Nuno Espírito Santo on Forest 1-1 Liverpool
14/01/2025
The City Ground, Nottingham, UK
14/01/2025
The City Ground, Nottingham, UK
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00How do you sum up a game like that and the emotions that came with it?
00:09I think it was entertaining to see, especially in the final minutes of a game like this.
00:15But the assessment, I think, first off, we were really organised,
00:19we didn't allow too many situations, Liverpool had the ball but were not able to really break us.
00:24I think we achieved a good goal in the right moment and it was clinical
00:29to touch and Chris was there.
00:32In the second half we knew that Liverpool was going to react,
00:36especially when the game has spaces and we allowed such talented players to run with the ball,
00:421v1s and Matt Sales, huge for us, kept us on the game.
00:47In the final minutes, it was about heart and desire to try and defend
00:55and at the same time go for the attack.
00:56So the runs that our players made and the support of our fans in extra time was really nice to see.
01:03How deflating is it when the opposition made the substitution as they did and it worked so quickly?
01:09Yeah, I was in a corner and I don't know, I didn't really see what...
01:13We've been really good at set-pieces, I didn't see the image.
01:18But Diogo, I had him for some time, he's always a threat in the box.
01:23The point that takes you to seconds right now,
01:27does it prove tonight that you deserve to be in the mix when it comes to the talk of a potential title race
01:35or even a Champions League spot?
01:38We are competing very well, I keep insisting, and this is the approach and the mentality of the squad.
01:44It's about playing, competing, improving, realising which are our strengths and which are our weaknesses,
01:52and getting to know ourselves better can only make us compete in the future in a better way.
02:00You know what I think about the table, for now it's not important,
02:04it's what we and how we're going to prepare against Southampton.
02:08You've got four points against Liverpool for two games,
02:12what's that say about the concentration focus of the players?
02:15Very good, very good.
02:17I think we have to give credit to our players when they face such talented opponents
02:24and raise the bar and challenge ourselves in the way they are doing.
02:28It's huge, it's huge for us.
02:31We're going to play against all the opponents now,
02:35then in the end we'll see how many points we have relating to them.
02:39It's not about that, honestly.
02:41On the matchday it was...
02:42Huge, huge, it was huge.
02:45He's in a very good moment, he's in a very good moment,
02:48but that shows also some aspects that we have to improve,
02:52the strengths and the weaknesses that I mentioned to you.
02:54We see that defensively we were OK,
02:58but we allowed too many contacts inside of our box.
03:02What have you learned about the players' character from such a big test tonight?
03:06I think it was a lesson for all of us,
03:09because this is how we want to compete,
03:12to the limits of our efforts, and we saw that.
03:15I think we're very proud, very proud of the work of the players, very, very proud.
03:21They were defensive actions today that we should reflect on and see,
03:26not ever, ever change.
03:31When you saw Diego coming on, you must have known what he was capable of.
03:35I didn't expect in a set-piece, I didn't expect,
03:38but I saw Diego and there was a slight change to Liverpool,
03:42we were about to make a change in that moment,
03:45but I think after that we settled down and finished under the ropes,
03:51but with the awareness of a work well done.
03:55I think the team worked very well today.
03:57In your experience of football, Nuno, where did that atmosphere rank tonight?
04:03It felt like a very special night.
04:04Very special, very special.
04:06I think, honestly, the bond that the team and the fans are building
04:11in this journey that we want to share together is really helpful,
04:15and we cannot thank them enough.
04:19Jürgen, I think back to Ryan Yates, he said that in the Huddle he told the players
04:28that we're a big club but we need to believe that we're a big club.
04:31Do you think your players are starting to believe that you're a big club
04:33and deserve to mix in this company now?
04:36We are in a big club, we don't need anything to prove that we are in a huge club.
04:44For us it's a big club.
04:46I think the words of Yates is that demonstration of the respect that they have among themselves,
04:54and not allow nobody to ever stop believing that we can achieve something nice.
05:01This is the best credit.
05:03And for the game, when you finish the game and you go in the dressing room,
05:07always the players are not very fair on their judgement, but they weren't disappointed.
05:12But now you look back and say, Liverpool had a lot of chances.
05:16But just having this feeling shows that we are slowly progressing
05:21on what we want to become, a good team of football.
05:27Thank you very much.