00:00Want to start?
00:05Hi Anthony, you've talked about how important this international camp is,
00:11the chance to evolve after the World Cup.
00:14With that in mind, how much of maybe a challenge is it when so many players withdraw from the squad
00:21at the start of the week?
00:24I don't think it's a challenge because we have many, many more players waiting in the wings to be called
00:28up
00:29and who thoroughly deserve to be here.
00:31So we're very fortunate as a nation to have a large pool of people to select from.
00:38Obviously I'm gutted for the players who miss out through injury because I know how demanding the season can be.
00:43And players play through injuries that no one ever hears about or the players don't speak about.
00:48So yeah, we have players waiting and I'm sure they'll be relishing the opportunity to try and claim a spot
00:56within the team.
00:59Hi Anthony, you've always been a really honest and open interviewee.
01:04I read that you've been keeping a diary.
01:07I just wondered if you'd share with us any particular memorable entries you've had recently.
01:12Perhaps what was it like after that Argentina game?
01:15It was more than one page.
01:16I'll tell you that.
01:18I've always kept, maybe not consistently, but I'm always, I like to write things down.
01:23It just makes me feel more clear.
01:25And I think everyone does that in a different way.
01:26Some people use laptops or some people don't like to do anything.
01:30My version of that has always been just to write it down.
01:32And I kind of like it because in years to come I can look back on it or I can
01:36pass it on to my kids.
01:38But the Argentina game was probably the most memorable one I've had because I didn't really know what to write.
01:44I wrote down just pure emotion of what I felt.
01:49Obviously I won't go into them details, but yeah, it was a good few pages, I can tell you that.
01:54And just secondly, you were asked earlier about the Ballon d'Or situation between Lamin and Harry.
02:00You've always been a super ambitious guy yourself.
02:03I noticed when you answered you said, I'm not at that level yet.
02:06Is that something that you aspire to be in that conversation one day?
02:10Absolutely.
02:11I've always dreamt of that since a kid.
02:13I've never had no limit on what I can do in life because I understand that the people who are
02:18there at some point wasn't there.
02:20And everyone's on their own journey to get there.
02:23And I believe anyone can achieve anything they put their mind to.
02:26They just need a lot of luck.
02:28They need a lot of things to go their way.
02:30So I think things like that are about preparation.
02:34When preparation meets luck, do you get that kind of opportunity?
02:38So I'm trying to do everything I can to be the best player I can be.
02:41Hopefully I get a lot of luck.
02:43And then we'll see.
02:46Anthony, you've talked about leaning into the strength of the English game and the physicality of it.
02:52I mean, the manager, when he took over, already talked about how he wanted the team to play like a
02:58Premier League side.
02:58And I think you've kind of spoken about how that maybe didn't quite come across during the summer, that you
03:05weren't quite able to hit those strengths during the games.
03:08Do you think that that's partly down to how physical and draining the Premier League is?
03:13And have you seen that difference, felt that difference coming abroad?
03:18I think just more, when I say we didn't perform the way we wanted to, I thought the performances were
03:24good and we played well.
03:25But in training, the training sessions were as high as level as you would have ever seen.
03:31So I just didn't feel like that replicated on the pitch.
03:33And we've done well.
03:34But I feel like if we would have played how we trained, which is not always easy because they're two
03:39different environments,
03:41we would have dominated anyone we would have played, I felt, because the intensity we trained with, the attack and
03:47power we trained with was on the highest level.
03:49And I think that's what bred so much confidence into the squad, into the manager.
03:54But like I said, tournament football is really difficult because there's so many twists and turns.
03:59And I feel like that Mexico game, although I said it was the best experience of my life, I think
04:05it kind of set us up a little bit.
04:06Even going back to that, I think I remember it took us like four days to recover from all the
04:11emotion.
04:11Or me, me, not the team.
04:13But it took me about four days to recover, just emotionally.
04:17I felt like it took a lot out of me.
04:19The travel was tough.
04:21Obviously, Jordan Henderson falling.
04:23I felt like that was a massive moment in the tournament.
04:28And the Norway game, I remember feeling really tired, really fatigued.
04:32Couldn't perform maybe how I would have liked to.
04:35So I feel like it's hard to know the right answer all the time.
04:38But tournament football throws things at you that you wouldn't have in training.
04:42And although we were training really well, like I said, it's a completely different environment.
04:46Because you don't come under that much adversity as you would in a moment like that.
04:51Do you feel that English players perhaps come out of a Premier League season more tired than they would be
04:57perhaps the players that you're playing with now at club level?
05:01I think that would probably be a fact.
05:04I don't know the stats, but I think for sure.
05:07Because in England, there is no, I'm not saying there is an easy game in any other leagues, but every
05:13game is as hard as the next.
05:14Playing Arsenal is the same as playing a newly promoted side.
05:19That's the difficulty of the Premier League.
05:20Every game is so intense.
05:22Anyone can win a game.
05:24I mean, I think Hull are newly promoted, they're unbeaten, or was unbeaten until they played Newcastle.
05:29So that shows the strength of the Premier League, the strength of the English game.
05:32And I think for the English players playing in the Premier League, it would be a lot tougher on the
05:37body than players elsewhere.
05:39OK, we'll end it there.
05:41Thanks for your time today.
05:41Thanks, guys.
05:42Thanks.
