The defender continued his outstanding breakthrough season with another pitch-perfect performance to limit the attacking forces of Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho down United’s left as Wolves walked away from Manchester with all three points for the first time since February 1980 thanks to Joao Moutinho’s impressive low drive.
On a historic win at Old Trafford
“It was a fantastic way to start the year and it was fully deserved. We dominated the game from the start and credit to all the lads for putting in that fantastic performance.
“Of course, it’s nice to go into the history books. The manager told us at the start of the game to come here and not be afraid, be brave on the ball, and take good risks.
“We did that, and it came off. Thankfully we got a good goal at the end and a deserved win.”
On learning from Moutinho
“He's a brilliant leader. On the pitch you can see his quality. He runs like he’s a 21-year-old, so I don’t think his age makes a difference to his performance at all.”
On a sixth clean sheet in eight matches
“The clean sheets and conceding fewer goals comes from the whole team and from the front. We work a lot on defending from the front and from the strikers. Everyone knows their roles and is very comfortable.
“When Fabio [Silva] comes on for Raul [Jimenez], he knows what to do and how to defend. Credit to everyone, not just the defenders and the goalkeeper.
“But it was a very important save from Jose [Sa] at the end. Sometimes a goalkeeper might not have much to do, but when they do get that moment, they have to stay fully concentrated, and he did that.
“It shows the sign of a top-class keeper.”
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— Wolves (@Wolves) January 3, 2022
On losing Saiss to the Africa Cup of Nations
“He’s been brilliant. Him and Conor have been fantastic this season and have helped me so much as well, so he will be a big miss, but we’ll see what happens.
“We’ll start preparing after this game as it’s the first time we’re going to lose him, but we’ll go from there. There's fantastic defenders and players in this team, so whoever is playing in that position can do a job.
“We’ve built a fantastic base and foundation where everyone knows their roles. When they do get subbed in, at any position, they know exactly what to do and they do it like-for-like with the player they’ve replaced.
“But there’s still a lot more to come from us and when he comes back he’ll come back into the side, but we need to be ready.”
On his progression this season
“It’s great. I’m always proud of myself and I’ve done well, but it doesn't stop here. I need to keep going.
“There’s a lot for me to improve at and get better at, so I need to keep doing it. Even for the more senior players, everyone can improve, and that’s what the manager’s message is – to not stop, because we know we have more in us to get better, for ourselves and for the team.”
