With the festive period approaching, Mikel goes into Saturday’s Premier League match against Crystal Palace celebrating five years in charge at the club.
“I think you have to live the present in this job, you know, and obviously you have to plan for what is coming," he said in his pre-match press conference. "You know, I'm paying attention to every detail, understanding how things are working, putting more processing in place to make better decisions.”
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The boss was asked about how his mentality has shifted from day one to the present day, which started under difficult restrictions.
“When I arrived, I was very, very obsessed with the tactical aspect of the game.
“And then straight away, two or three months after I took the job, I realised that there were no tactics to do. We were at home sitting with COVID, so we had to look after the club and the players in a different way. And the emotion, the physical part, was a very important one.
“I think the team has always set some requirements, but they can change and they can shift in relation to moments, individual plays or collective momentum that we have at the team. And the coach has to be able to adapt and prioritise those things to help them as much as possible.”
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