Ange Postecoglou has given a further update on Micky van de Ven and explained which Tottenham players should be back from injury next week as well as firing back at Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens.
Injury-ravaged Spurs cannot get any momentum right now and after winning back-to-back matches against Elfsborg and Brentford, they lost heavily at Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg at Anfield on Thursday night. Postecoglou is finally set to get a few of his injured key players back in the next fortnight but he was asked whether a defeat at Aston Villa in the FA Cup fourth round this Sunday might rob him of the chance to remain in charge to benefit from their return.
"Me personally, that doesn’t enter my head space. I get that's obviously a massive topic of discussion because when things aren’t going well you look at the person who’s largely responsible for that and that’s me. It is what it is," he said. "You’ve got to get on with it. It doesn’t change the decisions I make, how I feel, how I work today or how determined I am to continue on this path.
"Right now, the focus is on getting this group of players recovered for Sunday. It’s a big game and hopefully a positive result and then over the next couple of weeks we’ll get some significant players back, which I think will help."
The Australian ruled out the return of Van de Ven as the Dutch defender continues to struggle to return to availability following his initial 45-minute return after a hamstring injury. Postecoglou had told football.london last week that it was a case of feeling discomfort and not feeling ready to return for the 23-year-old, but that it wasn't a "re-injury".
"No [he won't be available this weekend], Micky probably is going to be a bit of a slow burner," he said. "The ones who are definitely close are guys like Vicario, Destiny, Wilson, Madders, Brennan at a stretch. They should all be back by midweek next week in terms of training or the week after. Over the next two weeks, they should all be available."
Spurs will have 12 players unavailable for Sunday's cup tie, with Postecoglou's missing list having been in double figures for much of the past two months. He has had to heavily use teenagers like Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall, handing 42 starts in all to players aged 18 or under this season and a total of 3,941 minutes, more than double the next side Arsenal with 2,034 minutes and 22 starts. For context, Thursday night's hosts Liverpool have handed just two starts to players 18 or under and given them 247 minutes of football.
However, some Tottenham fans have grown tired of the long list of injuries being used as a reason for poor results, despite it being the same 12 or 13 players turning out every three days. Leyton Orient boss Wellens even mocked the Australian in one interview when asked if injuries had played a part in his team's loss, saying: "I’m not going to make excuses, I’m not Ange Postecoglou."
Postecoglou was asked about that moment and if fans had stopped listening to the injuries narrative.
"I don't know how it's a narrative when you are just stating facts," he said. "If people don't see a situation where you are missing something significant there is nothing I can say to that. If they say 'well, that shouldn't really make a difference' I don't know how to answer that.
"I get that people's senses get dulled or people get bored - everyone wants a bit of drama, but that's not drama, that's just stating facts. We have been missing some really key players for a long time and have had to deal with that. Whether people see that as significant or not...If people think I'm trying to create a story out of nothing I don't know what to say about that. And as for other managers, mate, he's had his five minutes so lets move on."
Wellens, who has benefited hugely from Spurs loan stars Jamie Donley and Josh Keeley this season, put out a statement apologising for his joke and attempted to get an apology to Postecoglou through the north London club. The Australian was asked whether he had received it.
"He's had his five minutes, that's good enough for me," he would only respond.
Postecoglou had earlier said that he will have none of his injured players back for the match at Villa Park and he disagreed when it was suggested that Spurs' season hinges on the cup match.
"No, because we’ve got other games afterwards. Once again, I don’t think about what I do in those senses. People will always try to create a scenario where there is some sort of dramatic event," he said. "The reality of it is, say we win Sunday, what does that mean? That we can go in against Manchester United the following week and say well we just won the biggest game of the year, so that’s OK?
"I don’t believe that, but I get why people talk in that manner because it means if we’re not successful, OK, well Jeez, what does that mean for the manager, for the team, for our season… I get that people want the drama around it. The reality of it is we have an important game on Sunday that we want to win to stay in the competition. Then we have an important game the following Sunday. So nothing is season-defining until you get to the end."
Postecoglou pointed out that if his players thought that by sitting back against Liverpool they would be saving themselves from exerting their tired bodies too much, then they were wrong.
"One [possibility] is just that mindset to go out there and play without fear and take on the challenge, rather than go out there and try to survive. At the same time, we’re asking a lot of this group of players continually backing up and there’s a physical and mental toll that takes. My job is to eliminate that from their thought process," he said.
"The bizarre thing is we ended up doing more running last night than the opposition so it’s not like by playing that way you conserve energy but sometimes in your mind you think if we go and play aggressively, and press and play at a high tempo we won’t be able to last. We’ve outrun the opposition but that’s because we were chasing the ball most of the night and were so passive in our approach.
"It’s about trying to educate the players that even when we are asking a lot of them from a physical perspective it’s much more efficient to take on the opposition than to try and survive or save what energies you have for important moments."
On whether Spurs have begun to sat deeper in game because of low energy levels, he added: "Some of it is, it’s a combination of those things. It doesn’t help when we’re constantly changing. It’s easy for me to sit here and say we did this and didn’t do that but then you’re self-reflective, thinking what information I gave the players before the game and how did I prepare them for what was ahead.
"Maybe there were underlying messages they got about being 1-0 up and we’ve got to limit Liverpool and be strong defensively because they’re such a good side, but that just feeds into the game they want to play. That wasn’t the way I framed it but you’re asking why players took the message out there that somehow us holding out Liverpool was going to be the way to do it last night? That’s certainly not the way I thought we would have the chance of success.
"We could have gone out there and pressed them and still lost the game, that’s a very real possibility because they’re a very good side and in a good moment. But at least if we did that we could say we’d try to do what we were good at and it didn’t work, and we can learn from that. I don’t think there’s a lot we can learn from last night in terms of our football. I think there’s a lot we can learn about how we handle the situation."
With the season becoming a real grind at Spurs with so many injuries and the disappointing results, has Postecoglou got to a point where it's become less enjoyable at the club.
"No, no. It never gets to that, because the responsibility I have is not around me enjoying anything. My responsibility lies in trying to steer the club and guide the club through this process to get us to where we want to. It doesn’t damper my determination or my will or desire to get us to where we want to. It’s a challenge, but there’s always challenges in football and in management — that doesn’t change," he explained.
"It’s not like I woke up this morning, well, to be fair, I didn’t sleep, but it’s not like I got up this morning and didn’t want to come in. I came in early and want to try and help everyone, players and staff, to make sure that we get ready for a big game on Sunday."
So why do Tottenham get so much stick from pundits and the football public in general?
"We’re an easy mark at the moment, there’s inconsistency in our play, everyone is saying I’m making excuses about injuries and it’s kind of easy with the club not having won a trophy in a long time for people to pile on," he said.
It was pointed out that that's the case for many clubs.
"It is, I don’t know, that’s something for you guys to reflect on more than me, I’ve only been here a short time. It does feel like there’s very much an eagerness to take the club down for one reason or another when the opportunity exists," he said. "At the moment we’re giving them the opportunity after last night and with our league form but that can’t chart our way forward. That can’t be our motivation to change people’s opinions and people who have formed these opinions over a long time.
"I think that would fall into the trap of me reacting to this stuff (about him as well). It is what it is. After a night like last night whatever comes our way, whether it’s to me or the club, we’ve just got to keep our counsel and understand it’s an easy moment for people to drag you down and deal with it in the best possible way, which is to do your job, focus on the next challenge and find a way to get to where we want to."
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