About resting Haaland
- I feel very sorry for my Norwegian counterpart Solbakken, but now I am not thinking about it, maybe when we are 10 points ahead in the Premier League and there are 10 games left, we will let him rest. But now he feels good. Of course, there may be games where he looks tired or underperforms, and then he won't play.
But we are now at a critical moment in the Champions League, we have played some extremely important games so far, and the next two home games give us a real chance of finishing in the top eight. As for the Premier League, I don't think Arsenal will lose many points now.
Arsenal and Liverpool, after watching their games against Manchester United, I think they have an excellent chance to win the game. I think Liverpool are still the main favorites. At this stage, the points difference doesn't matter. I've always felt that these two teams, as well as a few others, might drop some points. That's why we have to stay at the forefront.
About Savinho
– It’s great that the club has shown Savinho that we value and trust him. If the club didn't trust him, we wouldn't have signed the contract. Of course, there are times during pre-season and the transfer window when a player's agent may try to secure more financial benefits through other clubs or managers, which can create some uncertainty. So when the transfer window closes, I feel like now we can start focusing on the new season and everyone can focus. And so does he.
Whether you had a role to play in terms of Savinho staying at the team
- Of course, absolutely. But if he insists "I want to leave" and the club receives a good offer... I have my own opinion, but whether at Barcelona, Bayern or here, the final decision always belongs to the club. Maybe tomorrow I won't be here, the players will stay and work with other coaches, and the club has to ensure the players' wishes.
Of course, I will give my opinion, they ask me and I will answer, with Begiristain, Viana, Soriano and Mubarak, I always give my opinion and advice on the situation of the players. But the final decision always lies in the hands of Begiristain and Viana, which is normal.
Let’s talk about Savinho
– a top player who can play on both sides and performs well on either side. As long as he is more decisive in assists, especially goals, he will become a world-class player. He needs to take that step and he already has it, we've seen it in training. We are very satisfied. He is still young and that cannot be forgotten. I'm really happy.
In the last two games, he has performed well and dared to break through one-on-one. He provided the assist for Haaland's second goal against Everton, and he was involved in the B-side goal against Villarreal when Rico Lewis crossed for Haaland - he was involved in a lot of key moments. We just need to encourage him to score more goals. Once he starts scoring regularly, the Brazilian national team and Carlo Ancelotti will have an incredible player.
Is Nunes determined to become one of the best right backs?
- Yeah, I'm pretty sure... you always have to learn some moves and tricks, but I think he'll do the job perfectly. He can do it.
About the 2024-25 season
- In that season, if I personally, my team and the players gave up, we would end up in 10th place. In this league we will end up in 10th place. And we finished third, not that far behind Arsenal - they were really, really good. So, as long as we keep at it, don't give up, keep at it no matter what, in the end we will feel proud, anything is possible.
In the last 5, 10, 15 or 20 games of the Premier League last season, we were the team with the highest points. This is really, really outstanding. Otherwise, we wouldn't have finished third. There were so many games last season where we started well and had chances, but by the 65th minute the players were tired and then were sad and disappointed with the result again and again. Three days later I had to use the same players because we had no choice - everyone else was on the massage table and in the hospital.
At that moment, everyone was frustrated, and I said, "We need to take a step forward." During the winter transfer period, the club signed young players for the next four to seven years, all of whom have yet to grow. After that, the team bounced back and although we didn't compete for trophies, we reached the FA Cup final and performed very well against Crystal Palace, finishing third in the league.
A month ago, the players came to me and said: "We don't want to have another season like last season." They were the first to say so. I'm pretty sure we will be better on Sunday against Villa than we were last season, we are a different team as we have been for the past nine years, we can win, we can lose, but we are a team capable of doing great things.
Next：Manchester City has suffered two consecutive defeats in away games against Villa in the league. The last time they had a longer losing streak was from 1960 to 1975.