Rob Edwards knows his team can’t keep performing only for periods of games and a complete 90-minute performance is required at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
The Old Gold sign off for 2025 in Manchester and do so after a positive second half display at Liverpool at the weekend. Edwards tweaked his system at the interval and the players responded at Anfield, leaving the Premier League champions holding on the end.
That second half gave Edwards something to cling on to going to Manchester United, and although he’ll be without the suspended Andre, the head coach took heart from what he saw at Liverpool, and has demanded that becomes the standard.
On learning from the last United game
“That was a night that we were able to learn a lot about ourselves. We made some mistakes that sped their attacks up and sped the game up for them, and when they've got confidence, which they had, and we almost made the decisions for them, they open you up too many times.
“We'll see how we are with our numbers and suspensions, with people away and injuries, so we’ll see what we're able to go with. It's quite a tough four days, Anfield and Old Trafford, but we'll certainly be able to learn bits from that game.”
On his seven games so far
“We can compete, but there's been moments in games where we've shot ourselves in the foot and we've not been able to recover from that. We gave ourselves a mountain to climb at Liverpool. The players have shown they're capable in moments in games, but we haven't seen it for a complete game, probably other than maybe Villa, that was almost a complete one.
“On Saturday we probably created more than at Villa and looked a little bit more threatening, but we need a complete, consistent performance right throughout the 90 minutes. You get punished at this level, as we know, and we're getting punished for mistakes.”
On losing games being a habit
“It's been a long period of time for them. I've been here six weeks, and I'm fed up of it. We've got to find a way. We've got to latch on to that second half performance, because I don't want to be coming into dressing rooms at the end of games and saying that's the level, but we're taking nothing from it. We've got to find a bit more of a ruthless edge.”
On Andre missing through suspension
“I thought second half he was excellent. That's his level, and I told him that after the game. He was aggressive, he was brave, and he will be a big miss for us. He's a really good player, and when he plays like that, especially that second half, that's where we need him to be at. We'll have to see what we're able to do.
“It's hard because that level of performance from Andre in the second half, I need him to play like that. If we're going to get anything, we need him to be at that level, and when he's playing with that emotion as well, maybe he's close to getting something.
“He won the duel just before that, and he was just half a millisecond late and I think it was a booking. But I can't tell him to pull out of things. The lads have obviously got to play with their heads. If they get booked for a tackle, then I can deal with it. If it's for descent or kicking the ball away or something stupid, then I won't be happy.”
On Santiago Bueno taking his chance
“It’s great for him. A really good couple of performances from Santi. He's had to be a little bit patient for a few weeks. He knows the reasons why we went with what we went with, but he's certainly playing really well, and I’ve been really pleased with Santi.”
