Iralola on Bournemouth's 3-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford

NicheSportMedia

Old Trafford, Manchester, UK.  22/12/24

Transcript

00:00Yes, obviously we have to enjoy it. It doesn't happen a lot that you come to this kind of

00:11stadium and you win 3-0. I think the game was more level than it looked with the 3-0.

00:18I think especially Kepa's performance has helped us to win like this. It's true that

00:27I think we finished the game very well, very strong, pushing them and making their play

00:32difficult. But I think the key moment was the end of the first half, where we've had

00:37there 5-10 minutes against the wind. They had this kind of corner, a free kick from

00:43Bruno I remember, a couple of shoots from the outside, where we were suffering a little

00:50bit this end of the first half. After half-time I think we started much stronger and in a

00:56better way, yes.

00:57I was going to ask about Kepa. He's looked very good of late and today I think was probably

01:01his best performance in a cherry shirt. How impressed were you with him today?

01:05Today has been amazing. I think he's looking very solid. He's had some very good games,

01:13the last ones. But today he had, apart from the good decisions on the ball, in a back

01:18line that is very, very young. I think we need this experience, calm. He shows from

01:25Adam, from Luis Cook, from Kepa, to help the other players. Apart if he has very good

01:32shot saving, let's say. But it makes the performance very good, yes.

01:38On the first goal, fantastic ball in from Ryan and another set-piece goal for Dean.

01:44How pleased were you with that goal?

01:46It's always very valuable. You can add goals via set-plays. I think we are quite a short

01:54team. We've normally exploited other kinds of routines but when we have Dean in the starting

02:00line-up you always have this threat that is valuable. It has served us in very important

02:07goals against Tottenham the other day. Today the 1-0, that is always the most difficult

02:12goal against United. I hope we can continue adding goals via set-plays, yes.

02:16Two goals in very quick succession in the second half. Another penalty for Justin. What

02:23were the instructions coming out of the second period and how pleased were you that they

02:29put it in play?

02:30Yes, more than the instructions, we have to value the players at the end. It's an amazing

02:35play from Justin, an amazing play from Dango later for the other goal. For me it's the

02:42players that make the difference. In this case, Dango, Justin, Antoine with the finish.

02:49They've been the ones, I think, in a much more solid second half where they've given

02:56us the goals.

02:57The second one was a really nice team goal. How pleased were you seeing that from the

03:01sidelines?

03:02Pleased because of the importance of the goal. At the end, even when we were 3-0, you still

03:08have to play a lot of minutes and you are not safe. You don't feel safe because we know

03:12the threats that they have. In the second half, they had Hoylund, Garnaccio, Ahmad,

03:19Bruno arriving from behind. They have threats and I could see that if they score, with this

03:26stadium, the atmosphere that they create, you don't want them to score, just in case.

03:31In the summer I spoke to Bill Foley and he talked about Little Bournemouth getting to

03:38Europe. I know you're a professional and you look at the next game, but your fans are

03:45singing about it. Is that something that you buy into? Are you aware of how much it would

03:50mean to you?

03:51No. I think now the standings, everything is very close. We were playing United, before

03:56the start of the game week, I think we were sixth, they were thirteenth. If they beat

04:01us, they would be above us. It's a matter of now, in this next week, we could be behind

04:07them, because it's two games ahead. I value the points. We have 28 points and these ones

04:12will not disappear, but they are not enough for anything. We have to add a lot of points

04:17still. So we go game by week, game by game, and now focus on Palace and Fulham a little

04:24bit, but I don't think now, so early, it makes sense to look too much at the standings.

04:31But for your fans, to be able to even think about that, given the history of the club,

04:38to even dream about that, I think it is realistic.

04:41I think they have to, and they are I suppose enjoying it a lot, because normally it doesn't

04:47happen a lot of times. You come to these stadiums, you come as a player, it's difficult to have

04:54this kind of result, so obviously we have to enjoy it, they have to enjoy it, but we

04:58know how much it costs to win one Premier League, just one, against anyone, whatever

05:04you want. To win one Premier League game is very expensive and difficult, so we have to

05:11continue the same way, otherwise the results will be much worse for sure.

05:18You've beaten Arsenal, City, Tottenham, now United. When you were at Brightman, you beat

05:23Real Madrid and Barcelona. Is playing big to you? Is that your speciality? Do you feel

05:27more comfortable in that situation?

05:29I think we've improved this season, because one of the things that we talked about in

05:33the summer, from past season, is that we need points against, especially the ones that are

05:39fighting for the title, Liverpool, Arsenal, City, that past season we couldn't. We kind

05:44of played well, but you don't have enough for them. And I think this season we are kind

05:51of adding these points, that at the end make this small difference, that probably you feel

05:57a little bit less of pressure when you face the teams that are kind of around you. And

06:01I'm happy, but we see every game, everything is super tight. It doesn't matter if you play

06:08first against the last one, you don't know what's going to happen. A lot of very tight

06:13results, so we value a lot. And you have to enjoy it, because winning here is special

06:19for a player. But at the end we have to know that we can win today here in Old Trafford

06:26and we can lose next time against any team in the Premier League. And try to maximise

06:32our chances every week. That's it.

06:34You've got the same scoreline here as last season. There's a different coach from Man

06:37United, a different ownership. What were the differences in what you saw from Man United

06:41last season and this season?

06:43I think they have been different games. Today's win from our side I think is more mature,

06:51more solid. Last season the game was much more open. We had good highlights. But today

07:01I think we haven't played to a very high rhythm, because it's difficult against United.

07:07They control the build-up very well. But even in situations where we were not where we wanted

07:14in the game, I think we've competed really well, yes.

07:18As Richard said, you've won it in our three consecutive seasons. What's it like coming

07:25here as an away manager? Because you're talking about the atmosphere, but you're not convincing

07:30the two seasons on the top.

07:32Yes. For me it's very difficult. I value a lot the result. Because even as I was saying

07:39before, we were 3-0 up. I was thinking if they score one goal, we are going to suffer

07:45because everyone is going to push. They make you feel like something is going to happen

07:50against you. And I was hoping, OK, let's keep it like this until the very end, because

07:54otherwise you can feel it in this kind of stadiums, and it's normal to feel it. I felt

07:59it as a player also. But obviously when everything goes to your side and you win, I think you

08:05have to enjoy it. Because it's the kind of wins that, as a player, I won once and I will

08:12remember it forever. So I suppose my players, it's the same for them.

08:21All good?

08:22Good. Thank you.

Category

Transcript

Recommended