CM Story - The Story of Josh McEwen

Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1): Sels, Savona, Milenkovic, Carmo, Williams, Dominquez, Yates (Off 90), Bakwa, Ndoye, Gibbs-White (Off 90), Kalimuendo 

Subs: Malagon, Cunha, Hudson-Odoi (On 90), Igor Jesus, Murillo, Sangare (On 90), Wood, Anderson 

Arsenal (4-3-3): Kepa, Laimer, Gabriel, Saliba, Pienczak, Rice, Merino, Odegaard, Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli 

Subs: Nwaneri, Bouaddi, Zubimendi, Jesus, Zinchenko, Trossard, Madueke, Eze, Kiwior 

Q: Sean a tough day at the office. How hard was it going down to ten men so early? 

Sean Dyche “Yeah it is worse then going a goal down losing a man so early but then four minutes later we went and got hit with the double whammy and we were chasing the game from there. For me that early into the game I think people would have forgiven the ref for showing a yellow but it was a stupid challenge to make from behind I don’t think he was trying to hurt him but bring him down but you give the referee the chance when you make that challenge and VAR aren’t going to overturn that one. I thought we worked hard though and had a few chances but it was always going to be difficult with ten men.” 

Q: Josh a win in your first game in charge all be it you haven’t had much time with the team. What did you make of your clubs performance? 

Josh McEwen “I think the coaches have done a great job in preparing the lads this week I sat with them this morning and the elven that were selected was due to the coaches and what they saw this week and I think you can see they made the right choice. I thought we should have had a clear penalty Bukayo (Saka) has played the ball to Viktor (Gyokeres) who has chested in and their guy in challenging for a header has fallen and brought him down with him I cant understand how it was not given. We’ve got a tough game midweek away to Liverpool that we are preparing for now.” 

Arsenal (4-2-1-3): Kepa, Laimer, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Zubimendi, Rice, Eze, Nwaneri, Gyokeres, Trossard 

Subs: Madueke, Bouaddi, Merino, Jesus, Norgaard, Martinelli, Nelson, Veira, Kiwior 

Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Mamardashvili, Frimpong, Militao, Konate, Kerkez, Gravenberch, Andre, Salah, Gakpo, Wirtz, Isak 

Subs: Jaros, Marquinhos, Szoboszlai, Ekitike, Gomez, Jones, Chiesa, Fofana, Tsimikas 

Q: Josh not a great performance from your side but they kept going and managed to secure a point. What did you make of your first home game? 

Josh McEwen “Yeah it isn’t an easy game playing the league leaders so early in my tenure here but the lads kept battling with the full support of the fans and we managed to get a point in the end. We don’t appear fit enough right now to play the style of play we want to play for a full ninety but we are picking up results and we are working on many things in training today was a new shape to add more in midfield which helped the defence a little bit and today we had a couple missing after playing ninety against Nottingham Forest who will hopefully be back at weekend but it maybe wasn’t a point we deserved but we will take it.” 

Q: Arne how have your side not walked off with a win today> 

Arne Slot “Against top teams you have to take your chances otherwise in one moment they can counter and score against you. We bombarded their goal with shots but they were either straight at the keeper or we put them wide. We had one shot hit the bar then the post and bounce on the line and then they clear these are the fine margins that cost you points and today it has cost us two points. I can not believe we didn’t score more but at the same time they have one chance and they score it is football we will just bounce back.” 

Lincoln City (4-2-3-1): Wickens, Hamer, Bradley, Montsma, Towler, Varfolomeev, McGrandles (Off 78), Ring, Jefferies, McKiernan (Off 48), Draper (Off 65) 

Subs: Guy, Jackson, Bayliss (On 48), House (On 65), Darikwa (On 78), Hackett, Street, Thorn, Parks 

Arsenal (4-2-1-3): Kepa, Laimer, Gabriel (Off 45), Pienczak, Kiwior, Norgaard, Bouaddi, Vieira, Saka (Off 45), Jesus, Madueke 

Subs: Trossard, Odegaard, Merino, Gyokeres, Zubimendi, Martinelli, Nelson (On 45), Eze, Mosquera (On 45) 

Q: John a brave effort from your team but you come up just short against Arsenal? 

John Carver “It was such an effort from my players, to play against such a talented team and give them such a close game my players can be proud because on another day we could have won that match. The intensity of our player and the way we pressed them we were fair but physical and we really caused them a lot of problems. The ads gave it their all but I think they just had that little bit more quality in the final third that got them over the line but we are proud of our performance.” 

Q: Josh not your sides best performance but your in the hat for the next round? 

Josh McEwen “Yeah it wasn’t our best performance we obviously made a lot of changes to give more players a chance but I thought a few of the young lads really shined. You have to give credit to Lincoln because when we went 1-0 up some teams would have collapsed but they kept fighting and made things really hard for us. There were a lot of things we didn’t do right or aswell as I know we can but we haven't even had a full week training together yet and I can see the lads are really trying to buy into what we want from them.” 

Arsenal (4-2-1-3): Kepa, Laimer, Gabriel, Saliba, Zinchenko (Off 63), Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard (Off 63), Saka, Gyokeres, Trossard (Off 63) 

Subs: Madueke, Pienczak (On 63), Kiwior, Eze (On 63), Nwaneri (On 63), Martinelli, Merino, Jesus, Bouaddi 

Bayer Leverkusen (3-4-2-1): Flekken, Tapsoba, Hincapie, Bade, Tella (Off 69), Palacios, Garcia (Off 69), Grimaldo, Tillman, Hofmann (Off 57), Boniface 

Subs: Kovar, Balde, Andrich, Terrier, Livramento (On 69), Fernandez, Kofane, Ben Seghir (On 57), Lewis-Skelly (On 69) 

Q: Josh a dominant win in your first Champions League game in charge. How pleased are you with that performance from your side? 

Josh McEwen “Wow what a performance from the lads today, the way that Declan (Rice) and Martin (Zubimendi) protected the defence, the way both centre backs dominated in the air, Martin (Odegaard) dictating just behind Viktor (Gyokeres) and the wingers coming inside to support or drifting wide when we need them to. It was the perfect performance we hit the post twice we had a one on one saved so it was just so amazing I am so happy with everything nobody had a bad game and now we are in a strong position to qualify for the last sixteen.” 

Q: Alex not the best result for your team. Your side failed to have a shot on target is the tie over? 

Alexander Skovgaard “No absolutely not, they have to come to our ground next week and we have confidence that we have the talent in this team to beat anybody in Europe. Today wasn’t great in the final third but everywhere else on the pitch it was even if we can work harder to find that decisive pass in the final third I am sure we can create opportunities and score goals. We are enjoying a great season we are top of Bundesliga so we know our quality we have to just show it in the second leg.” 

Crystal Palace (4-5-1): Henderson, Tchatchoua (Off 75), Guehi, Mancini, van de Ven, Pino (Off 85), Wharton, Kamada, Hughes (Off 83), Yilmaz, Lookman 

Subs: Benitez, Lacroix, Maeda (On 75), Nketiah, Riad, Doucoure (On 83), Roca, Devenny (On 85), Richards 

Arsenal (4-2-1-3): Kepa, Laimer, Saliba, Pienczak, Zinchenko (Off 72), Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard (Off 72), Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli (Off 72) 

Subs: Madueke, Gabriel, Kiwior (On 72), Eze (On 72), Nwaneri (On 72), Trossard, Merino, Jesus, Bouaddi 

Q: Vitor how costly was that huge miss by Ademola Lookman just before half time? 

Vitor Periera “It is the sort of chance you expect Ademola to score but we can’t criticise him to much the goal was open but he was under pressure and the ball bounced awkward for him but still he thinks like the rest of us that he should score but he has been so good for us this season we can’t be annoyed at him. It was a game where for large periods we were the better team but Arsenal scored two fast goals in the first half and from there we are chasing the game but we deserved to win or at least draw and we have lost football is harsh sometimes.” 

Q: Josh a really close game where Crystal Palace caused a lot of problems for your side what are your thoughts on the game? 

Josh McEwen “It was a tough game most games are in the Premier League but I thought the way we dug deep in the second half really showed the true grit and determination this team has. We still haven’t had a full week training with the lads and we don’t want to over work the lads so they have plenty of time to recover, time to work on their fitness and then obviously we try and put in there some intense sessions to try and get used to what we want from them. I’ve never managed a team that has to play this often and we have some sore legs but the lads keep finding a way to get a result and I couldn’t be prouder of them.” 

Bayer Leverkusen (3-4-2-1): Flekken, Tapsoba, Hincapie, Bade, Tella (On 85), Palacios, Garcia (On 85), Grimaldo, Tillman, Ben Seghir (On 85), Boniface 

Subs: Kovar, Balde, Andrich, Terrier (On 85), Livramento (On 85), Fernandez, Kofane, Maza, Lewis-Skelly (On 85) 

Arsenal (4-3-3): Kepa, Laimer, Gabriel, Saliba, Zinchenko, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard, Saka, Gyokeres, Nwaneri 

Subs: Madueke, Pienczak, Mosquera, Eze, Martinelli, Trossard, Merino, Jesus, Bouaddi 

Q: Alexander a victory on the night but your side are eliminated from the Champions League. A moment for your thoughts please? 

Alexander Skovgaard “I thought today that we showed our true quality. We forced them into a couple of mistakes which led to our goals but it is hard when a team just wants to keep the ball without trying to threaten your goal much but when a team is 3-0 up after the first leg why would they come and try to attack and leave themselves vulnerable. I think to beat Arsenal shows how good we are and we are disappointed that we are out but we are happy with tonight's win.” 

Q: Josh defeat on the night Gabriel picked up a yellow which means he misses the first leg. What are your thoughts on your teams display? 

Josh McEwen “We have defended fantastically over two legs and have made two individual errors that have cost us the goals today but I say to the players be brave on the ball but don’t do stupid things Martin (Zubimendi) he got caught in midfield but where was his passing options but the second goal after Oleks (Zinchenko) mistake what he was doing I don’t know he can pass to the keeper or the centre back and he just holds the ball it is frustrating but we are happy because we qualify and we know we need to improve more.” 

Arsenal (4-2-1-3): Kepa, Laimer, Gabriel, Saliba, Pienczak, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard (Off 80), Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli 

Subs: Madueke, Zinchenko, Mosquera, Eze (On 80), Nwaneri, Trossard, Jesus, Bouaddi 

Leicester City (4-2-3-1): Hein, Coulibaly, Souttar, Disasi, Thomas, Soumare, Skipp (Off 86), Fatawu, Mavididi, El Khannouss, Daka (Off 45) 

Subs: Martinelli, Okoli, Njinmah (On 45), Faes (On 86), Holden, Ayew, Page, Vestergaard 

Q: Josh before today concerns were raised about how Viktor Gyokeres is adapting to your style do you feel he answered his critics after that performance? 

Josh McEwen “Viktor is a world class striker and we are so lucky to have him here. The way he moves off the ball he creates space for other players but he is a goalscorer and our job is to do more to get that out of him but as long as the team is winning Viktor is happy and today he scored and we won last week he didn’t score but we won and again he was happy. If I wasn’t happy with him we have Gabriel (Jesus) another fantastic striker who would be playing but Viktor has been so good since I joined and when we get more time together he will get even better I’m sure of it.” 

Q: Jaime another defeat for your side leaving you six points away from safety. What are your thoughts on todays game? 

Jaime Bello “I thought we kept the ball well, we got off to a great start and had a massive chance for Daka but he hit it straight at Kepa if we scored that maybe the game would have been different but against a team like Arsenal in the position we’re in we have to score that chance. Second half I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t ask any questions of them but we showed we can control the ball against a top team.”