On how tough an opposition Sunderland will be…
Yeah, a big compliment for their manager because they brought in a lot of new players and they started off so well. I saw the game Chelsea against Arsenal on our way back home [from West Ham]. It was a very high standard game, two teams that were fighting each other and working so hard [with] all the players on the pitch. Then I was aware of the fact that Sunderland was the team that beat Chelsea in their stadium and had a draw against Arsenal. You can look at the league table by looking at how good they have done until now but after that game, knowing that Sunderland is a team that beat Chelsea and had a draw against Arsenal tells you how strong they must be.
On facing a team with strong resilience after their recent comeback against AFC Bournemouth…
Another game where a set-piece was also very important for them in this situation. They’ve shown great mentality, but not only great mentality, the style they play, the risk they take when they don’t have the ball, playing a high paced game and players are working so, so hard all 11 of them to get a result. That’s also what I saw with Chelsea and Arsenal. If you play Chelsea and Arsenal and you don’t do this with 11 then you have no chance of winning. That’s why they must be a team that does this and that’s what I saw when I looked at them yesterday and I will watch more of them today. They are a very hard-working team with also a very clear identity in how they want to play off the ball and on the ball.
On Joe Gomez stepping in at West Ham and being a dependable figure…
It’s a skillset he has that after a long time not playing you can play him again and he just performs as he did before. That is something that’s not easy because I’ve worked with more than a few players that after a certain amount of time without playing it’s difficult for them to get to a certain standard again. It’s definitely one of his skillsets. I also think it was really helpful for him that Dominik Szoboszlai helped him out a lot. Joe did really well but he got a lot of help from Dominik.