United 1 PSG 3: Ole's press conference
TranscriptIn the post-match media briefing, journalists honed in on Fred's red card and PSG's behaviour at Old Trafford...
What did you make of that, and do you regret not taking Fred off given what happened? "It's not a foul so... Fred played really disciplined in the second half. And when he makes a takcle like this, you can't fault the boy. We spoke at half time, "be sensible", and he was. But, of course, when you know the decision the referee made, you look back and say maybe you should have. There was no reason, from his performance, to take him off. He was lucky to stay on in the first half but that had no bearing on that the referee made a mistake there, that's allowed. But Fred knows he shouldn't put his head towards someone although he doesn't touch him." Do you not think though, with Fred playing a dangerous line in the first half, and with the PSG players sensing that and really doing they're best to provoke him. Wouldn't it have been a wiser decision to replace him, considering your options with Pogba and van de Beek? "You cannot say Ander tried to provoke him, that's a bit unfair to Ander. I thought Fred kept his cool exceptionally well in the second half and was unlucky by the decision by the referee. You can say, in hindsight, if you have 11 men, of course, that would've been better but who's to say?" What you said about the PSG players' conduct, do you think it was quite unpattable how they surrounded the referee and their reaction to the Fred incident, as you say, he didn't seem to touch him that much? "I don't want to comment on my oppsitions' players, that's not my job. That's Thomas' job. I've tried to refrain from that, and the game has gone, so... My players know my values and what I want from them. I want honest players. Of course, Scotty could've gone down when Neymar grabs his gentler parts as well but I don't want them to. We've seen that before at Old Trafford, some teams that drop very easily when they get touched." You created enough chances to get the point you neeeded but you didn't get a point. How hard is the situation now going into the final game in the group? "We have our destiny in our own hands. We know that we're playing against a top team, obviously. Lepzig, in the semifinal last year, but we are developing into a better team as well. Tonight, very pleased with the performance, apart from that we need to be more clinical in these types of games. Big games, most of the time, are decided with small margins and tonight they were against us." With finishing, I could see the frustration on your face with the Martial miss... "Yeah, I thought they were there for the taking for us in the beginning of the second half. Until they scored, we were the better team and most likely to get the important 2-1. But, it wasn't to be, and we just need to burst this off us and be ready for Tuesday. But before then, we go down to London, against West Ham, so a great week ahead of us." Just on the chance that Anthony missed, what did he do wrong there. Obviously, he put the ball over the ball, but in terms of techhnique... Also, I was wondering how you thought the attack worked with Cavani, Martial and Rashford teaming up for the first time? "I thought they posed PSG a threat. I think we always got the pace against teams, individual quality as well. They're getting used to each other, so that was positive. Missing chances happens, and it's just a matter of running thorugh the ball and keeping it low. Sometimes you miss and that's allowed." Did you go out of your way to talk to Fred at half time about how he might have to be careful in the second half? "Yeah, we spoke to him at half time and told him to be sensible and I thought he played really well. He was very sensible in the second half. He covers ground, he gets up to men without trying to tackle. The tackle he gets a yellow for is nowhere near a foul if you see that again, it's a mistake by the referee. Human errors are allowed and I can't sit here and complain about that now. I thought Fred was unlucky there but he was probably not come off in the first half." United were the better side in the first stage of the second half and suddenly the team collapsed. PSG took advantage and won the game. Where would you put the blame? "I thought we played well, and I don't put any blame. I don't want to sit here and blame people. We know we could've done something better and it was decided by some fine margins. Their goal, from a corner kick, it almost looks offside. It's not even an inch in it. There's no blame culture in this team, I have to say. We all look at ourselves and we know we could've done bits and bops better but I thought we, in general, played a good game and it was a good game of football." What do you think of Rashford on the right? "He's taken that role really well. I've been very pleased with Marcus on there. Hhe's proving very efficient on the right and through the middle. He's developing really well." Dissapointing to lose initiative "Didn't expect that we didn't have to go to Leipzig without getting a result. We could've done better but it was always going to come down to the last game. We're in a good position, play saturday, recover and be ready for Tuesday."