I wanted to ask you about Casimiro? About two years ago Jamie Carragher said he was finished in the Premier League, but what he made of how he turned it around and what does he give you?
“I think he gives a lot of experience. He’s an example for everyone. In the beginning, he was behind every midfielder, even Toby [Collyer], but he fought and he worked, and now he’s back in the national team. He’s so important for us. Today he run a lot. He had to press so high and then return, and he’s doing that. So, I’m really pleased with him. And the other guys need to look at Casemiro. He understands that football can change really fast. You just need to work for me. If you are the best one, or I think you are the best one to play the game, you are going to play the game if you do the right things.”
So many Premier League teams are playing in Europe this season, obviously, you’re not amongst them. Are we maybe now seeing the benefit of you having all week, every week, with these players on the training ground every day?
“I think you can sense that, of course, the results now, you can feel that. But the team, since we started this season, the team play so much better compared to last season. We have different players, more suited to this type of style. But it’s a big difference. Every team that plays in this league, and has to play in Europe, it’s so much harder. And we felt that last year. So, I said that last year, I will say the same thing, [it] is a big advantage to have just one game per week, and we have to take advantage of that.”
Do you think that win today was more of a statement than beating Liverpool, given Brighton’s record at Old Trafford, and also what you said after they won here last season?
“I have that feeling. I think [it] was a more complete performance. You can say whatever you want to say against Liverpool, but they didn’t deserve to lose that game. We deserve to win, but they didn’t deserve to lose. I think today, we did a little bit of everything. We had the ball, create chances, we defend high, we defend low. So, when it’s more complete, it’s not a statement, but I feel more complete also as a manager. So today I think I like today more than last weekend.”
