Say What?

There are numerous quotes for your perusal this evening in our usual weekly look at some of the most pertinent soundbites from the last few days. Jose Mourinho explains John Terry’s absence from the Chelsea XI, Louis van Gaal and Mauricio Pochettino praise their weekend scorers, Yaya Toure is keen to play every match for City, whilst Brendan Rodgers hails Alberto Moreno and Mamadou Sakho’s recent showings.

Jose Mourinho explains John Terry omission

John Terry was excluded from the starting line-up against Arsenal last Gameweek, with Jose Mourinho selecting Kurt Zouma and Gary Cahill in central defence. Jose Mourinho insisted the change was purely tactical and a product of the pacy Theo Walcott leading the Gunners’ line. The Portuguese boss explained that Zouma – who has now started each of the last four Gameweeks – had the speed necessary to deal with Walcott’s threat:

“John Terry doesn’t need me to speak with him because he knows what I feel and think. He knows my decision had only one intention, which was to help my team win the match. I thought Arsenal would come to play a defensive game, with a very fast striker who gets behind people. If we didn’t need to win the game so much we probably would have kept our block lower and more compact, but because we desperately needed a victory we couldn’t wait, we had to bring our defensive line up. Playing against Walcott, the best player we have is Zouma.”

Yaya Toure Dismisses The need to rest

Despite the fact that Manchester City put their League Cup tie against Sunderland to bed early with four first-half goals, Yaya Toure wasn’t withdrawn until the final minute of the encounter. Prior to the Sky Blues’ trip to Wearside, the Ivory Coast international urged his manager not to rest him in midweek, insisting that he’s fit enough to start in all competitions and feels in prime condition after taking a break from international duties:

“I feel like I’m 20 years old because what this club has done for me, and the fans, and until the last minute I want to fight for this club. They deserve that. We have a lot of targets this year and we will see how we end this season. The League Cup is very important. I’m always there for those games. I don’t want to stop and have a rest. I don’t care about rest. For me, until I get a serious injury, Toure is fit and wants to play. I hope I play against Sunderland. Why rested? I look younger and I want to play more.”

Pochettino hails Son’s versatility

Whilst Harry Kane continues to struggle for goals, Son Heung-min complemented his brace in the Europa League with the winning strike against Crystal Palace in his maiden league start at White Hart Lane. The South Korea international offered the biggest goal threat of any Spurs player against the Eagles, tallying five attempts (two on target) over the course of the match. Mauricio Pochettino is excited by Son’s versatility and dynamic pressing, claiming that he can play in any of the front four positions in Tottenham’s favoured 4-2-3-1 set-up:

“Son is a player we followed for a long time. A player who can play nine, ten or seven and eight. You know when you sign a player the expectation is big, but we are happy. He has settled very well. The performance and energy he showed is amazing. His character is to run a lot. When I said I wanted to sign him it was because he is a profile you always like. High energy and tempo. He scored twice in midweek and the winner here. I am very happy with him.”

Brendan Rodgers praises Sakho and Moreno

Mamadou Sakho and Alberto Moreno earned their first league starts of the campaign against Norwich City, as Brendan Rodgers reverted to a 3-4-1-2 set-up. The pair were rewarded for their impressive midweek performances in the Europa League and the latter has now assisted both Liverpool’s goals in the last two matches. After the 1-1 draw with the Canaries, the Reds boss praised the duo and explained that Sakho’s lack of fitness has been the main reason for his absence up until this point:

“I thought those two players in particular did well. They obviously played their first 90 minutes during the week in a European game so to recover and perform as they did was very good. He (Sakho) was excellent in the week. The thing with Mama has been about keeping him fit and making sure he is at a peak level of fitness to play the games. That was always something that was a concern but he’s worked very, very hard on that aspect of his game and I think he’s come back into the team in the week and today and was excellent.”

Louis van Gaal on Anthony Martial impact

Anthony Martial has taken full advantage of the chances presented to him, scoring with three of his four attempts in a Manchester United strip. With Wayne Rooney dropping back into the number-ten berth, the 8.2-priced Martial offers great value as the spearhead of the Red Devils’ attack if he can maintain his killer touch in the penalty area. Louis Van Gaal is certainly impressed with how the ex-Monaco frontman has acclimatised to the Premier League – praising Martial for quickly adapting to his possession-centric brand of football – but acknowledges that Man United would be foolish to expect regular returns from a teenager:

“You cannot expect consistency from a player of 19 years of age. Emotionally they shall have a lot of dips so I expect also from him but that is not a big problem. I am very happy in three matches he shows talent of the highest level and he adapts to the system we want to play and that is also important because not every player can adapt to that system. He shows that he wants to do that and he can also do that and that is not so easy. He is also an attacking point and in our philosophy that is also important. He is talented. He is quality. He can improve I think but he has high level of talent and he shows it and he shows it under pressure and that is maybe his greatest talent.”

Ander Herrera’s quest for goals

While Martial is delivering, Ander Herrera is also eager to better his goal tally from the previous campaign, having netted eight times in 31 appearances across all competitions. The Spanish midfielder has already notched twice in six outings but will likely struggle for starts in the league henceforth, given that Wayne Rooney has dropped back into the number-ten berth and there’s fierce competition for places in the double pivot. Nonetheless, Herrera believes he can score in excess of 12 goals by pushing forward into more advanced areas when afforded the chance:

“Last season, I scored eight and I want to keep growing, I want to keep scoring for the team, When you are a midfielder and you score a good number of goals, I think it makes you even better. It’s very important for midfielders so I will try to do it. I have to say thank you to Bryan Robson if he thinks I can score 12 to 15 goals, it means he believes in me. I believe also in myself. I think I can achieve that number of goals but it is not so easy. I think I have to be close to the situations to score, that is what I have to do. If I score, it’s much better and I will be happier but the most important thing is to be ready to score; that is what the manager wants from me. We don’t want to give the whole responsibility for scoring goals to Wayne or Martial or Memphis, to the strikers. Everyone has to help.”

Tony Pulis lauds Sadio Berahino display

In his first start since declaring his intention to never play for West Bromwich Albion again, Saido Berahino scored the winner in the West Midlands derby last weekend. That decisive flick of the boot proved to be the Baggies marksman’s sole attempt of the match, with Salomon Rondon (six attempts, five shots on target) offering the most consistent goal threat. Although Tony Pulis admits that Berahino is some way off being match fit, he is confident that the striker will be a key asset by virtue of his extra quality in the final third:

“I know it helps when you score the winner against Villa and you’re a West Brom supporter, but the supporters were brilliant with him again. So hopefully he’ll get his head down and concentrate on what he’s very good at and that’s playing football and scoring goals. He’s not fit yet, he’s miles off what we’d want from him. But there’s certain things in the game that he does that just show he’s different. That little bit of quality in his passing, his touch and his movement is excellent, especially in the final third. He’ll score goals.”

Alan Pardew slates Wilfried Zaha showing

Wilfried Zaha was replaced by Frazier Campbell at half time of the Eagles’ visit to Tottenham, with Yannick Bolasie shifting back to the flank to accommodate Campbell up top. After the 1-0 defeat, Alan Pardew conceded that the winger needs to quickly improve his contribution in order to remain in the first-team frame:

“The issue with Wilf is that he’s a fabulous footballer. I’m trying to get him to understand that every moment in every game is very important. It’s about concentration, about having that same desire to defend and attack, movement and everything that a top player produces. Unfortunately today I didn’t think he did that. He had 45 minutes to show me he was up to speed on those areas and he wasn’t. He needs to take away a lesson. He’s perhaps unlucky to be taken off because there were one or two others that were probably just below the level, but he was probably worst of the pack.”

Alex Neil on resting Wes Hoolahan

Coming off the back of a goal and assist against Bournemouth in Gameweek 5, Wes Hoolahan – who’s the Canaries’ top Fantasy scorer with 31 points – was surprisingly benched for Norwich’s trip to Liverpool last weekend. Alex Neil addressed this matter following their 1-1 draw with the Reds, revealing that he preferred Graham Dorrans in midfield due his superior work rate and speed in central midfield:

“Arguably he (Hoolahan) has been my top player this season, but I have to do what I think is the right thing to win the game. I spoke to Wes about it; he fully understands and there is a real sort of bond and relationship with Wes and all the players at the moment. They feel what I am trying to do is for the good of the team. It is not about any individuals. If they are used then they are there to do a job and they are trying to do it the best they can. I just felt we needed more legs in those middle areas. I wanted players who could eat up the ground and shut off angles and Wes’ creativity might have become important for us later on in the game, if we were needing to get a goal.”

Eddie Howe hails Sylvain Distin’s influence

At the sixth time of asking, Bournemouth registered their first clean sheet in the top tier of English football by way of a 2-0 home win over Sunderland. With Tommy Elphick sidelined due to injury, Sylvain Distin was handed his first start of the season, partnering Steve Cook in the heart of the back-four. As a defensive unit, the Cherries restricted the Black Cats to just nine shots (three inside the box, six outside), and their manager believes Distin played a big part in that success:

“You don’t keep a clean sheet without all aspects of the back four and the goalkeeper functioning. The keeper made a huge save at 2-0. I thought Sylvain made a huge impact. It’s not easy coming in when you haven’t played for a while. His professionalism and dedication had a lasting impact for him. He’s very much a leader by example, sets the example every day in training. How to look after your body, how to train – the dedication shown by him is faultless really. My hope is that the other players follow his lead. To be still playing at his age is a true testament to how he looks after himself.”

Bacary Sagna on this season’s flourishing form

With Pablo Zabaleta the favoured starter in the right-back berth last term, Bacary Sagna was restricted to just eight starts in the league. The former’s injury travails as the start of this campaign opened the door for the latter to complete a run of six successive starts – a period in which Manchester City chalked up five shut-outs. With Zabaleta closing in on a return to action, Sagna is hoping that his extra work carried out on the training ground will help in his quest for more minutes:

“I had a difficult season last season. I spent a lot of time on the bench and that is quite difficult because since the beginning of my career I have not been used to spending as much time out of the team. But I think it was good for me as I learnt a lot about myself and I had time to learn about the team; about the players; about everyone. I came here and Pablo Zabaleta was here and everyone knows that he is a top-quality right-back so I had to step up my game and I had to work harder. I’m trying to be decisive going forward but most of all I want to be consistent for the team and provide security. I try and get forward in training and I stay behind after training to practice. I stayed a lot after training last season, practicing crossing the ball and shooting. My first goal might come one day but I’m a defender first and I want to secure the back four.”

Tim Sherwood Looking for More from Jack Grealish

After making 20 league outings under Tim Sherwood, Jack Grealish has failed to deliver on his talents so far. The youngster has managed just a goal and assist for the Midlands side, though his manager is hoping that the playmaker can kick on from his Gameweek 5 strike against Leicester:

“Normally I always say goals don’t come in singles – they normally come in batches so hopefully that’s the case for Jack. He’ll get confidence from that now. I’ve been encouraging him to try and affect the football match. We all know he looks good, he’s got great guile and poise. He needs to start affecting it by scoring goals and delivering assists. I think he already delivered assists and now his goal will give him the confidence to start hitting the back of the net. I think he is totally capable.”