Coventry City news from CoventryLive as new permanent Sky Blues signing Luis Binks talks in depth about his first season and ambitions for 2024/25
“And then all of a sudden there was a ball to the back post, I have slid in and it has hit Wan-Bissaka’s arm. It’s harsh but I have run around screaming hand ball and the ref gave it. I’m claiming the assist at Wembley for winning the pen!
“So it’s three all and then we go into extra-time and I just remember running round going, ‘they’re gone.’ Someone tackled Bruno Fernandes and he stayed down for ages. We brought on another winger and he kept beating Wan-Bissaka every time, McTominay couldn’t run, albeit to be fair he’d been injured leading up to the game, and then Antony came on and didn’t do a lot and I thought that we had got them.”
Describing Victor Torp’s disallowed goal due to a VAR off-side decision against Wright in the build-up, Binks said: “We scored the fourth, which I am still saying is a goal. I ran off, running behind the goal and smashing the balls on the cones into the crowd in celebration and then Bobby Thomas came to me and said it’s going to VAR. And I’d forgot about it because obviously we don’t usually play with it so it’s not natural for me to think about it.
“I thought, ‘oh no, there obviously must be something,’ and then they didn’t give it. Honestly, the off-side was less than an inch. It took about seven minutes and yet if you look at the Euros or the Champions League, it’s about 20 seconds.”
Talking about his and his teammates’ feelings after the game, he added: “Everyone was gutted, obviously. Some boys had missed penalties but there was that feeling that what more could we do, having come that close. The fourth goal, he could have given it and no-one would have moaned. It was literally millimetres but we were proud, obviously coming back and beating Wolves before taking Man Utd to penalties.”
Binks revealed he’d put himself forward for a penalty, saying: “They asked who wants a pen, so I said, ‘I’ll have one,’ and the manager came over with a piece of paper and I was sixth. I wasn’t going to argue and say I wanted to go fourth and disrupt it. I’d have gone down the middle. The keeper’s got to be brave to stand still in front of 80,000.”
As for the immediate scenes after the final kick was taken and City had lost, he said: “I think some of the United players afterwards were embarrassed. Steve McClaren was on the pitch afterwards and saying to them, ‘get in, get in now’ and their fans had just cleared off. We were in the tunnel after and there was lots of press and the United players were disappointed.”
Asked about Antony’s unsporting gesture towards Coventry, he said: “I didn’t see it at the time because I was the furthest from them and as soon as we missed, I think Maguire was the first one and he’s turned straight to us and come and shook our hands, so it was only the boys who weren’t shaking hands who noticed it.
“And it wasn’t until I got on the coach and saw it on my phone and I was wondering when he had done it. To be fair, Maguire, Dalot, Casemiro all just came straight over and shook hands.
“I got Maguire and Dalot’s shirts. I was hovering around. I was in the tunnel and the player liaison woman for United asked if I was getting any of their shirts and I said, yes, Dalot, and she went in and got it and then Maguire was there and I asked if I could have his shirt and he said yes. They had so many shirts and the lads were asking for Fernandes and Hojlund and the woman was just bringing them out.”
Turning to the season ahead, the young centre-half was asked about the aims for 2024/25.
“For the club and me, we want to go up,” he said confidently. “We were in and around it this year but I think the cup run probably killed us because everyone was so invested in that. It was a massive high and then the next three or four games after that we lost, which I think is a bit natural, coming after that and trying to switch back to league mode.
“But this year we want to go up. Me, personally, I want to play as many games as I can and help the club get up because I honestly think we can. It’s not out of our reach to make the top two, but minimum make the top six.
“There’s talent in that squad. When I first went there I thought there might be some bad eggs in the changing room because there always is at clubs. But honestly, there’s not one. When we go for lunch there are no cliques, everyone sits together. On the bus to games it’s not like them three, those five and that’s obviously what the manager has implemented at the club, so it’s a really good environment.”
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