a little bit deep. It’s frustrating to concede quite soon after we got an equalizer.. You’re away from home at a good team, you’ve just gotta work hard and be solid for a second.”
More proof Cov can stay up? “We’ve shown we can compete for sure. It’s the little differences, maybe getting more shots on target and getting to the right areas. We’ve got two massive games coming up, back at home Saturday in front of our fans. We’re looking forward to taking the positives from it and really getting after it.”