I think history has shown many times that the longer players play together, the bigger chance you have of winning something. Or you add and if you add players to what you have, that’s also a serious chance of improving. If you replace, (like) what we’ve done, then it takes time. Then usually it gets better after a certain period of time. Unfortunately, Giovanni Leoni, we won’t see him this season, and Alex (Isak) is going to take a long time before we see him again. You can do the numbers (about) how much money that is and if you combine that with how much we’ve sold, that’s maybe an interesting story to make.
On how Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez are fitting into his system…
We had to make one change in that position because Trent (Alexander-Arnold) left and that was not ideal for me because I think Trent has been so important for this club and was very important for me last season. When we looked at the options in the market, Jeremie was one of the first we noticed because he has that pace… similar to Conor (Bradley) and similar to Milos and Robbo (Andy Robertson) as well. That pace is one thing going forward but you also need that pace if you face, for example, the forwards of Paris Saint-Germain, but I can come up with many teams also here in the Premier League who have very, very, very fast wingers.
It’s definitely helpful to have them. Unfortunately for them, not always the same players have played in front of them. It’s still a work in progress, especially because too many times not all of them have been available and too many times we had to change because of load management because players weren’t able or they were injured. But bit by bit we see players and the team improving as well.
On facing Leeds and whether he could cope with another ‘hectic’ game like the 3-3 draw at Elland Road…
Yes, I could (cope), but I don’t prefer to cope with another day like that. But it’s part of our lives in football. We have highs and lows, so we have to accept that. What I mainly took and take from it is that we struggled a lot, or much more, when they went to a four when they started to play 4-3-3 in the last 20 minutes of the game. That’s also when they scored their goals. OK, the first one was another VAR intervention, but the second one was a really good goal from them. The third one was a set-piece. But we struggled more when they played with four than when they played with five (at the back). I will definitely look at both, but especially the moment when they went to a four at the back.
