CM Story - The Story of Josh McEwen

Wolves (4-4-2): Sa, Hoever, Agbadou, Krejci, H.Bueno (Off 45), Arias (Off 45), Munetsi, J.Gomes, Wolf, Larsen, Arokodare 

Subs: Johnstone, S.Bueno (On 45), Andre (On 45), Mosquera, Toti, R.Gomes, Tchatchoua, Hwang Hee Chan, Bellegarde 

Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1): Sels, Savona, Murillo, Milenkovic, Williams, Anderson, Dominquez, Bakwa, Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White, Wood 

Subs: Gunn, Cunha, Hutchinson, Kalimuendo, Zinchenko, Douglas Luiz, Igor Jesus, Ndoye, Boly 

Josh McEwen “We’ve been working so hard for this result and to finally get the win after the last 3 or 4 performances we’ve put in it is about time we were rewarded with a win. Honestly, I think this is just the start for us. The way we have played has been superb they obviously hit the post but overall it was a very solid performance and we’re so happy that we could give the fans a victory because they have been so good to us. Since I came in they have really got behind us I think they can see what we’re trying to do and how we are implementing changes but there's still a long way to go but we can hold our heads high tonight and take this momentum into the next few games.” 

Sean Dyche “Very disappointed with the result today I thought we deserved to get something out of the game. We knew that it would be a difficult game I know Wolves are bottom but they’ve caused a few teams problems lately I think they’re unbeaten in their last few games so we knew we had to battle but I thought we did and on another day we would have won the game. I think its really important now to bounce back and avoid being dragged into that relegation battle because its a tough battle to get out of when you put yourselves in it so its important we get a few results and get clear of that chasing pack but we aren’t worried about it at the moment we know our quality it just wasn’t our day.” 

Wolves (4-4-2): Sa, Hoever, Agbadou, Krecji, H.Bueno, Arias, Andre, J.Gomes, Wolfe, Larsen, Arokodare 

Subs: Johnstone, S.Bueno, Munetsi, Mosquera, Toti, R.Gomes, Tchatchoua, Hwang Hee Chan, Bellegarde 

Manchester United (5-2-3): Lammens, Mazraoui, de Ligt, Martinez, Maguire, Malacia (Off 90), Fernandes, Mainoo (Off 90), Mbuemo, Sesko, Cunha 

Subs: Bayinder, Dalot, Ugarte (On 90), Zirkzee, Yoro, Casemiro, Obi, Mount, Dorgu (On 90) 

Josh McEwen “That’s the best we have played since I’ve been in charge we were physical and I also felt that we moved the ball well on the deck. We have had some comparisons to the old Stoke which to be honest it isn’t an insult because there a team that battled for a long time but we are a team that wants to play football but we aren’t afraid to be physical aswell and Arokodare showed how good he is both physically and technically today three shots three goals scoring with both feet and no headers so I think we showed a side to our game today of being able to compete in the right areas. Back to back wins and now we are looking up the table and thinking that we aren’t that far away from being out of the relegation zone.” 

Ruben Amorim “I thought we controlled large periods of the game we dominated the ball but we didn’t create enough opportunities with all the possession that we have. I thought that Wolves were overly aggressive, we didn’t get enough protection from the referee but I thought a few of the players were intimidated by just how much they kicked us and when the referee isn’t giving yellow cards suddenly the fans are up and it becomes quite hostile and we didn’t handle that well. We can not say the referee should do this or do that we should have been braver and we should have punished them when we had the ball and we didn’t that is the main reason we lose this game.” 

Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya, Timber, Gabriel, Mosquera (Off 68), Lewis-Skelly, Rice, Zubimendi, Havertz (Off 52), Saka, Gyokeres, Trossard (Off 52) 

Subs: Kepa, Calafiori, Eze, Jesus, Hincapie, Martinelli (On 52), Merino (On 52), Norgaard (On 68), Saliba 

Wolves (4-4-2): Sa, Hoever, Agbadou, Krejci, H.Bueno, Arias, Andre, J.Gomes, Lopez, Larsen, Arokodare 

Subs: Johnstone, S.Bueno, Munetsi, Mosquera, Toti, R.Gomes, Tchatchoua, Hwang Hee Chan, Bellegarde 

Mikel Arteta “I am so happy with our performance, Wolves are a physical team and today I said to the players if we match them physically we can create a lot of problems for them and we did that. We could have been three goals up at half time and obviously in the second half you think this Wolves team will fight and fight and we had to remain patient we controlled possession and on another day Viktor Gyokeres has a hat trick but Sa played great but we kept fighting and we are happy to win the game.” 

Josh McEwen “Obviously a tough game for us today, we didn’t really seem ourselves in the attacking third but thats a testament to how good this Arsenal team is defensively. They created a lot of chances and Jose (Sa) has made some superb saves which is good for his confidence but the Emirates is a tough place to come and when your attacking phases aren’t really working out for you it is always going to be hard.” 

Wolves (4-4-2): Sa, Hoever, Agbadou, Krejci, H.Bueno, Arias, Andre (Off 68), J.Gomes, Lopez, Larsen, Arokodare (Off 68) 

Subs: Johnstone, S.Bueno, Munetsi, Mosquera, Wolfe, R.Gomes, Tchatchoua, Hwang Hee Chan (On 68), Bellegarde (On 68) 

Brentford (4-2-3-1): Kelleher, van den Berg, Collins, Ajer, Henry (Off 85), Janelt, Yarmoliuk (Off 59), Peart-Harris (Off 81), Schade, Damsgaard, Igor Thiago 

Subs: Valdimarsson, Lewis-Potter (On 85), Carvalho, Outtara (On 81), Pinnock, Henderson (On 59), Gustavo Nunes, Jensen, Kayode 

Josh McEwen “I thought that was a really hard fought game between two committed teams, obviously they had their moments but I think for a majority of the match we were on top and could have scored a couple more goals but this was the perfect response to last weeks loss and again shows what we can do when we are at our best. We’ve got some really difficult games coming up now to end a busy month but at the start of the month we looked down and out and three wins in four I think we have shown that we are going to keep fighting and we’ve closed the gap on safety.” 

Keith Andrews “Its a disappointing result to lose the match, it was a game where they took that key chance whereas when we got into them areas we just weren’t clinical enough or creative enough to find the breakthrough. It was more disappointing that we got ourselves into dangerous areas but didn’t really put that impact on them that we normally do and we’ve paid the price with a loss. We know what there about they like to get the ball wide and put crosses into the box and defensively they’re very aggressive and they pressed us hard and we didn’t take advantage and exploit the spaces they were leaving.” 

Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Alisson, Frimpong, van Dijk, Konate, Kerkez, Gravenberch, MacAllister, Salah, Gakpo, Wirtz (Off 83), Isak 

Subs: Mamardashvili, Robertson, Szoboszlai, Ekitike, Bradley, Jones (On 83), Chiesa, Endo, Gomez 

Wolves (4-4-2): Sa, Hoever, Agbadou, Krejci, H.Bueno, Arias, Andre, J.Gomes, Wolfe, Larsen, Arokodare 

Subs: Johnstone, S.Bueno, Munetsi, Mosquera, Lopez, R.Gomes, Tchatchoua, Hwang Hee Chan, Bellegarde  

Arne Slot “I’m really proud of the team’s performance today. We knew Wolves would be a tough opponent—they’ve been in great form and play with a lot of physicality, so we had to be at our best both technically and mentally. I thought we handled their press very well, moved the ball quickly, and created some excellent chances, especially in the first half. Scoring three goals against a side as organized as Wolves is never easy, but our composure in front of goal and our energy off the ball made the difference. The fans were incredible as always and gave us that extra push. Now it’s about maintaining this level in the matches ahead.” 

Josh McEwen “It's a disappointing day at the office, I thought 3-0 slightly flatters them but to be honest we were second best today. Coming to Anfield you know it is going to be tough and when you're 2-0 down after twenty minutes you're fighting to ty and get back into the game and credit to Liverpool they never really gave us a sort of sign that we had a chance of getting back into it. I think to be honest I got it wrong we came here to try and get three points when maybe in reality we should have come and shut up shop and made things hard for them but I will always tell my team to go and try and win games of football maybe tactically I should have made some changes but this system has done us well and today we were against the reigning champions and they put us to the sword.” 

Manchester United (5-2-3): Lammens, Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Yoro (Off 63), Dorgu (Off 73), Fernandes (Off 72), Mainoo, Mbeumo, Sesko, Cunha 

Subs: Bayinder, Mazraoui (On 71), Amad, Zirkzee, Heaven, Mount (On 72), Obi, Casemiro, de Ligt (On 63) 

Wolves (4-4-2): Sa, Hoever, Agbadou, Krejci, H.Bueno, Arias, Andre, J.Gomes, Wolfe, Larsen, Arokodare (Off 38) 

Subs: Johnstone, S.Bueno, Munetsi, Mosquera, Toti (On 38), R.Gomes, Tchatchoua, Hwang Hee Chan, Bellegarde 

Q: Ruben a dominate performance from your side today, how pleased are you to get revenge on Wolves after your defeat earlier this month? 

Amorim “I am very happy because it was a tough game against a team that we knew would come and battle but I thought today was one of our best performances all season. Even before they went down a man we were creating chances and Mainoo is through on goal and he is fouled and then from there we controlled the game created a lot of chances made their keeper make some important saves and still in front of goal we scored five and could have scored more.” 

Q: Josh a bitterly disappointing results how damaging was that red card to your team? 

McEwen “It’s never easy playing against any team with ten men yet alone a team with the quality Manchester United possess and they deserved to beat us we were well beaten today. We looked tired today and I think heading into January you can see that we are in need of some reinforcements to try and help us. We aren’t going to panic on the back of one bad result though we have had so many positives in the last couple of months and it is now about us showing character and pushing ourselves to try and get out of the relegation battle we are in.