Pressekonferansen.
Ayling altså klar - ikke et ord om Cooper
12:49
Beren Cross
Five wins - Villa biggest test?It’s the last rival we haven’t played against. It’s a team with a very significant offensive strength. They are good in the collective play and they are good with their individual players. They also have many good players. If we take into account these aspects, they have very similar aspects to West Bromwich.
Beren Cross
Good afternoon
Welcome to a dreary Thorp Arch as we await Marcelo Bielsa and Salim Lamrani.
He is expected from 12.45pm.
12:50
Christmas approach - rotation?We’ll see the affects on each player and take decisions after that. We’ll take into account the fatigue.
12:52
First Christmas in England - what will it look like for you and players?It’s a tradition in England. It’s something common. It’s something exceptional for other countries, but common here. When you play two games per week in two weeks it’s similar to other moments in the competition.
The fact this happens during Christmas and New Year period, it will be more demanding regarding professionalism, but it’s not exaggerated. It belongs to the folklore of English football and it belongs to the football culture of this country.
12:53
January plansThe possibility of strengthening the team is hypothetical, it’s not concrete or clear. There are some clear facts, For example, we have less players than at the beginning of the season. To add players to the team increasing the level of the team is not easy. If we find players better than those who left it will be a good addition to the team.
It’s only a possibility, for now.
12:55
Need to replace Saiz?The answer I just gave includes the answer to your question. If player arrives he has to have a better level than the player we already have. We also have to consider his adaptation to the competition and his new team. We have many hypotheses on that, so I can’t give you a clear answer.
The clear facts are we have less players than six months ago. If a player arrives it would mean he is better than the players we already have.
12:59
Villa a serious rival at the top?The important thing for this competition is who is getting promoted and who is struggling to get promoted. As it is a long competition, and as you have many possibilities because you have six teams able to go up, any conclusion will be a premature one.
I see every time I’m asked the same question in a different way, but unfortunately I can’t give you a different answer. Imagine if I had to give you an answer with a level of certainty in the answer. For any lucid observer it would be an act of irresponsibility. We only played half of the games. If you ask me if Villa has players to get promoted, my answer is yes. Do they have the structure to go up? Yes. Do they have a brilliant head coach? Of course. You have more than six teams with good players, good head coach and good structure.
We are sure among all these teams with the capacity for promotion, they won’t give the answer observers expect. We can’t draw conclusions now, we have to wait until the end. That’s why it’s very difficult to give a serious answer.
13:00
Fifteen-point gap would be significant for Villa though
The other day I was told when Middlesbrough got promoted they had a 12-point difference and they lost it. I’ve just been told this otherwise I would say you can’t lose 15 points, but the team that got promoted lost 12 points.
13:04
Eleven points from a losing position - what has changed for that stat this season?To be able to make differences and comparison I would have to know what happened in the previous seasons. What I see is we have a group of players who are very capable, involved in the project - with the institution, involved with the public. I corrected the word project because this group of players would follow any kind of project.
The identification of the players with the team, with the city and with the fans is more important than the project. There is a mix between the team and professionalism. They are professionals, so they can do their job seriously. They have a dose of amateur because of the affection they have with what they are doing. It’s not only they do their job, it’s the feelings towards what they are doing.
In ways, it’s never good to analyse a group when they are at the top level. The good thing is we can say exactly what we just said in a moment of adversity.
13:07
Halfway point - reflectionsThe players have, almost all of them, have Championship experience. The process of adaptation is only for the youngsters because the new players like Bamford, Douglas and Forshaw come from the Championship.
Honestly, my intention was very natural because I consider when you have noble opponents with good intentions, when you have referees without considering they can make mistakes and take quick decisions, impartial referees, when you have an impeccable organisation, when you have high quality pitches and when you have all these ingredients, all competitions are similar, the only challenge is to propose your style.
That’s why I haven’t had any difficulties to adapt.
13:10
Expected greater challenge in imposing style?This experience is similar to the previous ones I had as a head coach. You know we have a sentence that says you have to play according to the qualities of the players you have. I have never had to be the head coach of a group that prevented me from developing my ideas. That’s why I have some doubts regarding this concept. Players are a condition for the style. The role of the head coach is to convince and you can’t convince if you don’t believe in what you are saying. That’s why it’s very hard for a head coach to change his manner of conceiving the game, it’s more credible to think you can develop your ideas regardless of the features of the players. Let me moderate my comment. You don’t have players, probably, that prevent a head coach from developing his ideas. Maybe the weakest teams of a Championship, don’t have the quality of the other teams, but if we take the average, we can draw this kind of opinion.
13:21
Saiz opinionI gave my opinion by the time I gave him as a player. He played 80 per cent of the competition. He left the club being a starter. He missed, I don’t remember, four or five games, and when he left our midfield was Forshaw, Klich and Saiz. I have to be very careful. He was a player that had a lot of value for me.
I can’t say it doesn’t matter he left because you would tell me ‘why, then he played 80 per cent of the games.’ This is my first point. Second point is I didn’t ask Samu Saiz to leave. I never talked about him, regarding his desire to leave the club. In the club there are people I trust very much who evaluated the situation. They took the decision they thought was the right one. I don’t agree and I don’t disagree with the decision taken.
What I can’t tell is I asked Saiz to leave, I made it easier and it doesn’t matter because we have a group of 18 players and he was one of the 18 players. When you put limitations to the number of players you can’t say it doesn’t matter if one of them goes. Of course, we are in conversations to find a solution he has left. We assume we can’t rely on him anymore and we must find a solution. As I want to be
?? - it matters to me what people think of my job. I can’t say I made it easier for Saiz to leave and I can’t say it doesn’t matter he left and I have never talked to Samu about his departure.
Let’s remember he left the team being a starter in the team. I don’t have to underline this, but if you start or are in the 18 it’s the same thing because if you take the stats you have four or five always missing.
At the same time, honestly, I trust absolutely the persons who take these decisions in the club I don’t take. These arguments I’m giving you, those who ntake these decisions, took them into account, but taking into account arguments doesn’t mean you impose the arguments.
For me, it’s easier not to deal with this situation because it’s difficult to solve. What I can’t tell is I made it easier or I don’t care if he left or not. I say that because we have a responsibility to the people who make opinions on our decisions. I can’t say he left and I don’t care. I talked a lot about this, but I only said three things. I didn’t make it easier for Samu Saiz to leave, a head coach can’t say he doesn’t care when this player played 80 per cent of the games and he was a starter and one of the 18 players, and it was difficult situation to solve. I have absolute trust in those who made the decision. I am sure they know my arguments and with optimism we think we can find a solution to his absence.
There is no excuse to look forward to the future with the same optimism as before. I spent 10 minutes telling you this, but I didn’t say these last five things.
13:22
Brown updateHe has a problem that will take three or four weeks to solve. I’m disappointed and sad this happened. It’s very common, frequent players who didn’t play for a long time have more problems. I see he is strong mentally with a lot of enthusiasm.
13:24
Ayling backMay start this weekend.
13:25
Bielsa RhapsodyI am thankful. It’s very important, for me, the feeling for the club. They give me an importance honestly I don’t deserve.
Cult figure - kids' costumes, horse names - does he know?
What do you want me to tell you?
[Is he aware of his status?]
Affection is the maximum aspiration for a human being, when you receive affection it’s something you are very thankful for. We have to be very careful when we see the reasons for this affection.
In this case I don’t deserve the recognition I am getting. If I give you this answer I feel ill at ease and if I don’t answer to you you wouldn’t accept it. I have the obligation to tell you.
13:27
All overThat’s it from Bielsa.
