Head coach Steve McClaren said that ahead of the game against Liverpool today, he felt a win would see the confidence come flooding back and having secured an unexpected by justified two nil victory over Jurgen Klopp’s boys earlier this evening, that’s exactly what McClaren is now hoping happens.
Speaking to the The Mirror in his post game press conference a very happy gaffer said that this ‘had to be the beginning’ for the club in terms of getting the season going properly now, as he couldn’t have been more pleased to see us take victory courtesy of an own goal by Martin Skrtel and a late Gini Wijnaldum goal.
‘We`ve come to this position about three times when you think the penny has dropped. And again you`d like to say this is the beginning. You have to work and you have to work really hard – crawl back into the dressing room. We have to maintain that. We grew into the game, you could see our lack of confidence at the start. But I thought we deserved to win.’
McClaren went on to say that he felt the fans would’ve seen a side that cared today.
‘The players care and there is desire – you saw that today. What we`ve been through they will learn from that. We said at half-time, even the supporters are gradually growing into the game. There`s always a plan. When you lose, the plan goes wrong. We talked about the workrate, we kept compact and when you keep your discipline you get results.’
In further quotes carried by the Shields Gazette, McClaren also said that he’d told Gini Wijnaldum and Moussa Sissoko that they would have to work harder than anyone else on the pitch if we were to carry out the game plan, and he was pleased to see them take that on board.
‘It`s all right putting a plan in place but it`s all about players – the players` desire, discipline, concentration and focus to do the work. Today, we talked about the workrate and talked about how the two hardest-working players had to be Sissoko and Wijnaldum in the system we play. They did that, we pressed from the front, we worked as a team, kept compact and when you keep your discipline, when you keep your focus, when you compete and win your duels, you get results.’
The Northern Echo carry.
‘It`s been a tough two weeks. The team has taken a lot of criticism, along with everyone else, and rightly so. We`ve no qualms about that. We`ve had to stay quiet, and the only response you can give is on the field. They`ve given that today. It was a deserved win. We said before the game that the one thing we had to do was outwork Liverpool, and if you work hard and do that, you`ve got a chance of winning. I thought we showed what we are capable of, and we hope that`s the lightbulb moment that turns things around. If we do that week in, week out, it`ll keep the crowd with us and even if we don`t always get the right result, it`ll give us a good chance of picking up points.’
There is some clear relief as well.
‘I don`t think it has anything to do with the job – it`s about belief. We really believe in this team and these players. They`re young, and at times confidence can be knocked and drained easily. In terms of me personally, it just saves me tonight from banging my head against the wall and wondering what to do the next week. It`s kind of saying, ‘That`s us – that`s what we are`. We`ve been that before – do it today, and do it next week.’
Following on from the Crystal Palace debacle, he also admitted he’d considered changing the whole side, such was his frustration.
‘I`d considered leaving out every one of them. We reviewed the last two weeks and weren`t happy. That was stated, but the response from everybody has been great. We`ve had a tough week in terms of looking at various things and changing personnel. There was kind of a lightbulb moment on Thursday evening, and we just said, ‘Look, more or less that team that started before the last two was collecting points and playing well`. It was just a case of people working hard and outrunning opponents. We`d pointed out why we lost the last two games, and we gave everybody an opportunity to put that right, and they`ve done that.’
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