 Chris, thanks so much for doing this. We're a few days on from the city game now, so how do you reflect on what happened at the Etihad? Yeah, I think it was, obviously, a difficult afternoon. Extreme weather was a contributing factor. It was definitely warm and, you know, we're going to concede a lot of possession against City, so I think that element was tough, but, yeah, on the football side, I think it was always going to be a tough game, just going away to the Etihad. Home or away is going to be a big ask, sort of get anything from, and, yeah, I think we didn't disgrace ourselves by any stretch, but I think on the day we just came up against a team that was, yeah, on a much bigger level, and I think that's the reality of it, and I think, yeah, we won't be the first team this year to go there and, you know, concede four goals away. But, no, we tried to stick with it, and I think that's a credit to the character, you know, we didn't let our head shop, and, yeah, it was a difficult afternoon, but certainly, you know, yeah, we're not too down about ourselves for it. You mentioned the weather there. You've always played, you've always done pre-season in June, July, been away on warm weather training at different parts of the year. Was it very different on Saturday though? They say that was the hottest day in Premier League history. Yeah, it was warm. It does play its part. Even a training session, you know, like the weather's been really hot recently, and I think you could do the same training session on a cold day, and it does feel very different. You know, it kind of zaps the life out of you a little bit. And of course, when, like I said, in a game where you're going to be defending a lot and having to move and, you know, it can be quite exhausting compared to, you know, a cooler day. But, yeah, of course, pre-season's there to do, you know, to prepare you for that and to sort of get used to that warm weather. But yeah, there's no denying it. It does make it that bit harder to sort of come up against them. And I realised that you go into every game thinking you can or believing you can win or certainly get something out of that game. But then once a trip to City is done with them being so very, very good, do you dwell on it as much as you would another game? Is it just like any other game in that, you know, you approach the aftermath as you would any, or do you look to just write it off quickly? Yeah, I think that's one thing the manager said straight after the game, you know, no hangover from it. We don't dwell on it. We're not negative about the result because, you know, they're a team that's on a completely different level and there's no reason to be down in the dumps of our you know, we went with the game plan, we at times executed the game plan really well and certainly in the second half we looked a lot more, you know, compact and a lot more organised but ultimately when you've got players that they've got in their team they're going to get a better review in certain moments and yeah, it was literally felt like that. But yeah, of course I think when you've got games where you're playing teams in and around you there's probably more of a negative when you come away on the back end of the bad result as opposed to playing in a Liverpool or Man City, something like that but ultimately, you know, we go into every game and we want to try and, you know, win every game or get a result from every game so I think it's not like we went away to the Etihad and, you know, just almost accepted defeat before we started it wasn't like that at all but of course when the game is done and the result is done I don't think there's any positive in, you know, dwelling on it too much and letting it sort of drag us down going into the next game. Fair play. And I realise none of you defenders were going around high-fiving each other after conceding four at the end of it but to restrict Erling Harlan to just the eight touches on his home debut when there's when he is a beast when there is so much attention on him and he was so keen to impress did that feel like a big positive? I think it feels like a positive, yeah I must admit during the game I didn't almost appreciate how quiet he was in that moment, I think yeah, like I said, when you're involved in the game or when you're focused you're not really aware of who's getting the touches and of course you can feel that some players are quite involved but at the same time I wasn't aware of how quiet he was so I think, yeah, when you come away and you hear bits about how quiet he was and how few passes he had of course that does make you feel good about yourself because he is someone that possesses so much quality and he's a striker that's got a lot of attributes to his game so I think to be able to restrict him to, yeah, very little involvement in that match is obviously a positive but yeah, at the same time there's, I think that's the problem you keep someone quiet and then suddenly De Bruyne, suddenly Foden you know, Silver Greedish in the second half become more involved in stuff and I think that's the difficult thing when you play teams like that I think they've got that many good players that unless you keep all of them quiet then it's going to be a tough day to do at least it's nice and straight forward this weekend, you've got a team in awful form yeah, it's going to be another tough game you know, when the fixtures got released it was always going to be a tough month for us but yeah, to get a win on the opening day was very positive we've gone to the Etihad and yeah, kind of tick that one off as such and then you've got Arsenal at home and back in front of our home fans so it's certainly a game that we're looking forward to and we're hoping to get a result from but yeah, they're obviously a very good side started season really well made some very good signings so I think yet again we'll look to make them players quiet and hopefully get a positive result as much as the manager wants you to put your own stamp on this game he also wants you to make it uncomfortable for Arsenal coming here and every team coming here what are the keys to making opponents uncomfortable yeah, I think there's been a big focus on it certainly this season it's going to be different to our season where we're not going to have loads at a ball in a lot of games against some top top sides who will have a lot of balls so we need to almost find a different way to, like you mentioned, make it uncomfortable for teams to come here although teams might have a lot of ball every time there is a duel to be won that's where we come alive and I think that's been the focus that the manager has sort of given us that no team comes here and has it all their own way and I think we've shown that the first game of the season we seem like we've frustrated the life out villa and we were you know, up for it in a lot of moments in the game and won a lot of second balls put a lot of tackles in and I think that's the ugly Sabiney speedish here and yeah, Saturday is going to be no different when you describe things like that the image that comes in my head is sort of a rousing John Terry doing a Churchillian type speech in the dressing room just as everyone goes out to roll here to, you know, everyone knows what's needed before they come out for the first whistle but does someone deliver those final, last, important words is it always the same person? Yeah, to be honest I think the dressing room is quite vocal certainly in a couple of minutes before we head out I think it's one thing that you know, everyone gets in the changing room everyone, you know, goes around half-arvin gene each other up there's a lot of big voices in there and I think everyone contributes towards that whether you're starting or not starting I think there's always an importance to, you know, get the changing room going and, you know, and you do feel it I think if you're in a dressing room which is quite a choir it's difficult to suddenly go out and go at war so, you see I think it comes from a lot of people of course there's players that are more vocal than others but I think a lot of lads contribute to a quite upbeat changing room before the game Football's supposed to be fun, Chris, you're describing it as war I think it's got to be like that this year, certainly for us Fair enough Take me back a couple of years to your first runner games here at Bournemouth because you had a similar sort of nightmarish run you had heavy defeats by Liverpool Arsenal also lost to City I think there might have been another big team in there as well How big a shock to the system was it do you remember? Yeah, I think of course joining a Premier League team you don't quite appreciate a step up until you're living in it and you're out there on the pitch and you're experiencing it and I think it's one thing that I certainly came away from and it makes you realise how good a level it is, you know I've spoken before about the biggest thing that I've noticed and going up to the Premier League is just, you know, a tiny mistake can just get punished like that and yeah you've got such amazing players and top teams at this level that you don't really get away with anything so yeah, of course when you play these teams it's important to get results but realistically there's going to be games where you don't and I think the message is to stick with it and don't go in your shell and don't sort of lose faith in what we want to do this year and and I think if we do that we'll be fine. And having been relegated in the first full season you had here are there any lessons that are useful to take from that campaign into this one at all? Yeah, I think there's a few lads obviously that have been in the team when we got relegated last time we've experienced the lows of it and how tough it is to get back into the Premier League so I think we can sort of use that experience to benefit us but ultimately a different team, it's different ideas, different tactics a different manager so of course it's going to feel different and be different but I think we're all focused on the task at hand we know it's going to be a big ask but I think in the first game of the season we can go head to head with teams like Villa and teams like that and we've got to take real confidence in that going forward. And bigger teams in your time here Bournemouth have beaten Spurs here Man United here, can you describe this place on occasions like that? Yeah, definitely I think in front of a home crowd here I think it does feel so much more positive I think naturally when you're playing at home and you've got the home atmosphere it can be tricky once teams get momentum and I think for how it's like that going away we've got to make sure it's like that at home that when you feel the momentum you feel the crowd behind you that you make the most of it and I think there's been some special nights here certainly my Bournemouth debut was against Chelsea I think it was 4-0 4-0 that day so it just shows that you've got top teams and there's no reason why you can't beat teams like that and we've done it in the past and 100% this year will continue to do that and that's what I mean you've got to go into every game with one aim and that's the winning game I think I misread the results when I said that your start was horrible 4-0 that was an extraordinary day wasn't it? Yeah, it was a couple of days after I joined I think I joined on the 21st of Jan and I think that would have been a couple of days after so sort of coming in and you beat Chelsea 4-0 at home and you think Jesus, this is easy if only it could be like this every week Yeah, there's been some really special nights here of course there they're not in a forest game here last year it just shows the importance that fans can have and you know when you're at home and we're all behind you we need to make it a fortress this year and I think we're certainly looking forward to doing that I've hopped back to the previous time born with you in the Premier League you mentioned yourself a lot has changed since then how much have you changed as a player and as a man since you were first in the Premier League? Yeah, I think like a lot of people's career has been a bit of a roller coaster a lot of highs and lows a lot of injuries like I mentioned I had two knee operations in the year we got relegated which was difficult you know I think it was after the restart sort of ready to kick on for that final stretch of games and I had to have a operation on my meniscus which was tough and there's moments like that of course last season you know not being in the team and not being in the squad and then suddenly you start the first two games of a Premier League season you know it is the highs and lows of a footballer but yeah like I said I'm really enjoying myself at the minute obviously being back in the team and yeah I do feel like I've grown as a person I've experienced a lot on the international stage playing in the Euros in high pressure games like that and games where you're qualifying for the World Cup and bits like that and I think all of them experiences alongside not being in the team and stuff like that I do feel like it's made me mentally a lot more stronger and resilient and yeah hopefully I can sort of show that this year I know it's not all been glorious but 2022 winning promotion playing Premier League matches qualifying for a World Cup as well it's not been too bad this year so far is it? Yeah I think that's sometimes when you get caught up in a moment I'm not on the team I'm on the bench, I'm frustrated I'm tough to watch your teammates out there on a Saturday and you don't feel involved but when you take a step back and certainly over the summer when you've got a bit of time to reflect on things and what you've achieved at 24 years old I think when you do that it makes you appreciate what a good position you're in and how there's been a lot of positives to it I'm always one where I'm quite harsh on myself and I reflect a lot on games and I over-analyze stuff in certain moments and like I said when you're in that moment you can feel like it's quite negative your career's not going the way you want it to but like I said taking a step back it makes you appreciate yeah things have been alright and there has been a lot of positives in my career today I think it's better not being too down on yourself because of course being your own worst critic can be a very positive thing because it drives you on but it can also if you get it wrong it can send you the wrong way as well so has experience helped you do you still feel you've got work to do on that front? yeah I think it's something that I feel like I've improved a lot within myself and I think my first couple of games in professional football when I was at Brentford I remember I used to watch every single game back and analyse every game even watch some training sessions back I think because I was new to it I almost wanted to soak as much information as possible and I think over a period of time you sometimes realise that that's not necessarily the best thing to do of course it's important to look back at bits and games because you can see that also positive things you do in the game but I think over analysing and being too down on the back end of a bad result I think that can sort of drag you down and almost lose sight of the next game and I think in this league like I said there's no point in being too negative and too down because suddenly you've got another tough game in five or six days time I think I've definitely got better at putting the game to one side whether it's a good game or a bad game and not being too high and not being too low and just kind of trying to take the rough of the smooth and such It's like everything isn't it I could train a hundred hours a week or whatever but I wouldn't know what I'm doing and the training wouldn't be as successful and useful as it should be if I had an expert and equally with analysis you can analyse things the wrong way and focus on the wrong thing so is this stuff that you've just taught yourself and have learnt a better way or have you had some guidance as well Yeah, I think I think certainly here we always analyse games we do unit meetings we look back at it's almost pointless in a way to watch defending clips of us around our defensive box because they don't really need to be in that so I think a lot of the time we have unit meetings where it'll be defenders only and we'll look back at defensive moments and I'm sure the attackers do it where they look back at attacking transitions and bits like that and I think all the information that they'd want you to see will be in their meetings so I think anything is important certain things that you're not doing right or tactically you're not aware of something they'll always be the first one to tell you so I think I've kind of got that mindset where of course I want to look back at games and watch the highlights back see if I've done better in certain moments but I think anything that's that important and if there's a message that they want you to see then they'll show you and ultimately then you're getting the information that is needed as opposed to looking at negatives that we don't really need to look at and for the same reason switching off is so important isn't it because otherwise you just drive yourself mad let me ask you one final thing about a new teammate Neto have you been grilling him about the stars of Barcelona and what you can learn from that side of things do you know what I was a bit disappointed that I didn't make his best ever father side team I fought my performance in a small game the other day was good enough to be in that but I suppose when you got likes of Danny Alves Leonel Messi players like that that are featured in it it's going to be a big ass to get in it but you know someone has had an amazing career to play one game for Barcelona it's unbelievable never mind how many games he has played and I think he's someone that can be very beneficial around the place and the experiences that he's had both internationally and you know at the top top level working with the best staff best players out there I think you can use his guidance and to be fair to him he's been very vocal around the place and training a couple of times he's pulled me and told me a few bits about playing out and stuff like that and I think it's important that you take on someone like him, the knowledge he's passing on because like I said he's someone that's experienced a lot of things in his career