Harry has started every game since you came in, as you say he was great at Everton on Monday. You were here when he first signed, so you’ve seen him the way through, is he as good as he ever has been?
“There’s a case, I think. As a career goes, when you’re a young player, everything’s fresh and new and you’re fearless – there’s not many scars there. It’s full of excitement and then you get to your peak years, where you feel good and everything is there but you obviously have a few ups and downs along the way. But I think you start getting towards the later times and the experience you’ve gained then makes you a better player. It should make you a better player, learning from that. We’ve seen that in Harry’s performances lately and what he’s brought to the team, and he’s been so important, as well as many others. That’s why experience is important, to use it. I certainly felt it when I was playing. It was probably when I was 30, 31, 32 that was my best years really, of just being at that sweet spot of being able to do it physically still but using the experiences to know what’s coming and [I had] probably seen a bit of everything by that stage, so it’s not a surprise.”
Michael, what’s your thought processes in choosing the same, or a similar, team week after week? How are you managing it?
“It’s definitely something we’re aware of. We’ve just had quite a big break before the last game and there’s a lot more games in terms of squad and rotations, or having to change things for physical reasons and game to game. I think that comes into play and it’s part of the challenge of managing the group. There’s huge positives to it, with the results we’ve had and playing games mostly. That’s a huge positive but there’s certainly a big awareness of how important everyone in the group is, and it’s something we do have to manage. There’s a balance to it but there’s definitely a big positive to the fact we’re in a good run of form. Even though it’s the same players on the pitch I think game to game we’ve changed things, we’ve tweaked things. Some of the front players have played in different positions. Luke [Shaw], for instance, has played in different roles in possession. So it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s copy and paste and we go again, but there’s certainly a feeling of trying to keep the momentum as best we can as well.”