OM-Newcastle: The press conference

the replay of the press conference on twitch
 

Roberto De Zerbi: “Difficult but not decisive”

Nayef Aguerd

He is not available for tomorrow, neither at 5, 7, nor 10.

The opponent Newcastle

They are a strong, physical team with a very good coach. It will be a difficult game. It won't be a decisive game because last year we saw that it went down to the last few games. We don't have enough points, we need points. There are four games left, we can get points anywhere. Newcastle are strong, but so are we, and we're playing at home.

Qualification

I don't know. I don't have Mourinho's experience to say how many points we'll need. One win isn't enough. We need to win games, not just one, not just two. We have to focus on the two key areas, the penalty areas, defend well and be effective.

Mason Greenwood

Against Atalanta, he also played well in Lisbon in the first half. He can have better days than others. We're happy with him, with his goals, but also with what he does. He's becoming an increasingly complete player.

Mason Greenwood's progress

I don't get involved in my players' private lives. I don't do it with my children. He's a good person, he's paid a high price for what happened. We helped him, he behaved well. He's a bit introverted. What happened to him saddens me because I discovered a person who was totally different from what was described in England.

Newcastle's main threat

We expect Newcastle to be at their best with very experienced players and a very strong midfield. We mustn't focus solely on the opponent.

Facundo Medina

He has had a relapse and will be out for a month. He is difficult to replace because he is left-footed. We had him in Madrid, against Ajax and Strasbourg. We have a lot of injuries and we have to focus on the players we have available to play a great game and win.

Lessons learned from Premier League clashes

They are a physical team that knows how to play with fast players on the wings and in attack. There are good players in this team; they are technical and physical. They have a quality coach. But in soccer, courage, play, and motivation can win games. We have good players and we can cause them problems.

The Højbjerg/Kondogbia partnership

Højbjerg is doing well and he will play. As for Kondogbia, we'll see. Together, they give us a lot, in terms of experience and physicality. Vermeeren has performed well, as have O'Riley, Nadir and Bakola, and I'm not ruling out Gomes either. They can all play in midfield, but we'll have to see who I pick.

The content in Nice

It wasn't a message, that's what I think. Against Nice, the match didn't justify the score, even if it was deserved. We could have scored more, we can improve. Soccer is moving in the direction of man-to-man marking. Against Brest last year, we won 5-1 and played better. We need to rediscover those qualities when we play against a low block. I'm happy with the game against Nice, but if we play like we did against Nice all the time, we won't win all our games by the same score.