Andy Robertson on Salah contract and Madrid preview
26/11/2024
Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, UK
26/11/2024
Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, UK
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Good afternoon, we've got Andy Robertson, as you can see, we've got simultaneous translation
00:17on the headphones. If you could let us know by, if you want to ask a question by raising
00:21your hand and we'll get the mic to you. Vinny?
00:27Andy, just been looking at the last few weeks for you, an 80th cap for Scotland and stoppage
00:32time winner in Warsaw, eight points clear at the top of the Premier League with Liverpool
00:35and the only team with a 100% record in the league phase of the Champions League so far,
00:39so how do you sum up how things are going at the moment and why they're going so well
00:43for you?
00:44Yes, thanks for mentioning my Scotland goal, I appreciate that. No, it's been good so far,
00:51obviously we're sitting nicely in both competitions, but we're allowing probably other people to
00:59maybe look at it a bit more than us, we're just focused on tomorrow night, but of course
01:04winning games and things like that brings confidence and I think you can see that within
01:08the team just now, I think we're all playing with confidence, we all believe in what we're
01:12doing and I think that can only help with results and that shows you with the two positions
01:18that we're in, but we also know that there's a long way to go in both competitions and
01:22it's not time to get carried away.
01:24I'm sure you probably knew as well that we were going to ask you something that isn't
01:27so positive at the moment, because Mo obviously made some comments at the weekend about not
01:31being offered a contract and that he's more out than in at the moment, so we saw you having
01:37a laugh with him at training, but how do you feel about what he's had to say and the prospect
01:40of him going in the summer?
01:41I thought that was going to be your first question, to be fair!
01:47Honestly, for us as players, it's nothing that we can really get involved in, all I
01:53can say is you look at Mo today, you look at Mo yesterday, he's the ultimate professional
01:59and in fairness it goes for all three of them, Mo, Virgil and Trent who are all in similar
02:04positions, every one of them is so focused on the next game and training and preparing
02:09properly and they've been leaders this year, that's the way they've done it and I think
02:15for us in the changing room, if they can do that, then we can do that and we don't get
02:21distracted by anything else and they're not getting distracted and we're all just excited
02:26for the game tomorrow night.
02:27You kind of touched on it as well, saying there's still a long way to go, but Mo also
02:30said that he's fully focused on winning the Premier League and Champions League this season,
02:34having already been part of teams that have done both of those, what do you see in this
02:38group that makes you think you could win one or both this season?
02:43I think what we've shown is that we can win football matches so far in this season, but
02:49I also think there's a long way to go and we have to, I think like you said, there's
02:55a few of us that have got the experience of winning both and I think you need a consistency,
03:00you need a bit of luck along the way as well in terms of injuries and form and things like
03:04that, but so far we've had that, we've had good performances and maybe when we've not
03:09been at our best we've still found a way to win, which is good, but we're only 12 games
03:14in the Premier League, four games in the Champions League and I still think there's a lot of
03:19football to be played and there'll be a lot of twists and turns and things like that,
03:22but when you're in a good moment you have to try and keep going and try and build that
03:26momentum and I think that's what we've been quite good at so far and we have to try and
03:30continue that because we know we've got big games coming up and if we can get results
03:34in them then our position can strengthen.
03:40Andy, there's probably been more high-profile games against Real Madrid than this one in
03:43recent seasons, but for the development of this team, do you think a win over a team
03:49as strong as Real Madrid is still an important stepping stone?
03:53Yes, of course, I think obviously since I've been here we've played Real Madrid I think
03:58five or six times and obviously we've not been on the winning side yet, but I think
04:03there's only a few of us that have probably been involved in that, it's quite a different
04:07squad, a new squad, that a lot of players probably haven't faced Real Madrid or Liverpool
04:11yet and also the same for them, they're a new squad, new faces and things like that,
04:17so I think when it comes to these big games and you play against the best players and
04:21the best teams then of course you want to be, one, involved in the games and two, you
04:26want to get the result because it'll probably be the most watched game this week and that's
04:32what big players want to be a part of and I think if we can get the win it just puts
04:36us in an even better position within the Champions League but also you're beating
04:40one of your competitors which is always nice, so we're excited by that prospect but we
04:45also know how good Real Madrid can be and we know that they'll come here full of belief
04:49and full of confidence that they can get the result and hopefully come tomorrow night we're
04:54the happier ones.
04:55And as someone who's been here a few years and won everything, does your leadership for
04:59the group become more important now given the situation that the team is in as we stand
05:05this season?
05:06Yeah of course, like I said there's only a few of us that have probably experienced
05:13successes and the two probably big trophies and we all have to dip into that and we have
05:20to help the new players, the younger players and things like that because it can be quite
05:25easy to get carried away and start looking too far ahead but I think we've got enough
05:30within the changing room that won't allow that to happen and that's where we rely on
05:35probably me, Virgil, Mo, Trent, Ali, Joe Gomez, people like that that have been there
05:40and done it that can just put a cam on everything and focus on the next game because that's
05:44the most important.
05:45So we're fully focused on tomorrow night and then come 11 o'clock tomorrow night we'll
05:50fully focus on Man City and then whatever happens then we'll fully focus on Newcastle
05:54and that's just the way we work and we've always worked and I think that's what will
05:58work best for our changing room and obviously we are key to that.
06:02Andy, do you think any of the lads who played in 2018 and 2022 still feel as though you
06:08may owe them one though for what happened?
06:10It must have been one of the low points in an otherwise high career.
06:14No, I don't really look into owing people one or revenge or anything like that.
06:20I think both games were different.
06:24I think 2018 was so important for our journey.
06:28I think nobody really expected us to probably be in the Champions League final that year
06:34and it gave us the belief that we could compete in that tournament again and go on and then
06:38win it the next year which was so important.
06:40I think 2022 obviously hurt a lot more at the time with I thought we played well in
06:45the game, I thought we dominated the game and their goalkeeper was man of the match
06:50which probably tells you a lot but they do what they do.
06:53There's a reason why they've won the competition the most out of any team and
06:58I think the squad is too new, I think their squad is too new and we're just looking at
07:03tomorrow to try and strengthen our position at the top of that table because we know how
07:08important finishing in the top eight can be in terms of seeding for the last 16 and not
07:13having a play-off and things like that and that's all we're focused on.
07:17Gentleman with the headphones.
07:40You know him as a teammate, what do you know of him?
07:43Can you tell us a little bit about how Trent…
07:52Yeah, yeah, don't worry I got it.
07:56It was a little bit quiet but I got it, don't worry.
07:59I think the question's about Trent, yeah?
08:01No, look Trent's, like I said, one of the closest friends I've got in the changing
08:07room, we've kind of went on the journey together.
08:10He's obviously a fantastic footballer, a fantastic person and yeah, I think the quality
08:18speaks for himself, at the top level, one of, if not the best right back in the world
08:25and I think he shows that year on year and probably people forget that he's still fairly
08:31young, he's probably getting a wee bit older now but he's still young enough to get even
08:36better and I think that's the main thing for him.
08:39He's got a will to succeed, a will to learn and I think you've seen that this season
08:45as well and yeah, he's a pleasure to play with and obviously, like he says, we've
08:53kind of grown together within the full-back role and I've enjoyed doing that with him.
09:06I wanted to ask you, Arne Slott, the beginning of the season has been fantastic, so many
09:16victories in a few games, what's it like working with him?
09:20What's it like working with the new manager after so many victories and a successful start
09:24to the season?
09:26Yeah, look, I think the manager and the coaches that came in have been a breath of fresh air,
09:33I think they've came in with their ideas, there's a lot of new staff and things like
09:39that and I think, credit to the players, I think we've all bought into it, I think we've
09:44all really enjoyed it and look, obviously results help that, results help breed confidence
09:50within the coaches, within the players and I think that's one of the key reasons but
09:57also the amount of work we do on the training pitch, the amount of meetings we have, how
10:02many hours the manager and the coaches put in is incredible and they make sure that we're
10:08the best prepared possible for every single game and it's up to us to then go out and
10:13try and play our best for them and I think more often than not this season we've done
10:16that and hopefully that can continue but the manager and the coaches since they came in
10:21have been fantastic, I think everyone's enjoyed working with them and hopefully that can continue.
10:28One here.
10:29Hi Andy, Juan Yegua for Flash Squad in Spain, of course the results have been very good
10:35this season so far, and you have said that there are many different new faces since the
10:49previous matches against Real Madrid, so what are the main strengths in this current squad
10:55to get a good result tomorrow night?
10:56I think one I've just touched on in terms of we're playing with confidence, we've shown
11:04that we know how to win games this season in different ways, on Sunday we've obviously
11:10had to come from behind, probably not our finest performance but we managed to find
11:14a way to win and then other times we've been able to keep a clean sheet, other times we've
11:18been pretty comfortable in game, so I think the confidence that the players are playing
11:23with can help because going into a big game you want to be confident, you want to feel
11:28good about yourself and we believe in what we're doing, so I think that is what we go
11:33into every game thinking, we believe that we can cause any team problems and we can
11:38try and get the best out of each other and we've shown that quite a few times this season
11:43and hopefully we can show that tomorrow night because there's no bigger task than playing
11:47against Real Madrid and we'll have to bring our A game to try and get anything out of
11:51the game and if we do that then I believe we've got enough on the pitch that can cause
11:56them problems.
12:15You were talking before about your leadership in the team and today in the training before
12:21you tried, while you were warming up, you grabbed Mo Salah to put him first, you know
12:29him very well, how does he feel? You know him well, is he maybe a little bit sad because
12:37of this situation?
12:40He didn't look sad to me, Mo comes into training every single day with a smile on his face,
12:48he is in the gym working as hard as ever, he's on the training pitch working as hard
12:52as ever, so in terms of that he's one of the happiest people in the training ground, that's
12:58for sure, he enjoys every moment of being in there and I think that can tell, I think
13:03if you can find a picture from training today where he looks sad then fair enough, but I
13:07think he looks happy at all times and I think he's such a focused individual that he'll
13:15be focused, he'll be in his house now probably focused on tomorrow night and that's the main
13:19thing, that's what all good players do, that's what all the best in the world do and Mo certainly
13:23falls into that category.