Thomas: “Yeah, Radu, very happy. He's probably been at it for a couple of weeks now, full training, full in, everything. With the team, played his first 45 minutes in nine months, something like that, last Wednesday, very happy with that. He trained fully today. Now he's definitely getting very close to being able to be selected, it's just a matter of performance and probably just a few more game minutes to be fully available. Kota and Ben both trained with the team today, first time so that's also positive.”
How far away is Archie Gray?
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Thomas: “He trained with the team as well.”
So, you’re getting to the stage now where you're actually getting bodies back...
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Thomas: “Yeah, exactly. Now I need to make difficult decisions!”
Brennan Johnson scored a lovely goal in the international break - how important is that for him?
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Thomas: “I think every player is a confidence player. Some need it more than others, but everyone needs that confidence. We all know if we are a little bit more confident, it's easier to turn forward, to play forward, to run forward, to trust yourself, don't even think, it's just intuitive when you make your decision or your movement. Very happy for him. I think Brennan has had some very positive performances - Copenhagen - all the positive things in them, United, now comes on the back of a good game for Wales.”
You spoke about the United and Chelsea talks on the same day. How different was the Spurs conversation you had later on?
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Thomas: “In a way, they are a little bit similar. You speak to people and present what you would like to bring to the club. So, there's a lot of similarities in that sense.”
The perception of the north London derby is probably one of the best in the league. There's chaos, drama, red cards - now you're going to be in the thick of it. What is your perception of the derby before you take it on?
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Thomas: “The interesting thing is that probably both Mikel and I would like a little bit more of a controlled game, but it will probably end up absolutely madhouse - very, very enjoyable to watch for the outside people or fans. I expect a difficult game, of course, but a game that can go anywhere. Everything can happen in that game. In games like that, everything also evens out a little bit more because it's so competitive. The atmosphere in the stadium, it doesn't matter if we play away or at home, is intense. So, just really looking forward to it. I know we'll be ready and we're looking forward to it.”
Do you just think, 'I'm going to have to embrace the chaos' or will a 0-0 draw will be a good result? How will you go into it as a manager?
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Thomas: “I’ll definitely embrace controlled chaos or chaos we like to create, if that makes sense, because I think chaos is also good. You can also be too disruptive, too fixed, stop-start. So, we need a bit of chaos. I think we all need that. Chaos is transitions. Chaos is high pressure, you win it. Chaos is set pieces, second phase. And all those elements are areas we would, of course, like to exploit if we can in that situation. And by the way, we never go for a 0-0. Maybe it will end 0-0, but we will always try to win. Always, always, always.”
What makes the two set piece coaches – Andreas Georgson and Nicholas Jover at Arsenal - stand out as probably the best set piece coaches in the league?
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Thomas: “That's very simple - I educated both of them in Brentford! They were both in Brentford. I worked with Nicolas for maybe almost three years, I think, very good guy, good coach. Same with Andreas. I worked with him also in Brentford and now again here. I think maybe some of it is actually the bit we did in Brentford where we really laser-focused on it and really used a lot of time, made both of them to excel to a high level.”
Is Mo Kudus available?
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Thomas: “He trained today as well. So that was good.”
You played three at the back a lot of times in your previous matches against Arsenal – what is about that formation against Arsenal in particular that you liked in those games?
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Thomas: “I think back then, as I said, it was a little bit different. What I did in the first three years in the Premier League with Brentford was more or less as a go-to. We played a 3-5-2 against the top six teams. But I actually changed that last year to play more 4-2-3-1 like we do now. So, it's not just especially against Arsenal, it's against Liverpool, City and Tottenham.”
Have you sat down with Vinai Venkatesham – someone who knows Arsenal very well – and taken any nuggets from him?
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Thomas: “No, not really. I have the biggest respect for Vinai. I think he's a top CEO in many ways. Of course, when you are CEO in a football club, you are also speaking about football stuff, but Vinai is a clever guy, so you also know when not to speak about football or when to speak about football. I think this is one of those moments.”
Do you already sense that there are certain players that probably aren't going to be here in the long run and you will need to move them on?
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Thomas: “I think it's natural. If I'm here in six years' time, it will be a completely different squad. It's just natural. Some will be sold, some will develop, some will maybe not develop as much as you want to. So, I think that's a natural thing. It's not like I'm going to say and take my decision on him and him needing to leave now, but of course during the Spring we'll look into that, which is natural in terms of developing a squad.”