West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui reacts to 2-1 victory over Manchester United having played a much better second half to bring home the 3 points
27/10/2024
London Stadium, London, UK
27/10/2024
London Stadium, London, UK
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00:00What was your view on the penalty this week?
00:04I didn't see a penalty until now. I only know that I asked Danny Ince, he said that was a penalty.
00:13And the referee said yes. I think that they have for sure a strong reason to say yes.
00:23But I didn't see. I can't give a very clear opinion.
00:27Harington Hart just said that the best team didn't win today.
00:31Okay, his opinion. I respect his opinion.
00:35But I think that there have been two different halves.
00:40The first half, I know that they were better.
00:46But the second half we changed. I think that we were better in the second half and we deserved to win the second half.
00:54So fortunately we didn't suffer a goal in the first half. It's true that they had chances.
00:59That's why we changed a lot in the first half.
01:02And in the second half I think that we were better than them.
01:06Crescento and Somerville made a big difference coming on at half-time.
01:09Obviously School was going on as well.
01:11What was going through your mind in terms of deciding not to start from the beginning?
01:16Because the media and the journalists always put the focus in the line-up.
01:21But believe me that in all the matches the key players stay on the bench a lot of times.
01:27We were thinking in him for this kind of second half.
01:31Manchester played on Thursday.
01:33We were thinking that in the second half maybe we are going to be able to have more energy with Crescento in this win.
01:43And fortunately it works.
01:46But he did very well.
01:48It doesn't mean that he can't play.
01:50For sure he's going to play in the line-up a lot of times.
01:52But I prefer to highlight his answer in the second half.
01:56Because it was not only him.
01:58And Thomas, Jesse and the rest of the team.
02:01I think that in the second half I would like to highlight the commitment, the energy and the mentality.
02:07And the support for our fans has been key for us in the bad moments above all.
02:12To overcome the bad moments.
02:15After they drew the match we didn't go down.
02:19It's important.
02:20It's important for us to keep this mentality.
02:22And in the end we were able to overcome a very big team.
02:25One of the best teams in the world.
02:27That is Manchester United.
02:28So we are happy.
02:30But we are looking forward.
02:32Does it feel like a significant win?
02:34Because results like last week and a slow start to the season will inevitably build a bit of pressure on players and managers.
02:41Does this feel like a relief?
02:43Relief as a coach is to live under pressure always.
02:46It's our life.
02:48We are happy above all for the fans today.
02:51I have felt one special energy in the stadium.
02:55The London stadium was important for us.
02:58That's why we are very happy for the fans.
03:00To give them this victory.
03:03And for the players too.
03:05They deserve it.
03:06They worked very hard.
03:07We suffered a lot in the first half.
03:08It's true.
03:09It's true.
03:10I always say that when you lose you have to keep positive things.
03:13When you win you have to improve other things.
03:16Today is the same for us.
03:18We are looking forward.
03:19The next step is Nottingham Forest.
03:21To win each match in the Premier League is very, very, very demanding.
03:26We have to go to the limits to keep this mentality until the end.
03:29That's the first step that we have to do.
03:32We are happy for this.
03:35The second half was tremendous.
03:37I want to see what you thought went wrong in the first half that you fixed at half-time.
03:42What were your issues in the first half?
03:44Because in the first half I feel that we don't...
03:47First of all we have two players with yellow cards.
03:49You are under a big demand in matches when you have to be very aggressive
03:53and to have a lot of individual fights.
03:55Staying with two yellow cards is very dangerous for us.
04:01This is the first step.
04:02The second is because I think I have to review the match.
04:04But in my mind I had that we were a very, very long team.
04:09We were not able to arrive in time in the moment, in the trigger moment, in the momentum with the press.
04:16That's why we allowed to run a lot in our back.
04:18We changed this in the half.
04:21We were better.
04:22I think that fortunately we won the match.
04:27You brought Lukasz Fabianski in goal over Alphonso Arreola.
04:31I just wondered what your thoughts were on that match.
04:34Because Lukasz Fabianski is always ready.
04:37Today we think that he is the right decision to put him.
04:42He is always ready.
04:43He is an incredible competitive keeper.
04:47He did very well.
04:48It doesn't mean that we don't trust in Alphonso.
04:51Alphonso has all our trust, our confidence.
04:53But today we were thinking that it was better to put Lukasz.
04:56Fortunately he did very well and we won.
05:00Final one, Jack.
05:02Sorry, sorry.
05:05I am not going to answer you.