In terms of the injuries, Matthijs de Ligt when he was first missing, Ruben [Amorim] said he’d be back next week and now we’re weeks, months down the line. Is he anywhere near?
“Hopefully, yeah. He had a bit of a setback initially before I arrived, I think, only small. Not so much a setback, I think it was just a little bit slower than initially hoped but he’s certainly getting closer but, hopefully, next couple of weeks, without putting an exact timeline on it, he’ll be back and it’ll be great to have him back.”
Michael, how are you feeling about Arsenal?
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to the game. It’s a big challenge, you know, they’re a very good team. It’s pretty obvious to say that. They’ve got so many strong points to their game, and to their squad. It’s a big challenge, they are where they are for a reason and where they are in the Champions League for a reason, so we’re fully aware of that and not taking that lightly at all. We feel we’re in a good place and we’re looking forward to the game, so it’s where we want to be, with that real positive energy and enthusiasm, to go there and be positive, but for sure we know it's not going to come easy.”
You talk about making decisions for the long-term and not just the short-term, we saw Kobbie Mainoo make his first league start in the Manchester derby. How important could he be for the long-term future of this club and what’s it been like working with him?
“Yeah, I’ve really enjoyed working with Kobbie, I think I’ve known him since he was younger. I think I started working with him when he was 13, 14 years old, when I was going through my badges myself. I’ve said it before: this club needs young players coming through and being the foundation, to understand what it means not just for the players or the squad, but for the club and for the supporters. It’s something we need to grasp and keep building on and Kobbie is a prime example, coming through so quickly and having a rapid rise. To play in some unbelievably big games and impact those games at such a young age shows an awful lot of quality, in terms of the character and to be able to handle it. Part of a career is a few ups and downs and sometimes it goes in different trajectories but we’ve seen last week what Kobbie can bring. It was great. He’s quite straight-faced and he doesn’t give you an awful lot but you can see the way he played, he expressed himself, he was enjoying himself. To see him like that was great.”