Is this why you’re not getting carried away? The team can still look quite weak defensively…
“That is because of everything. If you understand the moment, our team changed radically from the last weeks. It’s just confidence and results and the way you see our team is a different way. I see the potential of our team in this moment and that doesn’t change. Our job is to try to maintain the team balance and if you see the first goal, it is a gamble. I want Amad playing in that position but he’s not the best one to defend the cross. I think it’s better if we press high, if you have more guys in front to control the games better, but, if I have a different guy there, maybe he can defend better. That is a gamble, we try to do that, chaning the characteristics game by game. It’s not just about the defensive aspect, also the moment of the team and the moment of our club, that is because of everything.”Â
Do you think the energy dip was because you’re playing away from home?
“I don’t know. I think it is, if you play nowadays, and you are there, and you play at Old Trafford, you can feel the vibe. That can help us in a certain moment. We need to regain that feeling of a big team, that it doesn’t matter, the environment, we can control everything. We are not there but also, if you see all the big teams in our league, they are more comfortable playing at home. That is normal. What we need to do is put that energy in and, sometimes, it’s harder to put it away but we need to push, from ourselves, that energy because our team needs to play full energy to be really, really good. If we drop a little bit, you can feel it.”
So the team is just more confident at home?
“I think it’s just the sounds of the first plays. When Amad has so many transitions today, when they bounced the ball, when you play at home, you can feel the vibe of the crowd. It’s why Old Trafford is so important for us, especially in this moment.”
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