Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, UK.
20/10/24
20/10/24
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00Yeah, proud obviously of what the players produced. Tough blow, of course, to concede a goal that late, with the work and the togetherness and the detail and everything that went into keeping it as tight as it was for so long.
00:19A tough, tough blow for them. So just disappointed for the players because they have given a lot in an awful lot of games against some top sides and we've found a way to come up slightly short in all of them so far.
00:33But yeah, an excellent performance, excellent. Of course, there was an awful lot of defending which we sort of accepted before the game with the game plan. We've tried to be aggressive in some games and if players get things wrong in that we've ended up quite open.
00:51So stayed really low together, tried to reduce the spaces and maybe could have been a bit better if you look at last season, bit better on transition. Probably the quality on transition last year probably gave us a bit more relief.
01:05But apart from that, we did manage to threaten them a few times, could have scored one or two more and defended every situation with the detail that we'd worked on for the last two days and came up 20 seconds or so short.
01:20The Premier League match centre said about the winner that Bernardo Silva wasn't in solid line of vision and also didn't have an impact on the action. Do you agree with that?
01:50Clear evidence to the referees that Tawanda wasn't in line of vision of the West Ham goalkeeper. He could see above him and the West Ham goalkeeper confirmed himself that he could see the ball.
02:03The reason that we were told it was still disallowed was that he was in close proximity to the goalkeeper.
02:08So Bernardo Silva, of course, ends up not in Jose's line of vision. But I mean, you can't get much closer than he was. Their feet were probably a yard apart.
02:17So I hoped in that moment while they were making the decision and while they were on their way to the screen that the same reasoning that our West Ham goal was disallowed would mean that this one was disallowed.
02:29But the referees decided that there was enough difference or that it wasn't that and we have to respect that. I managed to remain fairly calm, managed to try and keep the subs away from the officials and keep the staff away from the officials because it felt like a tough blow.
02:45But really calm. I hoped that they would reach that conclusion but didn't have too much confidence that it would go our way just off the back of what we've suffered recently of VAR and refereeing decisions. I didn't have too much faith that we would get the rubber to green on that one.
03:00How do you deal with that inconsistency?
03:31Definitely. I mean, Nunes has got two hands in his back before he wins the ball. So, little things, little things. You know, their left back putting one in the top corner with his wrong foot didn't help either. We've had a few of them this season.
03:43But, yeah, the referee will be the referee and there's nothing I can do about it. So, as I said, I remain really respectful. Tried to keep everyone under control and, of course, gutted that we take no points but we need to get ready for Brighton.
03:58Will you speak to Hull Red Bulls?
04:29If that's disallowed, it's so similar to the West Ham one. What is the difference? OK, Towanda is more in line with the ball but what does that mean? Because the goalie can still see it. So, I think they're similar enough that the same result should be found. But I'm sure I'll be told differently. I'll probably speak to them just to find out. But, yeah, I'm sure I'll be told different.
04:51Jose Sarr has given you a bit of a headache?
05:00He's played very well, hasn't he? So, he's given you a bit of a headache?
05:18Was Andre injured?
05:21No, Andre was fine.
05:23Yeah, just for the detail of the game plan, he struggled with at times. He was the one really out there that struggled to get to a couple of things that we needed him to. Obviously, he's had a long flight, a lot of travel, probably got back the latest, I think, out of everybody.
05:42And just felt that Tommy at that moment and moving Mario in one would help us. Yeah, they managed to get inside our box a couple of times with Gundogan or Foden in the first half and I think a fresher, more alert Andre that hadn't had the week that he's had would have been able to deal with them better. So, obviously, Tommy helped us in that.
06:00Gary, if you look at the two respective incidents, if both of those had been allowed, the Kilman one and this one, I don't think you'd be arguing that either of them would have been decliners, would you? So, is that why this club took a stance against VAR? Because you're having these marginal decisions that are made by somebody else rather than just the referee?
06:30I like the fact that we can go into detail to try and get decisions right. You know, I love detail and all of my game plans are based on small details. And so I like the fact that we can go into detail. I do think it's hard to be involved with Wolves at the minute, either as a supporter, as a player, as a head coach, as a sporting director or whatever it is, and not feel hard done by the amount that have gone against us.
06:57I speak to the officials all the time. I can't remember who they come over to book. They come over to book Pablo, I think. And I just said to the ref, like, I've calmed Pablo down, but you do understand that these things are going against us a lot. So it's very hard to have no reaction from the football club at that moment when there seems to be an awful lot of them.
07:15So it does feel a bit like that. But, you know, we have to get on with it. There's no chance that people are purposely against Wolves. I mean, if we ever get to a place there, then the whole game's in a real bad place. So there's no chance that people are doing things against Wolves on purpose. Let's be clear.
07:35But is there something in the subconscious around decision-making or of, without even knowing it, are you more likely to give it to Manchester City than Wolves? Because my focus and my senses are heightened when we're facing Man City and Pep and Haaland. Are the officials the same when it's Haaland and when it's Manchester City? Is there something in there that they're not on purpose that influences decision-making?
08:03And I've spoken to them about this as well, and they obviously guarantee me there isn't. But they are human. They are human. And Manchester City scoring a last-minute winner is a big thing. It's like a bigger thing than Wolves scoring a last-minute goal against West Ham. So maybe, maybe there's something subconsciously that means that you are less likely to get them.
08:22Obviously, Gary today, does that give you something to build on for what looks like a really crucial period coming up?
08:52Lads, back five today, all the best. Let me know how you get on. There's an awful lot that goes into that, as there was against Liverpool when we held them at bay for ages in a back four. So, yeah. Now, of course, I've been a back five always against Manchester City, I think, as a coach. I don't think I've ever not been a five. And we'll see. Next weekend, I'll try and come up with the best game plan.
09:22But today, it shows the players that if you stick to it, how it can bridge gaps against good sides, like it did today. So, just a nice learning point for the players that, come on, that needs to be the level. There's no excuses for not being able to carry out the detail that you're given. And if they do, as you saw today, we do have some quality that we can cause teams problems.
09:52Crystal Palace are down the bottom near us and their front threes, Eze, Mateta and Nketiah. It's a good front three. So, good players is not going to solve everything for us. We need to be together, we need to be organised, we need to be detailed, we need to be able to respond to disappointment. All those little things are going to be far more important than just having good players out there. So, yeah, trying to push those levels and make sure that we get closer to today's than Brentford.
10:16Jürgen, you must be delighted that Erling Haaland barely had any impact tonight?
10:47And it suited what we had out there. You know, the three centre-backs did well. Full-backs defended well, 1v1. I thought Nelson was back to his best today, defending 1v1. Jürgen gave everything, but I've spoken to him a lot. He needs to get through. We need him. He needs to get through longer than an hour before he looks tired.
11:06You know, I'm sure I get criticised for taking centre-forwards off, but Jürgen in every game has run his race after 60, 65 minutes. He's either got cramp or he looks not the same. So, whether the change of league from Spain, whatever it is, but these little details, because, you know, everyone thinks, oh, that's OK, Geds has gone on and give us energy, but if Jürgen's on, do we concede the goal from the corner? Does Jürgen help us from the corner?
11:28So, little things like that are really, really important. So, we need to make sure we push those little margins in our favour. And Jürgen knows how important it is that he gets himself in better shape. Same with Chani. You know, Chani's struggled to hit the heights that he hit last season. Needs to get himself sharper. So, all these little things that we can impact, we have to impact.
11:48There's one follow-on. Obviously, considering what happened at Brentford, performance-wise, in terms of fans and a few chants, to have them chanting your name at Orbea before the City goal in that last few minutes of that game, it's going to be important to have them with you?
12:18And I hope they can see that they know the situation. As I said to you yesterday, I've bumped into a lot of people in the last two weeks around Wolves, and every single message I received was just supportive, and they understand the situation, and they understand the transfers, and they understand what we're trying to do with the younger players, and we're trying to get them up to Premier League level and the fixture list.
12:41So, there's loads of things out there that make it tough at this moment, but I am responsible for everything, as I said yesterday. So, no problem. The goal at the end, we can blame the referee if we want, or we can blame me. It's my team that conceded a corner, so I'll look at me before I look at the officials.
12:57Of course, I have to answer the officials' questions with you, but the first thing I did when I got in my office was like, how's Stones got ahead of there? Have we not got to Stones? What have we done? What could we have done? So, yeah, happy. Happy to be responsible for all of it. I'd just be a bit happier if we had a few more points.
13:13There's always been this underlying feeling that referees favour the big clubs. Are you basically saying that that's somewhat what's still happening in VAR?
13:44It's tough. It's tough. I feel different playing Manchester City to I do playing somebody else in the Carabao Cup in the first round. It's a different feeling, and I'm sure they feel the same. The bigger the game, I'm sure they feel it. They're human. And I don't know if I might be miles off, but it just feels like there could be.
14:04If I had to upset someone in a street and there was a little guy and a big guy, I'm upsetting the little guy. Nothing against little guys, but you know what I mean? There is something in there, and they definitely don't do it on purpose. I know they're 100% honest and they're doing the best job they can, and I respect them fully. But maybe there's something that just edges it in that direction when it's really tight.