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That victory puts you top of the table but it also means no manager has taken more points than you from their first nine Premier League games. How proud of you of your start and where do you assess where the team is at?
It's credit to everyone. We've had a really encouraging start to the season for sure, both results and performance-wise we have been really consistent. We had to work hard tonight. I thought first half we held it really well. We had to be pretty patient in the way we looked for the openings as Fulham were well organised, particularly defensively.
I thought we showed our patience and I thought our pressing was outstanding the whole game. Maybe the first half we could have had one or two more just to put the game to bed. But really disappointed with the second half. With the ball we were nowhere near the levels we have been all year. That's probably the worst sort of 45 minutes with the ball we've had all year.
We've got to make sure we stay disciplined in our approach because in the end Vic made a couple of great saves to keep a clean sheet. Within that context we should have had much better control of the game than we did.
You gave Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg his first start of the league season, what did you make of his performance?
I thought Pierre was good. He's been good in every game he's played for us. I've put him on in some difficult situations and he's handled them really well. He's very experienced and I thought he handled it well tonight.
I thought in the first half in particular we stayed calm on the ball and had some good tempo. Like I said I thought our pressing was outstanding all game and I thought he was a big part of that. He made interceptions for both goals and yeah it was important to have him in there. His experience coming in because Biss has been very important for us and in such a crucial role but I thought he was excellent.
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How important is it to have those players who can come in?
Yeah it's vital. Obviously you're not going to have the same eleven every game, that's for sure. But like I said it's not like Pierre hasn't been involved. He's been very influential. Every player wants to start but for me it's not just the players who start but it's about those who contribute, and he's been a contributor all year.
What do you put the drop off in the second half down to? Does it show the standards you want to get into the club?
I’m not trying to make a point, it’s just what I saw. I thought we were really wasteful with the ball in the second half. We took some liberties with taking extra touches. I’ve been around long enough to know if you try to take liberties, you’ll get dragged down pretty quickly.
I’m not going to let the fact that we’ve won the game disguise the opportunity there for us to improve. In the second half, with the ball we weren’t anywhere near the levels we’ve already shown this year and there was no real reason for it. It wasn’t as if the opposition did anything different. It was more self-inflicted.
My role in that was to give feedback to the players. That’s what they want. They want to get better, they want to improve. I’ve got some stuff there to show them.
Does that shows how far you’ve still got to take this team?
No. I’ve said every week that I’ve sat here that we’ve still got a long way to go. That doesn’t change. We’re still nine games in, at the beginning of building something. It would be so much easier for me to sit here and say we’re a great team.
What I’m saying is that we have to improve. That responsibility is on me to make sure we do. We can be better, absolutely we can. Within that context, without the ball I thought we were brilliant tonight. We were outstanding. Let’s not discount it.
It takes a hell of a lot of effort and commitment from the boys to that side of the game. That was there the whole time. That side of the game got us the victory tonight. But we need to be better when we have the ball as well.
Can I ask you about the Israel flags as fans were not told to bring them and a few did. What did you make of that?
You’ve explained what happened. I’m not part of that process and I’m not really sure… I’ve already said countless times that I’m not going to tell people how to feel and what to do. You’ve stated what happened, happened, and we move on.
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