Ange Postecoglou has insisted that Tottenham Hotspur have what it takes to challenge Arsenal for the Premier League title sooner rather than later. The Lilywhites boss was quizzed by the media at Hotspur Way on Friday afternoon ahead of this weekend's North London Derby.
Last season, the North London Derby proved to be quite the spectacle; the Lilywhites enjoyed a 2-2 draw against Mikel Arteta's side at the Emirates Stadium before suffering a 3-2 defeat on home turf. Despite the occasion, Son Heung-min still managed to leave his mark.
The Tottenham skipper fired three past Arsenal – and Postecoglou will be hoping for more of the same this weekend. So, with that being said, football.london transcribed every word Postecoglou said at Hotspur Way ahead of the North London Derby.
The team news is pretty positive...
Internationals all came back okay. Biss is the only one that's obviously got an issue. It's not serious but he's getting treatment today we'll see if he can train tomorrow and make a decision there. Out of the other guys, Micky van de Ven [is] all good.
He's trained fully through the international break and Dom [Solanke]; yeah, back half of this week, he joined the first team training. Today again. We've got training tomorrow. If he gets through okay, I guess he'll be available. Richy, Will Lankshear – they are the only two that are in rehab.
You addressed it earlier in the summer but Rodrigo Bentancur has now been charged by the FA, potential hefty ban. Can I just get your reaction to the charge please?
Yeah not unexpected from our perspective. It's something that we know the league would look at and we need to let the process sort of play out now. You know, Rodrigo's well aware of the ramifications of any outcome from from the panel, but we'll just wait and see what they come out with.
Special game Sunday. I was listening to you a few weeks ago talking about potential new cycles here and Mikel Arteta probably went through a similar one. Do you see similarities with what he's building there to what you're trying to do at Tottenham Hotpur?
It's hard to say because I guess every situation is kind of unique in itself because they're different clubs and I guess different environments but I've said before there's obviously a way to sort of build. A team and a club sort of go into certain direction and that always, for the most part, takes time.
It's about finding the right people in the key positions, and all those things are club decisions and as you go along I guess clubs decide whether they want to continue down that road or not. The results aren't always there immediately which is not surprising in this in this league but I think for for the most part clubs that have sort of stuck to a certain direction because they believe they're heading in in the right way. You eventually get to a place where the team is competitive for a sustained period of time.
They're considered Manchester City's title challengers, but I know you're ultra ambitious as well and there's a lot of [needle] between the clubs, you know, 'who finishes above who'. Do you think the current squad you've got now is capable of challenging Arsenal this season?
Well, not specifically Arsenal, but we want to be a club that can challenge everyone. That's what we're trying to aim to become and to do that you've got to perform at a certain level on a consistent basis. You've got to have a squad strong enough to do that, to withstand the challenges that inevitably come during a course of a season.
But, you know, we've started the season fairly solidly from a performance perspective. Obviously the results haven't reflected that but I think we're in a good place to really push on from last year and improve in all areas of our game. And if we do that, I mean we got close to challenging last year. There's no reason why we can't this year.
After what you've experienced in this huge fixture so far, in your time here, how would you try and sum up the rivalry in North London?
Every sort of derby involves a bit different. Obviously, this one you can tell that it's fairly intense between the two clubs. Obviously, geographically situated in the same part of town. They're trying to defend the same turf and there's always a little bit of an edge. I thought both games last year were very entertaining.
Thought we played well at their place and and really matched it with them and, you know, [we] could have even won on the day. Here, at our place, we got blown away in the first half. [We] tried to make game of it in the second half. So plenty of goals and it's exciting.
We know what it means to our supporters and what it means to the club, but like I said, for us, what is really important is we got to go out there and perform. We're going to play a football play well because irrespective of the rivalry they're a top side so you need to do that.
What kind of impact could a win have on the rest of Tottenham's season?
It's hard to say. I've never felt like there's an easy way to success. I don't think one win determines or can change your trajectory to a great effect, but it helps because it's not just a win in a big game in a derby but it's a win against one of the top sides so that gives you more belief and confidence and potentially could sort of inject some real momentum into into our season.
But, you know, I've never been one to think that you know just the win on the weekend is enough for us to say that we're on the right course and, alternatively, if things don't go our way that, we need to you know change course.
They will be without some big players, but what is it about this Arsenal side that makes them so hard to play against?
I think consistency and approach and mentality. I think you've seen them in the last two years in particular, they've just had a real relentlessness about them. They haven't had to change their team too much, there's a solid core there that have carried them through the last two years and I think that gives you belief over time.
So, I think in every game they feel like they can win. I think know they have this confidence in themselves now that they can challenge over a course of a Premier League season, which I think that more than anything else allows you to kind of build momentum season to season.
Their form over the last two years in total has been outstanding, so they're going to be a tough nut to crack but a great opportunity for us to do that.
Be it in Scotland when you were involved in a the big derby up there or this derby here, how do you manage the expectations of the fans while wanting to tell them, 'yeah we're going to go out there and on the front foot and we want to win this game' and do this, that, the other?
I'd hate to think that I went into any game trying to get people to manage expectations because ultimately what's the point of doing what we do. You go into every game hoping to conquer and win and play well and do all the things that that we love about the game so I don't think you should walk in to a stadium fearing anything or having trepidation about anything or scared to dream or hope that you can be successful.
So, I certainly, I've never done that in the past and I wouldn't do that because it's not the way I coach or live my life. It's not the mindset I have. I think every game you have is an opportunity to do something special and that's the how you should approach it.
These are special games. It's come very early in the season – that's not down to you, it's down to the fixture computer – but would you prefer to be more up and running and have maybe 10 to 15 games behind you before the first of these derby matches?
No, not really. I mean the league has started, you don't start a race and then think you're going to start sprinting after 10 metres. You got to go from the start mate you got to be ready. We were ready at the start of the season and whenever the games come along and you got to be ready for it. So, we're three games into a season. Obviously the international break kind of puts a pause on things but no whenever it comes we need to be ready.
Final one on Bentancur. How are things in the dressing room between him and Heung-min Son? And secondly, how do you tell footballers that in the real world you can't behave like this and therefore you have to your behaviour discipline while you're wearing the club badge or even while you're under the employment of the club? We saw how upset and angry you were a couple of weeks ago with Yves Bissouma.
In terms of Sonny and Rodri, I think they had their kind of discussion about the whole incident and I think both players understand and respect each other's position and Rodri's already apologised for what he said and Sonny has accepted that and accepted the fact that one of his teammates, a person he is close to, has made a mistake.
Beyond that, I don't know what you mean by the real world. We all live in the same world, whether you're a footballer or anyone down the street, we all live in the same world and we all kind of understand the ramifications of our actions irrespective of who we represent. Ultimately we represent ourselves as people and you try along the way as human beings we try to do the right thing all the time but it doesn't always happen and we all make mistakes.
I've said before for me it's not just about punishment, it's the opportunity for people to atone, to learn because if we're talking about having a society that's kind of understanding and tolerant of everything we also must show that to people who make mistakes, as Rodri has made this time.
We kind of know him very well and a lot better than most because we spend every day with him and we understand the kind of person he is and we understand that even though he's a great guy and a fantastic teammate, he's made a big error this time and he's got to take the punishment but also we need to make sure that we give him the opportunity to atone from it, learn from it and hopefully others learn from it as well.
You've had three good performances this season but the results haven't always married up. How close do you feel like the team are to clicking and putting in a real 90-minute performance, consistently?
It's hard to say but I just feel I've always felt that if you're consistent in those you know sort of underlying things we're looking for in our game that the results do come sooner rather than later and we just got to stay really disciplined and consistent in our approach from our football because I think our football has been really good in all three games.
We've dominated all three games. We've limited the opposition to very little and created a lot for ourselves. We've played in the manner we wanted to, but the results haven't come. But, if we maintain that, over 38 games I think we'll be in a really good position. But, yeah, [it] doesn't guarantee it. You can't just sort of expect it to happen or pick a moment when it's going to happen, you've just got to keep keep at it. Like I said, stay really focused on the important elements of our game and the results will follow.
It feels like a while ago now but you had to select the Europa League 23-man squad. Djed Spence was left out. How difficult a decision was that and and how has he kind of taken that news?
I'm disappointed. Ali's [football.london's chief Tottenham Hotspur reporter Alasdair Gold] not here because this was his baby! But, look, it was always going to be a difficult decision. Obviously with the makeup of our squad currently – you are always going to have to leave somebody out and Djed was the unfortunate one.
But at the same time, Djed's already played in the Premier League and, if you asked him at the start of the year where he sees himself, I think the fact that he's part of our squad and will obviously play a huge part in our year because he has already. I don't think you should take too much disappointment. Obviously everyone wants to play, but in the end it was about team B for us and we just feel that with the squad we've got, we've got some cover on the right side.
[We] got some players you can cover on the left side. I always tend togo for more attacking players in those kind of scenarios, so Djed misses out, but, as I said, he's already played in you know a couple of games in the Premier League. There will be plenty of football for him if he keeps going like he is.
With this rivalry, obviously you experienced the two matches last year. I wondered, did you learn more in those two matches or maybe more in that Man City game back in May when obviously there was conflicting emotions with with the fan base?
No. Look, I don't think I learned anything that I didn't already know. I understand the rivalry. I understand the passion that exists. In terms of these games, I totally understand that the Man City game – I have to win mate. That's never going to change with me. I don't care who I'm representing, I will never go into a game not wanting to win. I'm just not built that way and I don't care if that's at odds with other people. I understand that, I respect that, but they need to respect me as well. I will try and win every game I play.
