Emery - What we spoke about at half-time

There was a notable shift in our performances before and after the half-time whistle during our Europa League clash with Sporting CP.

Having struggled to impose ourselves in the first 45 minutes, we attacked with much more intent after the break to extend our winning run to 11 games in a row.

So what did Unai Emery say to his side at half-time?

“The match is 90 minutes and different things happened tactically and individually in the game,” our head coach said. “In the game, the team deserved to win this match. But the first half is not clear for us. 

“The balance for the two teams, I think there are a lot of chances to score. And in the second half, I think, step-by-step, we imposed our jobs and we imposed our good play in the second half.

“For us it's very important, because we want to finish first in this group and at the moment, the other team who is with us is Sporting Clube de Portugal and we are happy. But also, for continuing our process with the players, different players and also with the rhythm with every player in all the matches we are playing, I think there are positive things today here in this work.

“Each match is a very big opportunity to improve things and one thing is this. We spoke in the dressing room before the start of the match today about our objectives. And one objective is this. But the most important thing is that when we were in the dressing room at half-time, we spoke. 

“We cannot impose our ideas in the first 45 minutes but in the second half we have the chance and the opportunity to change the result and continue in our way, thinking only to win this match and to improve things in the second half. I think we did that in the 45 minutes of the second half. But we need to continue finding the solution for us to be better in the first halves.”