00:01Good afternoon, everyone. Hope you're well.
00:03We'll take a show of answer questions, please.
00:05We'll take questions from English Media first,
00:08followed by any questions from Greek Media.
00:10We'll start with Mark. Thank you.
00:13Good afternoon, Enzo.
00:14You said after the game on Saturday that you spoke to Erling
00:16and he said he was OK.
00:18How is he now?
00:18Is he going to be available to play tomorrow?
00:20He can be available. We see.
00:22We have a session now.
00:24We have some doubts after Sunday game.
00:27We see.
00:28It was quite good yesterday, better.
00:32So we see today.
00:33And what about Antoine Semenyo and the other players
00:35that went off on Saturday, Nunez, Kovacic and O'Reilly?
00:38Yeah, the rest, yeah.
00:40They are more or less all OK.
00:43The only one that will be out for probably eight weeks is Antoine.
00:47You played in Greece yourself for Olympiakos.
00:50So I just wonder how you find the Greek football culture
00:53and what you expect from AEK Athens?
00:57Yeah, it's a Champions League game.
00:59It's a different competition, but the ambition has to be the same.
01:02Try to win games.
01:03And again, I had one-year experience there.
01:07As I said a few conferences ago, it's nice because it's very warm.
01:13Every game, at home, away.
01:14But yeah, it was a good experience.
01:18Hi, Anzo.
01:19You say you'll see on Erling.
01:21Is this the kind of game where you won't risk any players
01:24because obviously you've got huge games to come?
01:27That's why it's a busy period.
01:27It's a huge game tomorrow for us.
01:30It's a Champions League game.
01:32Unfortunately, we lost the last one, so we need to win games.
01:36And we are going to try to win the game with our best player in this moment.
01:42If Erling isn't available, does it mean you're going to have to be a little bit more creative
01:46on a creative solution up front?
01:48Because obviously it's difficult to replace him
01:49and there isn't a natural striker to naturally come in.
01:52Yeah, no, for sure to replace Erling it's always difficult, but we have some different options.
01:58We'll see tomorrow.
02:00Again, it depends also a little bit on the game plan.
02:03But also there is a chance that he can be available tomorrow.
02:07We'll see.
02:08You mentioned that that Paris Saint-Germain game could have a big impact on the group.
02:12So what kind of response are you expecting tomorrow?
02:16The same response that we had last game against Ipswich.
02:20The game is gone.
02:22New game, new plan, new team that we need to face.
02:30So we need a different solution.
02:32But again, I think the response after the PSG game was quite good.
02:39Hi Enzo.
02:41We saw that Antoine was in pain at the end of the game.
02:45Was that an impact injury that he suffered?
02:48Or in the game?
02:51Was it muscle?
02:52No, again, in the first moment we expect even worse injuries.
02:58So we were more worried.
02:59But after yesterday's scan, we feel much better because it's not so big like we expected.
03:07And again, it could be eight weeks.
03:10So now in this moment the most important thing for him is to recover.
03:14And also when he's back, probably around December, we are like a new player in terms of energy.
03:20Was it lower leg?
03:23Was it lower leg?
03:23Yeah, it's like collateral.
03:26Something like this.
03:28Yeah, part of it.
03:29Yeah, it's not muscle.
03:30Not muscle problem.
03:34Hi Enzo.
03:35How big a blow is that losing?
03:38Again?
03:38How big a blow is it losing Antoine for eight weeks?
03:43And does it mean it's crucial that Erling now does stay fit for that period?
03:48No, first of all, you know, to lose Antoine or any player for us is not good.
03:55Then in terms of Erling, we said that we can use Antoine as a nine, but also we have different
04:04players that we are going to try and to find a new solution.
04:09Who would that be?
04:10Would it be like someone like Elliman?
04:13No, we see.
04:14We see.
04:14Again, at the moment it's Erling.
04:18Why do we need to think about the different nine when Erling is there?
04:22Then if something happens and we need a different plan or different nine, we see.
04:27After the defeat against PSG last time out, does it now leave less room for error in the
04:33remaining games to finish in the top eight?
04:35I don't think one game is going to change our plan or our idea in terms of what we want
04:41to do.
04:42The target is always to try to win games, for sure.
04:46After the defeat against PSG, we need to win games and that's why I said that for us
04:51tomorrow is an important game.
04:54So, I'm going to ask about the number nine again, that sort of plan B or plan C.
05:00Phil Foden played there quite a lot in 2021, 22, that sort of time.
05:07Has he got the kind of skill set that you'd want if you needed to play a little bit differently
05:12without an actual number nine, without Erling?
05:15Yeah, for sure.
05:16Phil can be one of the solutions, not the only one.
05:18He can be one of the solutions.
05:19As you said, he played already in the past in that position, so he can play now again.
05:24But again, at the moment, the number nine is Erling.
05:32Hi, Enzo.
05:33You've said a lot this season that all of the games have been different.
05:36They've had different things about them.
05:38But after a few of the games now, we know that the team is obviously good.
05:42But it seems away from home, they're kind of very solid, gritty performances
05:48like Old Trafford, Anfield, Porto.
05:50But at home, it feels like anything can happen.
05:53The other team, they could score at any moment or there's times in the game
05:57when it's difficult.
05:58Do you think that's fair?
05:59Is there a big difference in between the home and away performances so far?
06:06I like to analyse game by game.
06:09I think they are all different, for sure.
06:11I said many times that there are things that we need to improve.
06:17Probably also because, you know, at home with Coventry, with Ipswich,
06:21with Sunderland, they are all kind of teams that, you know,
06:26they try to make the game for you difficult in terms of weight,
06:29transitions at pieces.
06:30And it's something that we need to improve, absolutely.
06:33And you mentioned before, you know, you'd rather win 1-0 than 5-3.
06:38Does that mean eventually, when the team keeps improving,
06:42things will maybe be a bit tighter in games than maybe they have been?
06:45Again, if you analyse the last game against Ipswich,
06:51how many chances we concede?
06:54It's a question, how many chances we concede?
06:57No, but not many.
06:58How many?
06:58The goal?
07:00The penalty?
07:01The goal?
07:01And then?
07:02I don't remember any clear chances.
07:04Yeah, exactly.
07:06But at least you have to think that you are going to concede something,
07:09because there is another team, another 11 players,
07:12that they are looking for chance for a moment.
07:14But that's why I said I think the best thing is to analyse game by game
07:19and Ipswich game.
07:20Yes, we concede the goal and the penalty,
07:22but then after this, I don't think we concede chances.
07:26But we need to control all the things.
07:30Hi, Enzo.
07:31If you look at the players, the five players that got injuries
07:34that we've talked about on Saturday,
07:36they were all at the World Cup, very short summer breaks after that,
07:40I guess.
07:41Do you have to be careful of how these players are managed?
07:43You say you want to put the best team out,
07:44but you made six changes on Saturday.
07:46Are you paying attention to their workloads?
07:49Yeah, we need to pay attention, no doubt.
07:52That's why, and this is the reason why we did some changes
07:55against Ipswich, that's why we need to do some changes tomorrow,
08:00is try to manage all the players in the best way,
08:03try to keep them fit.
08:05Even sometimes happen things that you cannot control,
08:08like Antoine's injury, we try to save him,
08:11we try to keep him fresh, just to give him some minutes,
08:14and I think he was inside.
08:16I don't remember which minutes, but he didn't play a lot.
08:18But sometimes happen things that we cannot control.
08:22Obviously, if you're more tired,
08:23you're potentially more susceptible to injury.
08:25Which might be a factor for Antoine.
08:27So, even though you think it's accidental,
08:31because you've tried to rest him,
08:33these things do happen.
08:34Yeah, that's why I said you try to...
08:37I think we did five or six changes from PSG to Ipswich.
08:41But again, Antoine was one of the players
08:44that we prefer to give him rest,
08:46and then he played 10, 15 minutes, 20 minutes,
08:48and he got injured.
08:50So, sometimes you are not able to control everything.
08:53And do you see a difference between players
08:54that were at the World Cup and not?
08:56I mean, I know there's not many of them.
09:01Yes, it depends on the player.
09:04For sure, again, you need to pay attention,
09:06because you need to give them probably some rest
09:08if you want to keep them,
09:10or if you want to try to keep them fit as long as you can.
09:18Sorry, just on those five players that picked up injuries on Saturday,
09:23has that made you change your thinking on anything
09:27with kind of giving players more rest?
09:30No, no, because at the end, you know, from the five problems we had,
09:35I think Nico start, Matteo start, Matteo start,
09:41then Erling was playing, start, Antoine was the only one.
09:46So, sometimes things happen,
09:48and you need just to try to find a solution for the next time.
09:52And that outcome is kind of a lot better than maybe you feared on Saturday?
10:01Again, sometimes it's so complicated when you want to...
10:04You try to control everything,
10:06but sometimes it's so complicated because things happen,
10:09that is difficult.
10:10So, we can try to do our best
10:12and think how we can keep the players fit and in good mood,
10:17but sometimes happen things that we cannot control.
10:20We'll take some questions from Greek media and everything.
10:26Good evening.
10:27Good evening.
10:28Good evening.
10:29What do you remember from AEK as an opponent
10:30when he came to Greece with the Olympian fan?
10:33What do you know about AEK last year?
10:36And what are the most important points in the future?
10:41We translate.
10:42Ah, I can speak.
10:45I can speak, but I understand it's difficult.
10:48Say again, sorry.
10:51What do you remember from the present in Greece with the Olympian fan as an opponent of AEK?
10:56What do you remember from AEK?
10:58What do you know about AEK last year?
11:00And what are the most important points in the future?
11:07Yeah, what I know is that it's always a complicated game in terms of Derby,
11:14with AEK, Olympiakos, Panathinaikos.
11:18But again, I just said that the experience was very good
11:21and I have good memory about my season there.
11:26Anything else?
11:28Stay, please. Last one. Thank you.
11:33Good morning.
11:35Good morning.
11:35Good morning.
11:35Good morning.
11:36Good morning.
11:51I would like to ask,
11:53from the experience of the Greek Premier League,
12:00they are all quite similar in terms of,
12:03you know, just said all the teams.
12:06I still remember Pauk away,
12:07that is very difficult also with the fans.
12:10So, yeah, I expect them very warm,
12:12but we also play at home with our fans
12:15and we are happy with that.
12:17Thanks, everyone.
12:18Thanks, everyone.
