Dagens presser.
In positionWaiting on the main man...
Last day of the window - Dan James?So far I don’t have any news about transfers. I know both clubs are negotiating, but I don’t know if it’s done.
Pablo fit?Yes. He trained normally.
Changes on Saturday? Jansson availableNo Phillips! Gave us the full XI. Roberts starts.
Here is the team: Casllia, Ayling, Jansson, Cooper, Alioski, Forshaw, Harrison, Klich, Roberts, Hernandez, Roofe.
Mental concentration on Saturday? Teams score late goalsIt’s a team that attacks very well. It’s a team designed to attack. It doesn’t mean they don’t defend well,but the profile of the team is a creative profile. We want to attack, but we know we will have to defend a lot too.
Are Norwich best opponent in the league?It’s an opponent we have to respect, but all the opponents have had ups and downs. It will be a mistake to think all these teams are not important. We can’t ignore the potential of these teams and I just quoted the teams which come to my mind. Usually, football makes sure what seems evident to everyone doesn’t happen.
Pukki - how difficult to find unknown players like him?His skills are not common in English football. He’s not a player who goes for 50-50s or uses his physical capabilities. It’s a player who is hard to neutralise. He uses a lot his intuition. He is always in good positions to receiver the ball and he makes many movements. He plays simple and efficient.
How significant would six-point gap be?If we have six points and the team plays with regularity it’s a big difference. Ups and downs would make it nothing.
Is Saturday more significant than others for you?I think, apart from our positions, the offensive aspects of both teams make this attractive.
If James done - how happy with January?Orta chose James and I accepted the player proposed to me. I agree with the fact this player has the features the team needs and responds to the needs of the team. If he comes it will be a significant transfer. If he doesn’t come we will find solutions for the rest of the season.
Like James's age?The most important element is how he plays and then comes how old is he. He comes inside the group to compensate experience with youth. We have enough experienced players, so we can have young players too.
Douglas and Brown - ready?Douglas, yes. Brown, no.
Why not Brown?I talked several times about his injury. I already answered several times to the question you asked. You will remember the answer I gave, but I will repeat it again.
Izzy hasn’t played for one year. He is fit. He has trained. The sport aspect is different from the fitness aspect. You need to play six or eight games to recover sport fitness. After playing six or eight games usually the player recovers his skills. Not necessarily. That’s what we hope. He is a player if he gets back he will be very important for us because he’s a 10 with the capacity to score goals. He can break the balance with the opponent with his play.
When a creative player reaches his level he goes inside the team immediately. The position of a winger and the nine and 10, are the most difficult positions in football. Difficult to play well in these positions. It’s true the majority of subs are made in these four positions. Any offensive player who plays well will be in the team.
Clarke, Pablo, Roofe, Bamford, Roofe, Harrison, Stevens, Klich. Dallas and Roberts too. If Izzy plays better than them he will play
When did the 6-8 games for Brown start? He's played that many alreadyNo he hasn’t played six to eight games.
He started to play, he got injured. Now he plays his second game.
<So it starts from the hamstring injury?>
Anyway as I see you’re worried about the situation, the previous answer you can apply to ant decision I take. I have to chose and I’m never sure that I’m taking the right decision.
And many times I doubt that I took the right decision.
Every time you ask me about the presence or absence of a player I will answer the same. I chose the player who offered the best options to resolve the game at that moment.
Any more on Dallas' injury?He has a problem with his foot. It’s a new problem, linked to the bone stress and for now he will need complete rest for ten days.
And then with the evolution we will see how long he needs.
Why will Phillips miss out?I just answered that question.
Did I express myself not well enough?
I had to chose between Jansson and Phillips, and Cooper and Phillips, and Forshaw and Philips. I had to chose between those three players.
Question from German journalist - what he thinks of English football compared with elsewhere?I prefer not to make comparisons because I have worked in several places. I can give you my opinion on English football. I don’t think I will say something new because everything has been said on English football. In England, the desire to win is stronger than the fact we don’t want to lose. In England: win before loss(?).
This tells a lot about how the English culture sees the game. This is what makes the specificity of English football around the world. Another thing seen in France and Germany too, it’s a structure project to develop young players.
Football is undergoing a huge crisis because we have more and more spectators, which allows the economic prosperity of football, but it’s an everyday horror to get good players.
In this sense, these three countries, Germany, France and England have been at the vanguard.
What is satisfying about working in England?The players still have a link with the amateur aspect of the game and this is very important, this has a lot of value because they constantly receive messages telling them to get rid of this amateur aspect, but to be a good professional you need to be a great amateur too.
The team of Leeds has many amateur values in the behaviour of the players.
What do you mean by amateur values?It means I don’t play football for money, but I play because I love football.
Long season - Leeds and Norwich aggressive - hard to keep up intensity at the end?The answer only has value if we can verify it. All I can say is ‘yes we will.’ We know the truth only in May.
Not considering changing style for fatigue?Absolutely not. I’m going to tell you why.
It’s so hard to draw the style of a team and it takes so long. At the same time it’s so unstable, but when you think about switching the style, if you could change the style, it means it’s because the style is not strong enough.
If you can change something easily, it means it was not hard to build it. I never think about changing the style. I’d rather focus on problems in what we’re doing.
With the constant problems with changing plans, especially when losing, for me, these solicitations deserve this response: the response is you have to correct what is not done well.
Sixty-three now - called El Loco - honour or insult?First of all, I can’t say I’m successful. I’d rather say the opposite.
One of the things you hear the most when people talk about me, is the lack of trophies. You can verify this. When you’ve been working in football for such a long time, and when you’ve been in for such a long time, given the opinion enough factual elements to draw your own conclusions about whether it’s positive or negative.
I’m sure you think you think it’s a positive one.
FiniAll over here. One of those more florid, personable press conferences we have seen at times this term. Full transcript from everything he said later...
One final answer on James - missed this earlierI read with the fact he (James) will come. As Saiz is not in the club anymore, Pablo plays as a 10. And the fact Douglas was absent, Alioski plays as a full-back. At the beginning our wingers were Pablo and Alioski. For us, it will be important to have a winger.