Say What ? – Gameweek 11

We look back at the weekend’s post-match reaction in the second instalment of our new semi-regular. This time around, Jose Mourinho assures Ashley Cole he’s still Chelsea’s number one left-back, Brendan Rodgers talks tactics after shifting to four at the back against Fulham, Alan Pardew hints he will continue with a front two, while Michael Laudrup finally seems convinced by Wilfried Bony as a Swansea regular:

“It’s down to the availability of the players. You always work as a coach and look at the players that you have. Our style will always be the same in terms of what we’re trying to achieve here; our model and philosophy of what we’re trying to implement will continually improve. Systems can change but the style will always remain the same. It’s important that we have that flexibility. We showed in those games that we could play a different system; it worked well and was effective for us. Today we reverted to a different system and showed good fluency and some wonderful attacking football. It’s important we got a clean sheet as well. It’s just about the players and what you feel the game needs.”
Brendan Rodgers on Liverpool’s change in formation against Fulham

Brendan Rodgers explains his decision to switch formation for Liverpool’s home clash with Fulham. Philippe Coutinho’s first start since Gameweek 5 saw the Reds boss switch from a 3-4-1-2 formation to a back-four and draft in Daniel Agger in the heart of defence once again, as the Brazilian wreaked havoc from the left flank in a 4-0 thrashing of the Cottagers.

“Maybe he was the key to the clean sheet and the difference between conceding or not. Maybe that’s the different level of a player who has won the Premier League. He can see things before the rest. It was not easy to keep him out because I know Wes was desperate to get back, but as a staff and manager especially, you have to make decisions. We kept him out and he played in the under-21s. We put him on the bench and then because of the two red cards, he jumped in. Then, it was up to him. He played 90 minutes in midweek against Southampton and was strong and clever when he passed the ball. I don’t know how he is going to be tonight after another 90 but he has time to recover. The key now is to keep him fit.”
Gus Poyet on the influence of Wes Brown in Sunderland’s back-four.

Sunderland boss Gus Poyet hails the influence of Wes Brown after Sunday’s win over City. The 1-0 triumph was the first time this season the Black Cats have managed to register a clean sheet and coincided with the former United defender’s first league appearance, with Poyet’s side now shipping just two goals in the last three Gameweeks.

“I can make mistakes, I can be unfair, for sure I am and for sure I do that, but I always give a lot of thought to my decisions. I decided for Azpi to play against Schalke, and he was fantastic, today he was very good again, so I think Ashley is a top professional, the fighter he is, he has to work hard to fight hard because the place is his place. Of course it is not Azpilicueta’s best position; it is not a position where Ashley can think he is in trouble now. He has to just fight and the position is there waiting for him, it is not a problem.” Jose Mourinho on dropping Ashley Cole from the Chelsea XI

Jose Mourinho admits his recent decision to drop Ashley Cole is a temporary measure. The England international has been benched for the last couple of matches after his manager was critical of his display against Newcastle last weekend but the Blues boss reckons Cole is still his first-choice option for the position – despite playing Cesar Azpilicueta in the recent matches against Schalke and West Brom.

“Yes, it is always a big decision to leave a player out, but I just felt after the last few games I wanted to change things and certainly Ryan has been one who has been pushing and pushing hard….He played very well at Stoke, but Seb is a fine player and I think where he perhaps has found it difficult is he missed the whole of pre-season and he has found it hard to get that consistency. He will do, though, and he’ll be pushing as hard as he can to get into the team. Sometimes you can just change things to improve the mentality of the team and I felt after the Manchester City game we needed to do that.”
Chris Hughton on relegating Se Bassong to the Norwich bench

Chris Hughton explains the reason behind omitting Seb Bassong from the Norwich XI for Saturday’s match with West Ham. The Cameroon international was rested to the bench on the back of the previous week’s 7-0 hammering at City – Hughton handed Ryan Bennett (3.9 in FPL) a chance alongside Michael Turner in the heart of defence and cited Bassong’s injury-hit summer as a factor in his thinking.

“Ideally I don’t want a break but it’s there and for most of our players it will mean playing under pressure again, such as two vital games for France against Ukraine and they could come back even more tired.”
Arsene Wenger on the relentless ficture schedule

Arsene Wenger is wary over the fatigue factor ahead of France’s upcoming World Cup play-off with Ukraine. The Gunners have three players in Les Bleus’ squad – Laurent Koscielny, Bacary Sagna and Olivier Giroud – ahead of games on Saturday 16 and Tuesday 19 November, though their next league game, at home to Southampton, doesn’t take place five days after the latter fixture.

“It’s true that he’s not scoring but he is setting them up, like he did against Dortmund. But he’s also playing game after game and hasn’t had a rest, so maybe he’s feeling a bit of fatigue. He’s very important for us – strong and always answers the call on the pitch. If you look at the games, he weighs enormously on the opposition’s defence. All the balls he wins are in the air with his back to goal. He works very hard up front.”
Laurent Koscielny on Olivier Giroud’s recent goal drought

Laurent Koscielny has backed up his manager’s claims. The Gunners defender reckons Olivier Giroud is starting to tire after scoring just once in the last seven Gameweeks – the forward had notched in all of the first four fixtures but has struggled for any semblance of consistency on recent matches.

“I thought Remy had a great chance before he scored and I was a little bit surprised he did not take that because he really is in great form. But the second one he made no mistake with and it gave us a platform for the win. He has got a silkiness to the way he moves and a nice kind of gait, the way he runs and everything. He really is a classy-looking performer, which is great if you back it up with goals. It kind of elevates him and he stands out, but I thought Shola Ameobi was terrific in the 60 minutes he played. He was as important as Loic, I thought.”
Alan Pardew on the display on his front two at Spurs.

Alan Pardew sings the praises of front pair Loic Remy and Shola Ameobi after Sunday’s win over Spurs. While Tom Krul understandably hogged the headlines thanks to a defiant display between the sticks, Remy and Ameobi’s endeavours were also key to the triumph, with the Frenchman notching his seventh of the season. Having shifted from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 in recent matches, Pardew’s words certainly indicate he is content to continue with his new formation ahead of home games against Norwich and West Brom – bad news for anyone still holding the out-of-favour Hatem Ben Arfa.

“You want to take the long spells that we had in possession and make them into chances. Sometimes we relied too much on the bounce of the ball. Our quality in attacking play is much better than we showed today, but we will learn from this situation. Fair play to Crystal Palace, they were resilient and showed a lot of spirit.”
Roberto Martinez on Everton’s recent inability to find the net.

Roberto Martinez voices his frustration after Everton’s goalless draw at Palace. The Eagles registered their first clean sheet of the season against the Merseysiders, who have now failed to score in each of the last two since Ross Barkley dropped to the bench – Saturday’s result also continued Romelu Lukaku’s faltering form, with the big Belgian now notching just once in the last four Gameweeks.

“We talked about him (Bony) a couple of weeks ago. He and we are still trying to find his best condition. I’m really happy for him to score two goals. It hasn’t been easy for him so far because there’s always pressure when you have a certain price tag on your shoulders. He had a good performance on Thursday, especially the first hour when he scored a goal. I’m pleased with that. Scoring goals is one thing, but I can see him in training, he is getting better and better. Goals are important because that’s always how you’re judged as a striker. Now we don’t have Michu others need to score.”
Michael Laudrup on his summer signing’s improvement

Michael Laudrup suggests Wilfried Bony is starting to convince he is worthy of a starting role at Swansea. Despite splashing out £12m on the Ivorian during the summer, Laudrup has handed Bony just five league starts – Sunday’s double against Stoke took his tally to four for the season as his display helped atone for Michu’s absence through ankle and knee complaints.