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Good afternoon and welcome back to Molineux following our quick turnaround from Wednesday evening.
We had five days to prepare for the Liverpool match and then we’ve had just three days after to prepare for today, but all we could do was put the focus on the match that we had in front of us.
The schedule is one thing you can’t change as a coach. When you have one competition a week, you have time to work with the players, but this week has been different. When it is just three days between games, it’s more about player recovery and who may have recovered better. However, I am happy when we play every three days and I’m happy when we have a week to work with the players, but whatever the situation, we have to adapt and try to take advantage of each moment.
The start of this month has given us a busy schedule, but we are only thinking one game at a time. After Fulham we focused 100 per cent on Liverpool and only after the game was over on Wednesday night did our attention move to today, and this is normal
You can’t put 100 per cent of your energy if you are looking ahead, it’s always the next match. We can’t think about the next one and the next one after that, because you have to put all your energy – and I have to translate to the players that they have to put all their energy – into this next match. This is how football is and I don’t understand any other way to work.
Although the result against Liverpool was not what we wanted, I am happy with the commitment of the players. But they must be the ones to commit, because in the end, the players are the main actors on the pitch. My staff and I can help them, but they have to show their character, their commitment and their responsibility to achieve our aims.
Of course, we can do better than we did on Wednesday night, and we will have to do better if we want to achieve our aims, but I want to encourage the players to show their quality, character and commitment to get us through what will be a very long and hard race.
We have to be ready for bad moments like against Liverpool, and in the good moments we need to be balanced and continue to work because in the Premier League, there are always important and hard matches ahead, just as we face today against Tottenham Hotspur.
I would like to offer a warm welcome to all the Tottenham staff, players and supporters who are travelling to Molineux. At the time of writing these notes, I am unsure as to whether Antonio Conte will be joining his team after his recent surgery, but I wish him all the best for his own personal recovery and hopefully I will get the opportunity to speak to him here today.
Antonio is a fantastic coach and his teams are always very difficult to play against. I remember facing him in the Europa League final with Sevilla when he was with Inter, and we also played against each other in the last pre-season in South Korea, in a friendly match which ended in a 1-1 draw.
I have good memories of those previous games against him, but as I often repeat, each match is different. The experiences I have of playing against Antonio and the experiences our players have of playing against Tottenham will only have a small impact this afternoon.
Once again, your support from the stand can make a big difference in the match, so please get behind the players, especially in the bad moments, as it helps us a lot.
Thank you for your support and enjoy the game,
Julen.
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Supporters can find the head coach's notes, as well as a host of bespoke content for the visit of Tottenham, in the latest matchday programme, which is available to purchase here for just £4.
