On Newcastle…
I don’t think they are a club with troubles. They had a very good start to the season against [Aston] Villa, a good game for them. I think they were able to get more out of the game than the one point they got. So, it’s mainly difficult because of the players they have there – not only because of the fans but the atmosphere is great, like it is at Anfield. So, we are used to a certain environment but St. James’ Park, if I just remember last season when it was an evening game as well, by the way, the atmosphere was amazing and it will be the same.
But why the atmosphere is amazing [is] because the players can perform, they can add to the atmosphere by being as intense as they were, bringing the quality as they brought in that game. So, that’s going to be the challenge. The challenge is also playing in a stadium where the fans will be there for the home team, and that always helps every home team. I can tell you about us, so the last 15 to 20 minutes at Anfield, it wasn’t a coincidence that we scored twice because the fans helped us in that moment of time.
But if you only have fans and you don’t have the players then you can forget it. The main thing we have to be ready for are their midfielders, their last line, their three forwards, although I assume – I’m not sure but I assume – [Alexander] Isak is not playing from what I read in the media. But they still have Anthony Gordon as a nine, they still have [Anthony] Elanga as a right-winger and [Harvey] Barnes from the left, and then Jacob Murphy isn’t even playing, who was very good against us twice last season. This is the Premier League, we all have a lot of options and Newcastle have them as well.
On whether he was ‘surprised by some of the criticism’ after the Bournemouth game…
Of course that has something to do with the bar we’ve set, and I agree we were at some moments too open. The first goal was, I think, mainly unlucky that we lost the ball in a position we shouldn’t lose it and then we were three against three, which is normally not a problem but we had a disadvantage to our opponent. [The] second goal is definitely being too open. So if all your three midfielders are inside the box – where we were just talking about Ryan – that’s too open, so I agree on that.
But also the reason why we scored the 3-2, it was one of our midfielders, Curtis Jones, [who] arrived in the box and made it difficult for the goalkeeper, the ball fell to Federico. So, it’s also who we are but we need to find the right balance by not being too open. But that balance will be better with Ryan. Unfortunately, if you want to judge me or us, we now have to play Newcastle and Arsenal, who are normally teams that are going to be above Bournemouth in the league, so it’s even harder to play against them.
But with Macca being back, with Ryan in his normal position, I expect us to be even better prepared for the counter-attack than we were in this 2-2 moment, because I’ve watched the game twice back and I don’t think – apart from the two goals, especially the second one as a counter-attack – there were many other counter-attacks from Bournemouth. But if it leads to a goal, it’s of course a big story. For us conceding two, that’s too much in a home game, that’s too open.
