Bielsa Press Conference: Pre-Luton

Bielsa's here
First question coming up...


Team news - Cooper?
We don’t know if he’s going to play, but maybe he will.

[Dallas?]

Dallas is healthy. Cooper is healthy as well, but we have to see.

[Nketiah]

Nketiah is not ready yet. Next week he is going to start to work with the group.


Nketiah in the long run?
He is training. It’s different when you train to when you train with the group and after it is necessary to consider the time he was without training. For instance, Dallas played on Saturday, five days ago and Cooper 12 days ago.

Different situations between Dallas and Cooper. After Eddie starts to train with the group, he will be ready to compete. One thing is being healthy and another being ready to compete.


Shackleton
Same as Cooper, but more time without playing so we have to know, see, how long it will take him to compete.

[Alioski?]

Normal. Okay.


Hernandez
I think the extension is deserved. He has a lot of impact on the team, every supporter recognises him. Everybody values him. He is respected by his team-mates. I think the same.

Promotion this year - could Hernandez perform in the PL?
I don’t like to imagine something which hasn’t happened yet, but I can tell you if Pablo had to play in the Premier League, I think he can do it without problems.


Luton
What I usually say. I repeat the same because I think the same. This time the difference in the table is difficult to pose in the game.


Forshaw
We don’t know yet when he’s going to be in the group.


Pochettino - Tottenham's decision?
I will talk of the relationship I have with Pochettino with what I have seen in English football.

The work Pochettino has done is brilliant. In the last year he put Tottenham at a high level in the world. This for any manager is a big achievement. For me, it’s more important yet because the team that played the final of the Champions League was a team he built very carefully.

The performance of this team was linked to the collective play built between him and his players. Rather than top players bought for them. They didn’t buy top players. This reality makes the work of Pochettino even more important. Something professional like that acquires one credit absolutely deserved.

Maybe he could not enjoy this achievement at Tottenham. Maybe because I do not know the real situation, but he will take this credit because big clubs in the world will try to take him. This manager will lead one of the best teams in the world. The background is he makes Tottenham one of the best teams in the world.


Sad about it?
I like and love him a lot. It upsets me. When something not good happens to him I cannot ignore this. If we see the close effect of this situation we can be sad. I feel sad. In 15 days he will be at the top again because when you see the things being far from them without looking at the facts, after you can see what you realise what he really achieved.

What I say now doesn’t link with the relationship I have with Mauricio and everybody will realise when he takes the next team. Now he leaves a team that is attractive to Mourinho. This is a big achievement. The next team he receives will create that respect.


Jack Clarke impact?
I never spoke with Pochettino about Jack Clarke. I didn’t talk with anyone at Tottenham about him. About his job it’s the same situation. Every day I try to do the best for Clarke. After, Tottenham and Clarke will value if we are doing enough with him.


Importance of this period of games?
The answer we create is try to have more than one player in every position. Try to care about the fitness of the players and the rest of the players because this is what we can do. This is easy to take care of those two facts.


Hernandez impact at 37 when contract ends - thoughts on his condition?
The footballer performance has a very good level, very competitive. You can control it daily, you have to control it daily or he verifies, every day, how they work, how they run in every situation. When I see Pablo, Helder, Clarke or Harrison I compare them. White, Berardi, Cooper and Ayling compared too.

When I analyse the performance of one player I compare them with four in their same position. Pablo is always at the level of his team-mates and after he confirms this on the pitch. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow with nobody.


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https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/sport/leeds-united/mauricio-pochettino-marcelo-bielsa-live-17292406