Ange Postecoglou spoke about plenty of topics on Friday afternoon at his press conference ahead of Tottenham's Premier League match at West Ham on Sunday and we've got a full transcript with every single word he said.
Spurs have barely had a moment to enjoy their Europa League semi-final first leg win against Bodo/Glimt as a derby awaits on Sunday at the London Stadium in the Premier League as both teams look to avoid finishing 17th in the table this season. Postecoglou is set to make changes aplenty to his starting XI with the crunch second leg of their European semi-final in Norway on Thursday night.
The Spurs boss provided the latest information on the injuries to James Maddison and Dominic Solanke picked up in the 3-1 victory in midweek as well as a new update on Lucas Bergvall's ankle and captain Son Heung-min's foot.
Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Postecoglou. Here's the full transcript from the press conference at Hotspur Way.
What’s the latest team news?
Yeah, Lucas obviously looks like the injury is significant enough to probably keep him out for the rest of the season. Yeah, just tweaked ligaments in his ankle, so he is out. Dom is not too bad, still sore from last night but we don’t think it’s anything too serious. Obviously a doubt for the weekend, but we’re hoping it will settle down pretty quickly. Madders is a bit more of a concern because it’s the knee. We’ve sent him for a scan and just waiting to hear the outcome.
And Son?
Sonny is working hard. He’s progressing and still doing individual (training), but he’s out on the grass, feels better every day and we’ll see how he’s going for Thursday and if he is available for Thursday.
What was the feeling in the dressing room at full-time?
I think the lads were pretty pleased with the way we played and obviously what you want after the first game is if you can possible get an advantage, it’s always a good thing but what you do want is to make sure you put in a strong performance. Like with the Frankfurt game, I don’t think we got the reward our performance deserved but when you put in a performance it gives you a belief and confidence about what is to come. It’s halfway in the tie but we’ve given ourselves a good chance of progressing if we can perform the same way.
A lot of players have had criticism this season obviously because of the league form, but were you proud of what you saw from them last night in some of those performances?
Yeah, I think all, all the way through Europe, I think we've hit some really good levels and played some really good football, faced some difficult challenges and overcome them in a in a real kind of composed manner. Yeah, I was super proud, obviously it was a difficult day for us at the weekend and you never want to sort of dismiss those experiences, you need to learn from them, they need to make you angry and disappointed, and we certainly were after the Liverpool game.
I didn't let the players off the hook with that, but at the same time we had to refocus pretty quickly in what was a really important game last night and I was really pleased with the players' mentality which has been really strong all the way through the European campaign.
You also mentioned how much much you enjoyed the atmosphere and the supporters, the Wolves manager goes to the pub every time Wolves win, is that something you'd consider if Spurs end up winning the Europa League, going down the high road, down the pub with the fans?
I'd have to be careful about what pub I walked into, I reckon, mate, at the moment, but our fans were brilliant last night, and again, throughout the whole European campaign, it does make a massive difference. It certainly does, you know, I don't think that early goal was by accident. The boys, I even felt it when they came out back in from the warm up, you know, they could feel the energy in the stadium, they walk out, sea of white, singing at the top of their lungs and it's no coincidence that we got off to a great start, so they played a massive role last night and they've got a big role to play for us for the rest of this season.
Last night and certainly the second leg against Frankfurt, you've adopted a style that we haven't seen much of in the Premier League, perhaps more willing to give up possession at times as well, is that a style we could perhaps see more going forward in Premier League football?
No, I don't think so. I think like I said, you know, for a game sometimes it's just what the game needs and Europe's very different to the Premier League and what you face in the Premier League. I think we were actually quite composed on the ball last night. We rarely gave up possession.
I think we were probably less aggressive than we usually are with the ball. We went over the top a couple of times, but that was with good effect, it wasn't sort of just blazing into spaces. It was things that we designed and I thought we showed great composure on the ball, we slowed it down at times last night, which I think we needed to, because Bodo really like a high tempo game and I thought the lads handled it really well.
I thought our pressing for the most part was really good too because again it didn't really allow them to get into much of a rhythm and you know that means they got into our box two times, I think in the whole game,. So, yeah, I think overall it was a really good sort of execution of our plan.
You said last night that you saw more of the best of Yves Bissouma, what does that look like for you?
Well, what you saw last night. Really committed to fulfilling his role. I thought him and Rodri had key roles last night, because again, Bodo decided to, with their two advanced midfielders, to get into little pockets of space and and cause problems and I thought Biss and Rodri just worked really hard to to deny them that space and then on the ball again I thin both of them showed the composure that we know they have.
Biss is such a god technical player, particularly in tight areas. I've said before, at times the game just passes him by and I feel like he needs to make more of an impact in games, and last night he did that, and when he's at his best, that's what he does, he gets himself to the action, he gets himself to where we need him and you know, it's a credit to him because obviously he hasn't played a lot recently, but he was really important for us last night.
Can we expect plenty more changes then for the West Ham game?
Yeah, likely, I think it's important for us, because obviously it's a quick turnaround and we've had our issues this year, we continue to have issues because it's just the way our season's going, and at the same time, it just goes to show you how important it is that the players who are playing are ready to go, like with Biss last night.
We'll make changes to make sure that we put in a strong performance. We want to put in a strong performance, we were disappointed with last week, but also give some players a rest and also get some players up to speed because who knows who we're going to need for next Thursday night.
You've been so unfortunate with innocuous training ground injuries this season, what happened with Lucas, was it just an awkward turn or a tackle?
Yeah, just something you see all the time. It wasn't a tackle, he was on his own, he just went to turn and just his ankle gave away, so it's just one of those things. you know, similarly to Dom and a couple of others who we've had in training were just just things that happen.
Obviously he's a teenager, with a potential European final on the cards, what do you say to someone so young who clearly must have been absolutely crushed?
Yeah, hugely disappointed. Well, there's not much you can say except for, you know, I think every experience in life and football makes you stronger, makes you appreciate what you have. He's got an unbelievable career ahead of him for sure, but I say to the guys all the time, you know, we've got to take what's before us now because we can all assume that it might happen next year or the year after, but you just don't know.
Sometimes life works in mysterious ways and it's denied Lucas the opportunity to play in a big game last night He's been a massive contributor to us, but I've got no doubt he'll come back stronger from that. Sometimes we look at footballers and their careers and we think they've got it all good, but every player has to go through setbacks at different times for different reasons and it's all part of what makes them stronger and allows them to grow and I'm sure it will with Lucas.
With Pedro Porro's quality on the ball, with the diagonal balls and crosses, what's it like to have a playmaker but at right-back?
Really important and it's something we're continually working on to get him on the ball in more key areas and also work on his positioning a little bit as well. He does have such quality with his ability to hit the longer pass, but also the quality of his crosses, , every time he puts the ball in the box, whether that's a set piece or just a cross in general, it causes oppositions problems.
He's played more than anyone else this year, he's been unbelievable for us, not just in his durability which has been important because with so many players going down, we've needed at least a few to be durable like he has, but also the quality he's shown.
You've made a lot of changes in the Premier League around these European games and you've not got the results in the Premier League, but you have got the results in Europe, do you feel a sense that even though it's not working in the Premier League, this is working to get the club to the the goal if it wants?
Look, I just don't think we had any other choice. We can try and protect players, but it's just the way our season's gone and even in recent times I think we've managed the squad really well where all our players are in good physical conditions. The injuries we've had recently are all stuff that you just can't, they're out of your control.
We can't put players at risk in the league when we know what's the importance of what we have in front of us in terms of the Europa League, and like I said, balancing that off with guys having to get game time as well.
So, there's no doubt when you're making seven, eight or nine changes that I make, that has an effect on the team in the Premier League for sure, because you're usually playing against teams that are rested, that are settled, and it's a massive ask, but I think it's been necessary. It's painful, unfortunately, but hopefully we get to reap the rewards of that.
It was a tough day for Archie Gray at Anfield, how's he reacted this week and how much would he learn from that type of experience?
He'll learn enormously and again that's another example of no career is linear. Just because you start well doesn't mean it always goes well, there are always challenges for young players. Archie's been outstanding for us this year, and he was disappointed with the way the Liverpool game went, but he's cracked down at training now and he'll get another opportunity and he'll grow from that.
I think he'll learn from that. I think the more we expose our young players to those kind of environments, we've seen the growth in others and including him this year and I've got no doubt he'll come back stronger than ever and again it's all part of the process of becoming the footballer he wants to be.
Ahead of the Tamworth game on an artificial surface, you trained in the dome, will you do that again ahead of the game in Bodo?
No, no because they're all kind of different, so we'll just travel there the day before and train on their surface because they're all kind of a little bit different from each other and it's more just the familiarity even with the dimensions of the pitch and stuff, so we'll just train the day before there.