Say What? Gameweek 12

Once again, we scour the press conferences and post-match reports in our search for pertinent sound bites. This week, David Moyes discusses Wayne Rooney’s game time, Brendan Rodgers praises Jon Flanagan, Jose Mourinho talks tactics, while Arsene Wenger plays down Mesut Ozil’s current lack of end product:

“Somewhere along the line I’ll need to give Wayne a breather, but I don’t know when that will be at the moment. Maybe in the next two months or so I might be able to get an opportunity to give him a little bit of time off because his effort and his work-rate is incredible. We’ve been seeing the Wayne Rooney we all enjoy watching but we can’t run him into the ground all the time. I do think he is a better player when he is playing. I think the level he plays at, the distance he is covering and the energy he uses means we would be wrong if we didn’t, somewhere along the line, give him a rest. We don’t want his form to dip, we want him to keep that up, but we’ll have to keep an eye on things. Wayne will understand that.”
David Moyes on Wayne Rooney’s minutes

David Moyes hints he’s keeping an eye on Wayne Rooney’s game time as the festive fixtures pick up pace. With Robin van Persie sidelined at the weekend again due to an ongoing groin problem, Moyes continues to rely heavily on Rooney – he has now scored or assisted 11 of his side’s last 16 goals, but is now one booking short of a single-match ban, having earned his fourth caution of the campaign at Cardiff.

“I am looking at him in training on Friday and he is not right. Whose responsibility is that? It is the association, the player? All I can do is look and assess who will give me absolutely everything when they go out on the field. We have a game against a massive rival away from home. I need everyone as close to 100 per cent as I possibly can. He is clearly not. A lot of players, especially the top ones, are never 100 per cent fit. Suárez will never have been 100 per cent in his time here. Different personalities, different types. Daniel has been a match winner for us throughout his time here but I didn’t feel, because of that level of fitness, he was going to be that for us. I have seen it before. There is a trend. There are some games when he hasn’t played well and that has happened on the back of not training. With any player, you have to put yourself on the training field. If you do that, you will be in with a chance of playing.”
Brendan Rodgers on Daniel Sturridge’s sub role against Everton.

Brendan Rodgers explains the decision behind dropping Daniel Sturridge from the starting line-up for the first time this term away to Everton. The Liverpool forward played the full 90 minutes in England’s midweek loss to Germany, despite having struggled with a dead leg for “three to four weeks”, according to his manager and was handed a bench role as the Reds shifted to 4-3-3 for the trip to Goodison.

“I have been hampered for the past three games. Since the West Brom game when I got the bang I’ve had blood underneath my muscles in my thigh. It’s still there now. When I shoot from long distance I still feel pain but it’s getting better. It’s important that I’m training. I didn’t get to train much when I was away with England. I only trained once before the game. I need to get the momentum going and just try to get it right and make sure I’m in the right condition to be able to go out there and do myself justice. I hope I’ll be fit enough to start against Hull next weekend. It would be great to be back in the side.”
Daniel Sturridge on his recent fitness levels.

Daniel Sturridge admits he’s been playing through the pain barrier since Gameweek 9. Ironically, this was the last time he scored when starting for Liverpool – he drew blanks in the subsequent two games against Arsenal and Fulham before notching as a sub against the Toffees.

“I’m a big admirer of Jon because he has just kept persevering. I just felt that I needed to have him about. In a game like this, I knew I needed characters. I needed someone who knows what this game is about. It was a real test for him, first with [Kevin] Mirallas and then with [Gerard] Deulofeu. I thought he was outstanding. Matter whether he is playing in front of six people at the reserves or in front of 90,000. He is the same. He doesn’t get affected. That’s what I needed. He has done brilliant and that has given me something to think about.” Brendan Rodgers on Jon Flanagan’s Merseiside derby display

Brendan Rodgers lavished praise upon youngster Jon Flanagan after a stand-out display at left-back in the Merseyside derby. With a schedule that includes a trip to Hull and home games against Norwich, West Ham and Cardiff in the next five, the Reds boss hinted that Flanagan, at 4.5 in FPL, could be set for further game time, given that Jose Enrique was ruled out for around 10 weeks yesterday after undergoing knee surgery.

“I do love getting forward and I appreciate it when the manager does give me that license. I just play where the manager tells me to. We’ve got a lot of attacking talent in the team and the manager has got to try and get the best out of that. I’m playing pretty regularly at the minute and I feel fit and strong. I want to show that I am good enough to carry on playing and I’ll try to do that. I don’t want to be a passenger sitting on the bench not doing much, even in my older years. As you get older you adapt your game and you probably don’t bomb up and down as much as you always did, but you can use your experience, and whether you’re deeper or not if you’ve got a little bit of license to get forward then you can do at the right times.”
Frank Lampard on his more attacking role in Chelsea’s win at West Ham

Frank Lampard was thrilled with Jose Mourinho’s decision to move from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3 against former club West Ham. The introduction of John Obi Mikel in the engine room allowed Lampard to operate in a more advanced berth, grabbing a brace in the 3-0 win – he had managed just a single assist in the previous nine Gameweeks.

“We played in a way where everyone felt very comfortable. We organised the team in a way where Hazard didn’t need to defend, he was protected behind him so he just had to get the ball, turn and go….He (Oscar) played fantastic, it doesn’t matter where, in the middle on the sides, he works hard, recovers balls, he presses high and gives the opponents a difficult time when they have possession. When he has the ball he’s able to assist and score. The talent is amazing and the kid can only improve.”
Jose Mourinho on his decision to switch to a 4-3-3 against the Hammers.

Jose Mourinho elaborates on his tactical tinkering for the Hammers match. The new shape saw Oscar shift away from the role in “the hole” onto the right flank – despite being stationed out wide, Oscar – along with Hazard and Lampard – returned double-figure hauls at Upton Park as the visitors registered their second away win of the season.

“Theo looks a bit off the pace of high level competition, but let’s not forget he has been out for seven weeks. Now he needs competition and preparation, and will go from strength to strength. Theo gives us qualities that other players haven’t got. It’s a different option. It gives us options to score, to go behind to create space in the middle. We have missed that, maybe, but we have not done too badly. Podolski also shouldn’t be too far now.”
Arsene Wenger on Theo Walcott’s fitness after returning from injury.

Arsene Wenger discusses Theo Walcott’s comeback from abdominal surgery. The Gunners boss was somewhat cautious with the winger’s game time at home to Southampton last weekend, handing him just 21 minutes off the bench in his first appearance since Gameweek 4 as he builds up his match-sharpness.

“First of all he is a hugely talented player. He just arrived here three months ago and overall he did not have the best of preparations for the league. He is a young player, he is 25 years old so of course there is a lot of room for improvement for him. We have plenty of players who can take the ball and play, and because he plays in the central part of the pitch the ball goes through him. But we don’t put any special responsibility on him. Maybe he feels a bit more pressure to do that. But we just want the game to be played like we see it and we do not put any special responsibility.”
Arsene Wenger on Mesut Ozil’s lack of form.

Arsene Wenger defends the recent sub-par performances of Mesut Ozil. The German playmaker has produced attacking returns in only two of the last seven Gameweeks for the league leaders, after starting in sensational style with four assists in his opening two appearances.

“We had six clean sheets in ten matches going into the last two games, which is a resilient football team which gives you the chance to win matches. We can’t lose that. We know we’re struggling to score goals, but in most of the games we’re creating 15 or more chances at goal, even if we didn’t do that against Chelsea. We can’t lose that resilience or else life will become very difficult indeed. We know, as a team, at the moment we are a 1-0 team if we are going to win because we’re not scoring more than one very often. Too many times, we’re not scoring at all, so we’ve got to make sure we know what we are until we score more goals.”
Sam Allardyce on West Ham’s defensive resilience.

Sam Allardyce calls for his backline to improve after conceding three times for the second Gameweek running. The downturn in resilience has coincided with Winston Reid’s absence – West Ham had conceded just eight times in the first ten fixtures and with the Kiwi international sidelined due to an ankle injury, their clean sheet potential looks to have taken a real dent.

“We have had games where we’ve had more attempts at goal when we didn’t play with a front man. If you don’t play with anyone up front and you win, it’s brilliant. If you lose, it’s because you haven’t got anyone up front, but that’s not true. If the system is played right and the players play to their strengths, you can win football matches, as we proved at Tottenham. At the moment, it’s not so much about the system but about us being resilient and creating chances and most importantly, taking them. It’s now a big concern to me, because these players proved they can score goals in the Premier League last season, but they are not doing it this season.”
Sam Allardyce on the Hammers’ strikerless system.

Sam Allardyce also bemoaned his team’s ability to stick the ball in the back of the net. The Hammers boss continues to utilise a 4-6-0 in Andy Carroll’s absence and, while the formation harvested a 3-0 win at the Lane in Gameweek 7, his side have scored two goals in the league since.

“I have scored six goals but I would like to score many more. I am a realist and I know that, on the pitch, I am not happy with everything. I am not combining with my team-mates how I would like but I know I am very close. I’m striving to get to top form and play at 100 per cent, I am convinced that I am almost there. I don’t want to stop scoring goals, that’s why Tottenham signed me. I’m not 100 per cent but the manager has put his faith in me and he is giving me minutes. Scoring more goals for this team is my target. They might have been penalties, but I have scored decisive goals that have won matches. I want more and the manager wants more, and that is what I want to give to the fans.”
Roberto Soldado on his poor scoring form for Tottenham.

Robert Soldado is keenly aware of his struggles in front of goal as Tottenham continue to toil up top. The Spaniard has scored just once from open play in 12 league appearances, whilst Spurs have now only notched once in the last four – courtesy of a converted Soldado spot-kick in Gameweek 8.