One thing that Steven Gerrard couldn’t be accused of was his lack of media savvy, in front of the cameras he knew what to say and when to say it, but rarely did he not hit the right tone with a post-match interview.
It’s a lesson that Giovanni van Bronckhorst and James Tavernier could do with following after their comments on our defeat to Ajax, both answering set-up questions and playing straight into the interviewer’s hands. They got the headlines that they wanted.
The manager’s comments about Ajax having six days off to prepare is, in fairness, an acceptable one to make. It’s basic common sense, Ajax looked fresher because they were fresher but Gio is old enough and experienced enough not to answer the way that he did.
Tavernier wasn’t much better, when asked about his side’s performance, as reported by The Rangers Review, he said:
“We have to be better especially in this competition.
“We obviously want to do better and I believe in the first half we could have fought a bit more and (showed) more hunger in the first half.
“We were better in the second half but in these games you can’t wait for 45 minutes because you will get punished.
“We never want to get beat. We are a club known for trophies and winning games and we did well last season getting to the Europa League final and playing against big teams.
“We wanted to do that this season but we’ve not met the mark. We will learn from it.”
Now, in his next answer, he retracts the “hunger” claim, but it is already out there. That’s the headline. Whether he believes or not is a different matter but all he’s done there is stitch himself up and his teammates.
Praise the opponents, touch on the players that are missing and the task that James Sands and Leon King were faced with in their first game together but don’t mention something that can be used to add more pressure to a squad and manager that is already feeling the heat.
Almost immediately, Tavernier realised what he had said but, like his penalty in the 85th minute, the damage had already been done.