Every word from Ruben's press conference

The boss was also asked about Whites’ in-form striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, the large number of late goals scored and his use of substitutes.

There were also questions regarding the January transfer window, which allowed our head coach to note the unfortunate timing of losing three of our most creative players at the same time.

Here’s what Ruben had to say to the press on Friday…

Dominic Calvert-Lewin is on a great run of form, with seven goals in seven games, did you consider going for him in the summer?
“No, we have our targets, and we try to execute our targets.”

You said recently that in regard to changing your system; you now understand that to play your 3-4-3 you would in essence need to have a lot of top players. Why didn’t you realise that when you first came to the club?
“I don’t want to talk about that. I just focus on the Leeds game.”

That’s interesting, it’s not like you not to want to talk about it. Do you regret saying it, maybe?
“No, no. I don’t want to talk about it.”

I’m going to try one more time. Looking at those comments, it seems mystifying you would say that one year in. Has something changed?
“I don’t want to talk about it. You are very smart…”

There’s often a sense, particularly at home the frustration at some of the subs and maybe the fans perhaps feeling you should be taking a little bit more risk which historically is what this club has been built on, that gambling, that risk taking, and not just in the Ferguson years. What’s your view on that – do you sometimes look at games and feel you should have taken more risk?
“No, the first thing is that we are creating and scoring more than most of the teams – that is a point. Then I understand the team better than anyone and sometimes you have the supporters on your decisions, sometimes you have to do what you think and sometimes it’s hard for them to understand. I know when I look at the pitch, I can understand which player is tired, which player is going to struggle a lot if there is a one-against-one all the time. I just try to protect the team and just try to win games, and sometimes it’s the best substitution and sometimes it’s the wrong substitution. I just try to do my best, but you say that – I think there is one team that score more goals than us? We create a lot, we have more shots than anyone. If we have something from last year, I think we improve the way we attack, but we need to improve the way we defend.”

You only have one game a week this year and you’re running with a smaller squad than you would if you were in Europe, is one of the factors that people need to recognise is that you’ve not always had loads of options on your bench?
“I don’t like to talk about that, because it sounds like an excuse. It was bad luck to lose Amad, Bryan especially, and Bruno at the same time. They had more creation in the opportunities than the rest of the team. If you lose the three of them at the same time, any team in the world would struggle.”

And now Mount?
“And now Mount. But not in everyone, just focus on the three guys for who you have all the data, and you can sense that those three guys create most of the chances for us and if you lose not one, but all three at the same time, of course we are going to struggle. Then you have to put set-pieces in that, who is taking the set-pieces? Amad, Bryan and Bruno. Everything is combined and we just need to acknowledge it and it’s getting closer to having all these three players [back]. The importance is to understand why we struggle in these last two or three games in creation and quality: I think it’s clear.”

If a player was to leave this month would you expect them to be replaced this month?
“Guys, we already spoke about that. If you look at our squad, I think it’s impossible for someone to leave but they need to talk with Jase [Wilcox].”

Is it too simplistic to say that that the attacking area of the pitch is functioning well because of the investment and perhaps the other areas of the pitch aren’t functioning as well because they haven’t had the same investment?
“We could be better with the squad that we have, defending, and not suffering goals like we suffered in the last minute of the first half against Wolves, that can change the dynamic of the game. Of course, we are scoring more because we have different characteristics that help us to be more creative, but if you look at the way we defend, it’s not just the defenders it’s the defending as a team, it’s urgency. I know that we could be better in that department without any investment.”