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Huerzeler reacts to dominant 3-0 win over Arsenal on historic 125 year anniversary
Full post match press conference
19/09/2026
The Amex Stadium
Full post match press conference
19/09/2026
The Amex Stadium
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:23It was always a special day for the club anyway today, but how extra special is it now?
00:30First of all, I want to say congrats to this special club, for the history, for everyone who was contributing
00:38in the past, for everyone who was contributing in the present.
00:41I think the past history from this club is very impressive and hopefully everyone can enjoy it tonight, who was
00:49part of our journey so far.
00:51And besides that, of course, it's a special result playing against the champions, maybe the best team in England at
00:59the moment.
01:00But for me, it's more important the performance. So I always try to focus on the performances instead of the
01:05results.
01:05And the performance was from the beginning really good because we did the easy things right.
01:12We won our personal jewels, we won the first tackle, we won the first throw in the first corner.
01:17We were really, really intense when Arsenal tried to play and we tried to stop their fluidity.
01:22And besides that, I think we had a good balance between controlling the game in possession and having good defence
01:28stability.
01:28So I have to give a lot of praise to my players, especially after this tough week, especially with a
01:36lot of troubles to show this performance,
01:38shows a lot of character. So, yeah, they should also enjoy this day today.
01:43You could have won that 5-0 and it would have been a fair reflection. How proud are you that
01:47the team are able to do that?
01:50I think it's very important to stay humble now and to don't speak about the missed chances.
01:56I think also Arsenal had a few chances. I think it's very important to enjoy this moment,
02:02but also understand why we have this moment, why we are successful.
02:05Because in the end, we always need to come back to our foundation, come back to our roots.
02:09And that's always like being brilliant in the basics, being an intense football team, really, really trust each other.
02:15And I think one key today was like when one went into the person that you would,
02:19you always had the feeling that my team is behind me. So when you get outplayed, the next one is
02:23there.
02:23And like this, you build trust. And sometimes you speak a lot about tactic, tactical approach.
02:28But in the end, it's like, can you rely on each other on the pitch? Can you trust each other?
02:32Does everyone know his role in set pieces? Can you be like always alive in every situation, moment in the
02:38game?
02:38And that's what my players did today in an impressive way.
02:42Hi Fabian. It must be difficult to spot weaknesses in Arsenal.
02:45They've won all their games before that. How did you go about doing that?
02:51Yeah, I think it's not too much about the weaknesses from Arsenal.
02:54I said it in the press. It's really about sticking to our principles and sticking to our beliefs
02:59and what we want to do in our game, especially at home and in front of our supporters.
03:05And therefore, that was our approach focusing on us, not speaking too much about strengths or weakness from Arsenal.
03:13Everyone knows, every player knows when you see like their team, there will come a lot of individual quality.
03:19There come like a lot of individual class, top team, the current champions.
03:23So I think it's not about like speaking too much about them because everyone knows it.
03:27It's really about like, OK, what can we do? What can we control to have like the right approach
03:32and to be successful in this particular game?
03:42Yeah, I think it's a difficult question to answer immediately after the game because a lot of emotions.
03:49But overall, for me, the most important is clean sheet.
03:51And when you have the clean sheet, then we know that we are always able to score goals.
03:57And everyone had this mindset today, if I need to defend first, then if I defend as a team,
04:01if we defend as a team, then we are able to create chances also against Arsenal,
04:05because we proved it in the past. So, yeah, that was quite positive today.
04:10Sam?
04:24I think that a lot of these things come also back to our fans and our supporters.
04:30So they created from the beginning a great atmosphere.
04:34And how we wanted to approach this game was like getting into this game by small wins.
04:40Everyone speaks about a win or goal is a win or chance is a win.
04:43But a small win can be the first throw in the first corner, win the first header,
04:48win the first tackle, these small things.
04:49And if you win these small steps, if you celebrate them individually as a win,
04:56then you can grow into the game, then you can gain bigger and bigger wins.
05:01And then at one point, I think we deserve to lead.
05:04We created, I think, in the right moment and the second goal.
05:08And overall, defensively, it was really good in the first half.
05:11So this will be always our foundation.
05:13But, yeah, definitely we got into the game by doing these small things right,
05:19but also by celebrating these small things.
05:22Fabian?
05:23Fabian, it would have been easy probably to pick the same team with 1-5 in North Coventry.
05:28You couldn't do that anyway because of Lewis.
05:30But what about the other change you made?
05:32Chenna coming in and Malik?
05:37Yeah, I think Malik is an outstanding player for us.
05:41He proved it now in the first weeks.
05:43But it's also important to manage the player's energy.
05:48And he played a lot of minutes in the last weeks.
05:52And therefore, I think there was definitely also a point of bringing freshness into the team.
05:57Beside that, Gemma is just at a different height.
05:59I think we know that Arsenal can be good in every phase of the game.
06:03Also regarding set-pieces.
06:05So we want to be strong as well there.
06:08And, yeah, I think Gemma really had a good first appearance in Coventry.
06:13Then he had a really, really good game against United.
06:16And he just showed his personality.
06:18He understands our game so well.
06:20And I just had an interview when I was speaking about him.
06:22I think it really helps him that he got educated by a really good coach
06:26in a former club with Stuttgart.
06:28So I think Hoeneß is a brilliant coach doing great work at Stuttgart.
06:32And they have a similar style of play.
06:34Like we have similar principles.
06:36So therefore, it really helps him that he has like this education with Stuttgart.
06:39And now he stepped into our environment.
06:42And, yeah, it's just impressive how fast a young player can adapt.
06:46And, yeah, therefore we need to be like very, very calm with him.
06:50I think he had a great week.
06:52And now it's going step by step.
06:55Sam?
06:56It's also difficult to pick out of just one player in your sports like that.
06:59Pascal Gross was an incredible game.
07:02It wasn't the word on him.
07:03Obviously, he's done a show against United.
07:07Yeah, we speak a lot about Pascal Gross.
07:10And I said it, I think, in my last press,
07:14compared a little bit with a good wine.
07:17The older he gets, the better he is.
07:18And he's not only a player who makes his teammates better.
07:24He's not only a player who really understands the game so well.
07:27I think things you can't measure on him are like things we see in the daily business
07:32at the training ground.
07:33What I mean by this is like he has like this skill of creating social bonds
07:39between all the players we have.
07:41We have so many different nationalities, so many different generations.
07:44And he has like an understanding of all these dynamics.
07:46And he brings these kind of different backgrounds together.
07:50And I think that's something what we sometimes understand.
07:52We speak a lot about goals, chances, tactical approaches.
07:55But in the end, the players, they trust each other.
07:58The players can rely each other on the pitch.
08:00The players, they really feel connected.
08:02And he's a big driver for this together with Louis Stang,
08:06together with Jason Steele.
08:07And therefore, it's just very helpful for me as well.
08:09And what about this as well?
08:10Obviously, he's taken his chances.
08:12And then the question of whether he can step past it.
08:15I mean, the man has scored the goal in three of the last three games.
08:18How is it going to happen?
08:20Yeah, I think we always knew that he's capable of scoring goals out of nowhere.
08:26He has just a really good finish with his right foot.
08:29But more important for me, he really understands.
08:31He understands now to work hard against the ball.
08:33And he has a good understanding when to press and how to press.
08:36And therefore, I'm very pleased how he's doing.
08:40And in the end, he needs to understand if he does the basic things right,
08:43he will get the rewards by scoring goals.
08:46And I think that's what he proved in this week.
08:48Ed?
08:49Just on Bavis, he's been here for a year now.
08:52Have you seen a lot of improvement in him from when you first arrived?
08:55Because he was very young.
08:56He was still very young, but he was really young when he first got here.
08:59So, I don't see the result for you.
09:01Yeah, definitely I see improvement.
09:04And that comes back a lot to himself.
09:07Because he has just this intrinsic motivation of really improving every day.
09:11He gets more and more professional.
09:13He understands what he needs to do to be a professional player.
09:15He understands the demands from the Premier League more.
09:18He understands our demands, what we need to see from him on a daily behaviour.
09:22And therefore, yeah, he just has a great development so far.
09:27I think it's very important for him and for everyone to stay humble now,
09:30to keep working hard, to don't take these things for granted.
09:34Of course, enjoy the moment.
09:36But always understand we have to get back to the basics.
09:38We have to get back to our roots, to our foundation.
09:41And that doesn't only count for the whole team.
09:43It also counts for him individually.
09:54I think it's very important.
09:56I just spoke a lot about basics, foundation, back to the roots.
10:00And these things are always important.
10:02We need to understand every game we have to start from point zero to work hard,
10:06to get a foot into the game.
10:08And then we go game by game.
10:10We will have a lot of games after international break.
10:12We have a good depth in the squad, which will be definitely important.
10:17I have great staff around me.
10:18So I think it's very important to keep focusing on the things you can control.
10:23We are not focusing on the outcomes.
10:26We are focusing on our process, focusing on performances.
10:28And therefore, it's really important to go game by game to get the full potential out of this team.
10:33I don't know where we are at the moment.
10:35But we have to keep working hard and everyone has to keep working hard individually as well.
10:39With Pascal, can you tell him he's going to have a few days on the beach now or sitting on
10:42the sofa?
10:42Or can you not do that with Pascal?
10:44Pascal Kroos.
10:45I think he's looking in the free time now.
10:48Where can I run a race?
10:51Because he will never stand still.
10:54Maybe he's playing a little bit of paddle.
10:56But I would also say to him that he needs to get a few days off.
11:00But it also shows his character.
11:02Not only his character, he just has this winning mentality and it definitely helps us.
11:15Luis had a small issue yesterday in training with his neck.
11:18Nothing major.
11:21And with Pascal, I think he felt a little bit his hamstring.
11:25I hope it's nothing bad.
11:27But then we have to see how he represents.
11:34Thank you very much.
11:36Thanks.
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