Colwill on form and top four ahead of Copenhagen conference league second leg
12/03/2025
Cobham Training Centre, Surrey, UK
12/03/2025
Cobham Training Centre, Surrey, UK
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00Okay, good afternoon. Thanks for joining us for today's press conference. We'll follow
00:18the same format as the head coach, try and get around as many people as possible. If
00:23you'd like to ask a question, please raise your hand and we will get started with the
00:28first person to put their hand up. Peter? Hi Yvonne. You said recently that Henson Redskins
00:34as a coach is light years ahead of other coaches. I was wondering if you could talk to us a
00:39little bit about that and just the details of that and what made you choose that? Yeah,
00:43I think the style of play says a lot in itself and the way he teaches us every day has been
00:50amazing, has been top. I really enjoy playing under him and I know everyone in the changing
00:54room does too. I think over time you'll see us get better and better because of him. Do
00:59you think there's been a little bit of criticism about the tempo of the style of play? Do you
01:04think that's unfair? In my opinion, yeah, because I'm always going to back the coach
01:10because I love the way he plays football. I love the ideas he has and I think he's amazing.
01:17We'll go to Liam. Hi Yvonne. There's a lot of responsibility on you on pitch to play
01:23those progressive passes out on defence. How much do you think that leans into what you
01:29do best as a player? Do you feel like you're being maximised in that way? Yeah, definitely.
01:33I think the gaffer knows what sort of player I am and he puts me in positions where I can
01:37shine. I think them passes come off naturally. When I've got top players like, for example,
01:43Enzo, Cole, the ones that play in the pockets, that understand where the space is and they
01:47make it easy for me to find them. So I think it's really down to them boys.
01:51And how has it been since Wesley got injured at the start of December? You had that really
01:56consistent partnership. Since then you've played with a lot of different defenders,
01:59sometimes slightly different combinations. How's that been for you and how do you have
02:03to change that? Yeah, it's fine. I think no matter what player is coming in, if it's for
02:08me or for someone else, they're all amazing players and we're all together to help each
02:12other. I think that's the best thing about this group of boys that we have. They're all
02:16pushing each other and we all want each other to do well. So no matter who comes in, they're
02:20all amazing and we all compliment each other.
02:24The quality of performance so far in this competition has been very good by Chelsea.
02:30That's partly because of the quality of opponents they've faced and that means that there have
02:33been some really big wins, some big scorelines. Given that the scoreline that Chelsea lead
02:38by 2-1 heading into this second leg, you're obviously going to want to win the second
02:42leg by a lot of goals. But if you don't, might you as a defender quite manage the opportunity
02:47that this competition can get into the serious phase now? There might be some back-to-the-wall
02:52I think, speaking with the players, we've taken every game seriously. I wouldn't say
02:57any game is easier. Of course we've got amazing players that on the pitch show their qualities
03:02and that's maybe why we've won certain games by so many goals. But every game is serious
03:07and playing away, of course we won 2-1 but now we're back at home. We're going to have
03:12the fans behind us and of course we're going to want to score as many goals as possible
03:15tomorrow.
03:17Just going back to what you were saying about the manager earlier, when you say he was amazing
03:23and some of his great ideas, would you mind elaborating on that for us a little bit? And
03:29tell us also, if you don't mind, about him as a player, as your boss, as a human?
03:34Yeah, of course. The ideas he brings in training to help us break teams down, it's all down
03:41to him. The games we're winning and we're playing for other teams, it's of course because
03:46we're top players but also because he sets us up correctly to look good on the pitch
03:51and to score goals. I think all the games we've played are amazing this season, it's
03:55been down to him. Of course we've got amazing players that are going to help us pull off
03:59what he wants us to do but at the end of the day it comes down to him, in my opinion.
04:03As a manager and a person, he's top. He pushes us every day. Obviously he's serious at times
04:11but he can also be a bit of a joker with us and he's got a great balance and you don't
04:16want to get on the wrong side of him.
04:18This is the bit I'd like to elaborate on as well. Just because we see him in one dimension
04:24here and you see him throughout the week in training, you say he can be a bit of a joker.
04:28In what sense does he do that?
04:31Of course in the right times he might be a bit unserious with us but I think the majority
04:37of the time he's always work, work, work. He's a top professional. But in the right
04:41times he might mess around with us.
04:43Any examples of that?
04:45The top of my head, I'm not too sure of the top of my head.
04:48I'd have to think.
04:49Mourinho used to throw acorns at the players when they were doing stuff on the court.
04:54I'm not sure, I haven't seen him throw an acorn yet.
04:59Go to the gentleman at the back.
05:19I think the players they've got are really good players and as a team they perform to
05:25the best. I think growing up against them we were all mentally prepared to know that
05:28this was going to be a really tough game, just like a Premier League game. We didn't
05:31take it any different. And come again tomorrow that's the same mentality we're going to
05:35have because they are a really good team and really good players.
05:40Gentleman with the cap.
05:56Were you also surprised about what you met in Denmark?
06:03I wouldn't say I was surprised when I came on the pitch because obviously watching the
06:07first half and like I already said they're really good players and a really good team
06:11so I was ready for that. Of course the gaffer watches all their games and he tells us how
06:16to play against them so when they change something like that to play against us it can be a bit
06:20different. We've got to change and we've got to show that we are young players, we're
06:25experienced enough to know we're going to play a bit different here or they're going
06:28to play a bit different against us so we need to handle those situations. Not every game
06:32is going to go the way we want it to and the best players show no difference.
06:38You'll have known Thomas Tuchel a bit from when he was here. Have you had a chat with
06:44him since he became England manager and I think the first squad was announced on Friday
06:48so what are your ambitions moving forward?
06:51Of course I would have known him from when he was here. I trained a few times with him
06:54and went pre-season with him so I know he's a top manager, a top guy. I've had a chat
07:00with him and he just caught up on old times from when I was here and obviously I already
07:07know him good enough anyway. And then of course hopefully I can get called up for this camp
07:11coming up to play for England. It's a dream come true for anyone and to keep playing for
07:17them feels as good as the first time I say that. So yeah hopefully I can get called up
07:22on Friday and we'll go from there.
07:25Just as someone who's played, I know you've not played many games with him but you've
07:29spent pre-season with Thomas, you'll know him already. What kind of a manager are you
07:35thinking?
07:37From what I see when I was here he's a really demanding manager. I think all the top ones
07:42are. They push their team and they want to get the best out of them and when he won the
07:46Champions League I think you see it. The high energy and I think he's a great character
07:51to be around.
07:52Okay we'll end it there. Thank you everyone.