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00:00Really good. I really liked the performance, obviously the result, the clean sheet, but
00:06especially the way individually as a team, the team has shown that they still have another
00:12step forward to make and show the resilience and the dissemination that is needed in these
00:18moments to step in and say, I'm here, I'm going to make myself count and I'm going to
00:24impact the team.
00:25You look at the amount of games that we've played in the last few weeks, the type of
00:39game that we have played and the attitude and the way they run today, again, it's tough,
00:44but it's within them. They want to win, they want to compete at their best and therefore
00:49it's unquestionable. The results, that's something else, but I'm really happy especially for
00:54the approach and the mentality of the team.
00:55Can you talk us through in a bit of detail what it's like to get back early hours of
01:02Thursday morning, having gone out of Europe, trying to lift the players and then come here?
01:07What those few hours are like that you have to try and turn around and come here?
01:12We stayed in Munich, I think we had an hour or two hours of sleep, wake up, start to talk
01:20about Wolves Festival and then about what the players need, how we're going to get into
01:27this game in the best mental, physical condition and prepare to understand what we have to
01:32do in the game to beat them. The boys were unbelievable, the staff is unbelievable, it's
01:36a joy to work with them.
01:39And then we realised that we want to be involved in big competition, fighting for the Champions
01:43League, fighting for the Premier League with the level that it requires. You have to do
01:50something special and you have to be something special and determined and you're going to
01:53have that love to compete and expose yourself when it's needed to get the outcome that you
01:59want and I thought the boys did that really well today.
02:03Were you tempted to make more than three changes?
02:07Obviously we thought a lot about possibilities, about the way that we had to manage the game
02:16in relation to the score, to the state, to what they were proposing as well and we had
02:21many options to do that. But I think overall the ones that I played did really well, I
02:26think the sub made the impact that we wanted as well. So I'm really pleased. Unfortunately
02:31we cannot use all the players, they deserve more minutes but that's always the same thing.
02:36Mikel, you probably won't have heard because you would have been preparing for the game
02:40but Pep Guardiola is obviously very, very annoyed at the fact that his team were forced
02:48to play a semi-final today after the Champions League game. Do you think it's fair? I mean
02:56obviously you weren't playing the semi-final and you were playing two hours afterwards
03:00but you had to do the same thing and then you've got another game on Tuesday.
03:06Yeah but it's not about us, it's about Pep and myself, it's about the well-being of the
03:11players and especially when you're competing in European competition, everything has to
03:17be competing in the same way. You cannot have a team that hasn't played for seven days or
03:22three days before and has more recovery time and then you have to play in the Premier League
03:26or the FA Cup. It is not right. You look at it at any angle, it is not right. You want
03:31to protect and you always talk about the players and the protagonists, let's protect them guys
03:35and let's think about them and do everything that we can to give them the maximum time
03:39so they can recover and they can perform and maintain the show that they put in every week.
03:45You've been in this league for a long time, so to have six clean sheets in a row away
03:52from home, how difficult is that to achieve?
03:56Well, very difficult. I don't know when is the last time that it was done but I imagine
04:01that not recently because it is extremely difficult to do that by credit to the boys.
04:08For the level of organisation, for the understanding and especially for the love that they show
04:14defending and the platform that it gives to the team to win football matches.
04:18Do you think there is a team that take particular pride in the clean sheet?
04:22They do, yeah. The pride and the win for everything. As a team you want to be as difficult as possible
04:29to beat for the opponent and I think we've done that today. We consider it a chance,
04:34a poor chance in an individual error but other than that I think the team did really well again.
04:40How crucial was it to make that save?
04:50Very because we didn't consider anything up to that point and we had some very open
04:56situations to score goals and we didn't and that would have changed the course of
04:59the game for sure. But David was outstanding in that moment to make the save that we needed
05:05and then we took advantage. I think the timing of the first goal was really helpful as well
05:10and I'm really happy.
05:12Has he become a goalkeeper?
05:18I think he's been very, very consistent throughout the whole season and obviously the numbers
05:22that we have are proof of that.
05:28When he came in, that transfer window looked like Woodruff was in the reckoning as well.
05:36He's made a huge impact. Can you just say what impact he has made for you?
05:41He's a little magician. He can score with any surface. He's a big threat. So composed,
05:48so cool. He can play in different positions. Just a joy to have him in the team.
05:57Thank you.