Ange Postecoglou has spoken to the media ahead of Tottenham's Europa League encounter against AZ Alkmaar. Spurs have made an excellent start to the competition so far and they will be looking to make it three wins out of three when they take on their Dutch opponents on Thursday evening.
Postecoglou wasn't the only person in front of the media as Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven joined his head coach in previewing the showdown against the Eredivisie side. One of the main talking points going into the press conference was in regards to Son Heung-min's fitness.
Having only just returned to match action last weekend, the Spurs captain was not present for training at Hotspur Way on Wednesday morning. You can find out what Postecoglou had to say on Son and a number of other topics in his press conference below.
Son Heung-Min missed training, is he okay and what is the other injury news?
Sonny was a bit sore after the weekend, he was never going to be involved tomorrow anyway because he missed a bit. So we are just leaving him out of tomorrow and see how he is from there. Djed Spence trained individually today. Everyone else was out there
Did Troy Parrott get a proper chance at Tottenham?
It is good to see Troy doing well, I think he had a great loan spell in the Dutch League last year. He is looking like he started his AZ career in positive fashion too so it is great.
In terms of getting a chance, sometimes in football it is just about timing. We have a striker here mate who was at Chelsea and Liverpool early in his career and he has done alright since. There is a pathway forward for everybody.
West Ham was a feisty game. Do you like to see that from your side?
I don’t know if that is an accurate description of what I saw. That sort of incident with [Mohammed] Kudus. Apart from that I don’t think it was that feisty a game, I don’t think there were too many cards outside that. I’m not really sure what we did wrong. Yeah there was a coming together, but a couple of our players had hit the deck by then so you would like to think we would go in and at least protect.
I thought our players controlled themselves, obviously the FA felt differently. I didn’t feel there was anything edgy in that game at all. Just a player who lost his composure for a second, Kudus, which I think is not really like him anyways when I’ve seen him as a player but it happens. For the most part, I thought there was a fair bit of restraint. If there was anything more, there is plenty of video evidence to charge players with. I guess the look of it is not great but I don’t think it was anything untoward.
Are your team are a well set European team as Premier League football is very different to European football?
We have started the competition really well so far, different challenges in both games. The first game at home we had a player sent off in the first few minutes which provided its own unique challenges for us.
Whenever you play away in Europe like we did the last game, Ferencvaros, again a different challenge and we have exposed some of our younger players to European football which I think is a positive and you see growth from that. We want to continue that.
Again a good challenge tomorrow, AZ a good side and from our perspective, particularly here at home, a good opportunity for us to continue our form.
You've had a lot of short corners this season, around 38 per cent at the moment, what is the thinking behind it?
The same as anything else, mate. We think it's an effective way to look at set pieces, nothing too scientific. But it sort of falls in line with our game-plan, trying to control those situations. Fair to say at the weekend, especially first half, our set pieces were really poor. We we all disappointed with them, especially around the delivery. If you don't get the delivery right, it's not great.
I think we had 12 corners in a half of football, it shows how dominant you are but we didn't really use them to any effect, so it's something we've got to improve on.
Richarlison has only just returned from injury, is he in a position to start on Thursday?
Yeah, yeah. Richy got through the weekend really well, he's trained, this is almost the second week of training now, so he's ready to go in terms of being available, for sure.
Is there a possibility Wilson Odobert gets some game time as he has just returned to training?
Yeah, potentially. Again, we've got to be a bit more careful with him because he's missed a lot. He's only had this week of training. He's be involved tomorrow, in the squad. Game-time will be game-dependent with him but good to get him back and after this week he should be fully available.
Have you asked Micky van de Ven about AZ or do you already know about them?
I think I know more about Dutch football than Micky, who was in Germany. I know AZ really well, I know Dutch football really well. Australia's always had a strong connection with Dutch football so I've always followed it very closely.
We played AZ when I was at Celtic in the Europa League a couple of years back. Always a good side, really good at identifying young talent. There's also a Japanese connection there. When we played them last time, [Yukinari] Sugawara was there, now he's in the Premier League. They've got [Seiya] Maikuma there now. So I've always followed Dutch football and AZ, so we know the information we need.
Surprised Micky not played at AZ and how do you look at the Dutch national team & his development?
With Micky, fair to say he developed late but very quickly. Because I think even at Volendam, there was a period when they were unsure about him. You could tell once physically he grew and the kind of player he was, his journey went very quickly at Volendam and the year he had in the Bundesliga he adjusted really well.
For us last year he was outstanding in his first year in the Premier League. Obviously he had an injury which set him back a little bit but he's growing all the time, maturing and I think he will become more of an influence at national team level. He's now played a couple of games at left-back, left centre-back, The more he plays with the national team will give him even more belief but he's going very well and I'm sure he'll be an important member of our team but also the Dutch international team.
How much of your football philosophy has been influenced by Dutch football?
Great influence. The whole 'Total Football' era was when I first fell in love with the game and 74 World Cup probably the pinnacle of 'Total Football' was also Australia's first time in a World Cup. 2am I was up watching a grainy black and white TV and fascinated by the way the Dutch went about their football.
Johan Cruyff I think was a genius in many respects, not just as a footballer but also a football thinker, so a great influence. That sort of filtered into Australian football, we've had Guus Hiddink who took us to the next World Cup and many Dutch coaches have come through there. It has been a strong influence and a lot of my thinking...people talk about my high line but watch the Dutch in 1974 and you'll see something even more radical than me. I've got a bit of a way to go.
Do you expect to be left off FA charge?
I think we have been fined. Not me, the club. I think we have a fine.
So was the fine a mistake?
We've been fined. All I said was I think he handled it the best we could but the FA thought it wasn't a good look and has fined us for it.
You said it's your ambition to play Champions League next season, would you rather get there by first four in Premier League or by winning Europa League?
What happens next year will happen next year. Our ambitions are to obviously do well in this competition. Where that takes us is kind of secondary to us trying to do well in the Europa League. We weren't in Europe last year and I think we missed it as a football club. It's important you're in there and it's important when you're in there that you make an impact. That's where kind of our ambitions lie.
We've started the competition well but there's a long way to go, both in the group stage and also the knockout stage. There's some very good football sides in this competition so one step at a time for us. We want to have a good performance tomorrow night and like I said continue our good form in this comp.
Did you ever have chance to manage in Holland and you were close with Puskas, did you ever meet any of Dutch legends of 74?
No, I didn't really have an opportunity. I got to know and still know John van 't Schip really well who was part of that Ajax folklore of the greatest sides. He spent time in Melbourne, great guy and I've spent time with him. He ended up coaching the Greek national team recently as well.
I've always had ties with people in Dutch football, Han Berger, who was technical director in Australia for quite a while and the late Pim Verbeerk, who I spent time with. I think all legends in their own way and like I said, a real strong Dutch influence in both Australia and for me personally. I've always loved Dutch football and followed it keenly.
Yeah absolutely. I've often said when I fell in love with the game, I feel in love with the game, not just playing it. I've always from a young age had a real keen interest in history, club histories and great players but I always had a real fascination with great managers and he is certainly one of them.
You always measure that by obviously the success they have and that's one fairly obvious way to look at a tenure of a manager, but legacy is much more important. He is one of those figures like very few who has left an indelible mark that will always be here because it wasn't just about winning. It was how they won, the way he carried himself, the kind of person he was and those kind of things I often say are far more important than achievements.
I would say he has left the ultimately legacy really because I think in many ways how the club is defined and wants to be defined is very much the qualities and values he brought. It is 20 years since his passing, but certainly time has not diminished his influence and you feel it even to the present day.
Do you see similarities with how your team play compared to his and his famous quote was to aim failing high not succeed aiming low feels like it fits with yourself?
Yeah look and I've said before I feel like there is a synergy between what the club aspires to be and who I am and what I've been. I think it certainly helps me because when I am unwavering in my belief going forward, I'd like to think it is aligned with what the club wants and I am not going against the grain so to speak.
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