Ange Postecoglou has been speaking to reporters in his press conference on Friday afternoon ahead of Tottenham's Premier League game against Newcastle United.
Spurs have had a rare midweek without a match - the only time it will happen in almost three months - and they will return to action against an in-form Newcastle side at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Postecoglou will be without nine unavailable players for the game and revealed on Friday that an illness bug has also swept through the camp.
Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Postecoglou. Scroll down for the full transcript from his press conference at Hotspur Way.
You've had six days off, how did you use the extra days with the squad?
The main of driver in that was recovery rather than anything else, we’ve obviously been on a fairly lengthy cycle of games every two or three days. It gave the guys a couple of days off then get back into it.
Has it helped get anyone fit?
No, unfortunately, no. So there’s Destiny obviously with these hamstring you know, it looks around the sort of six -week mark for him missing, obviously we lose Bentancur suspended, none of the injured ones are kind of back yet. We had a bit of an illness bug running through the squad as well, so a few missing training, but that’s alright, we’ll be ok.
Will you lose any more because of the illness?
Not sure yet, we’ll see
Is it still the same schedule of when players are coming back?
Yeah, at this stage, Richy and Mikey will be the next two off the rank, hopefully next week at some point and then Ben, Micky van de Van and Romero all kind of around the same time, so that back end of January, they're all sort of slated to return.
We are three days into the transfer window, are the club pushing to bring in people?
It's not a matter of pushing, but I think, the club are working hard to try and sort of get some help for the playing group and it’s no secret, we need to bolster our numbers up a little bit, so the club's working hard on that and um yeah, um obviously January is not an easy month we understand it's not an easy time to bring people in particularly, you know, quickly and at the same time we still wanna make sure we do what we think is the best thing for us rather than sort of just uh, you know, panic and bring people in who aren’t going to be a suitable fit.
Is any signing imminent?
Not really sure; it could be imminent could not be even. not sure.
Newcastle are on a good run and Spurs haven't been, how tough will this game be?
Yeah, I think, yeah, the context of all that, obviously, and I think everyone knows what the context is, but it is what it is and you know, Newcastle be a good test. Good side, we always have a good games against them and I think they're always we're always close, um, you know, both teams in all the games we've had against them had their their moments and uh yeah, yeah, they are in good form at the moment, they’re in a good period and also a good chance for us, but at the same time we obviously haven't had the results we want, but we’re still capable, we’ve got quality and we’ve done enough in games to win them so we’re going to go out there with the same mindset
Thomas Tuchel will be at the game tomorrow, can you use that as a tool for any of the English players to get something extra out of them?
Maybe Thomas just wants to see a good game, he has said good things about us. So hopefully we put on a show. I don’t think that really factors into players' motivations. I’m pretty sure even if Thomas wasn’t there and the players played well he would find out about it. Like I said, hopefully he gets a nice seat and enjoys the spectacle.
What can Dominic Solanke do to impress Tuchel?
Dom has been outstanding for us. He has scored goals but it is just his all round game and his capacity to help the team in all aspects of our football. Defensively, link-up play, still being a presence in the box. Really intelligent with his movement and really carrying that position on his back with no help, no rest. So I think it says an enormous amount about his character and the person he is. I can’t speak highly enough of him. The load he has had to carry for us over the last two months without a lot of help and from us being able to allow him to recover and still every week he puts in a massive performance. I have no doubt, I’m sure Thomas has been following him, that he will be impressed.
Is there a balance between signing players to fix short-term issues and focusing on long-term targets?
I think it is a combination of both, whether it is a loan or it is a permanent (transfer) they still have to fit in with what we are trying to create here from a footballing perspective and from a cultural perspective. It is not just about getting whatever is available quickly. I don’t think that is the solution for us. We have been really disciplined with our work so far and will continue to be.
What is the plan with Yang Min-Hyeok?
No real plan at the moment. Just let him settle. He is still very young and has come in from the other side of the world where the level of competition is nowhere near what he is going to face here. We will just give him time to adapt. It helps that Sonny is here and kind of helps him around when he is at the club and outside the club. We are just trying to get him settled early and give him the chance to settle in. No real plan, we will just take it as it goes with him and see how he settles in.
You have had a lot of muscle injuries, is that due to more games or the style of play?
I think it is probably a combination of all of them. At the same time, there is also an individual thing involved there as well. I think it is a combination of all of those things. The amount of fixtures. The way we play. I guess the challenging bit for us is that quite a few of them have been reinjuries which we're looking at. I think it's a combination of all those things. I don't think it's unique to us. I think you're seeing that across the board with a lot of club, it's just that we've been hit a bit more extreme. Then you've had Vicario and with him it's not a muscle injury but it's long term and exacerbates the situation you're in.
I know you don't want to change your philosophy because that's the philosophy of you and the club now, but would injuries force you to change it by 10-15% because we know the running data here is top level?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. There is always the opportunity for change and the one constant with me is that I'm not going in terms in terms of my beliefs. There's always a reason to change and always the opportunity to change for everybody. So I guess it just comes down to how much you believe in something and how much you believe it will bring success, and that's kind of where I sit with it.
Do you think if you carried a bigger squad, maybe it wouldn't have been as much of an issue from the beginning?
Look, some of it, but some of it's just circumstances, some of it's just, and I know we always want a head on a stick and we want somebody to blame, and there's always somebody at fault, but some of it's just life, mate, you know, football is like life and you know how sometimes in life you get one thing go wrong and you get another thing later on, and you're doing nothing different, you're just going 'why is it always me at the moment?'.
And you know what, it's all temporary, you get through it, and for us, some of it we understand is a consequence of the situation we're in in terms of fixtures, the way we play, but some of it's just the way...you know. We lost Djed with a red card and he was supposed to start over Destiny. Destiny starts doesn't get the rest, and then...it's like that's just life and sometimes no one's at blame, no-one's at fault, you know, it's just, we're going through a bad trot, but it is temporary, we'll get through it. We'll analyse areas we can improve in and move forward from there.
It's been over a month since Guglielmo Vicario fractured his ankle, how is he getting on with his progress?
He's on schedule, it's obviously when it's a fracture, there's a kind of set schedule for him being in a boot, how much weight bearing he can do, and then sort of getting clearances along the way, so he's still sort of on the same timelines of end of February, I think was the initial prognosis, nothing's really changed in the short term.
So is he still in the boot at the moment?
Not really sure, mate. I think he might be out of it at the moment. I think he's having a couple of days away from the club.
Sergio Reguilon is in the last six months of his contract, is he a player you're going to need to play more because of the current injury situation?
Well, you know, he played last week and yeah it just depends on the situation. He's been available all year but obviously at the moment we've got, you know it's no secret, we've got quite a lot of our defenders out and obviously we lost Destiny now for a period of time. It's going to be a while, so yeah, Reggy, I'm sure will get more opportunities.
In an ideal world, and I know that's not what you're living in right now....
No one lives in an ideal word Ali. Let me give you a tip, even you, mate, I'm sure there's some cracks there somewhere mate.
Absolutely, but do you need it in an ideal world to be a busier transfer window than it was 12 months ago?
No, I just want it to be a positive one, that's the main thing, it's not about being busy, like I said, it's about being positive because, you know, the reality is, like I said, the situation we're in at the moment is temporary, we'll get players back and god willing, with a bit of luck, we'll keep them back and do the right things and we'll be strong from then on.
So we just need it to be a positive window where like I said, that's where we've got to be disciplined and make sure the ones we can bring in, if they do come in, they're going to fit in with our playing style, but also culturally and are coming here for the right reasons, I still think that's important.
Although you say the club won’t rush in to sign just anyone, from outside some clubs may see Spurs coming and sense a desperation even if it doesn’t exist?
Yeah, I think that is the tricky bit around January. Whether that is Spurs or anyone else, if anyone is looking to supplement in January, usually it is because of some sort of need. Most clubs don’t plan for January reinforcements and that’s why January is always tricky. Not just for us but all clubs. You can still hopefully find some common ground where you can get the right kind of player to come in and help the playing group at the moment because they do need that support. The club is working as hard as it possibly can, trust me. They are not having New Year parties, they are out there working trying to improve our situation and they’ll continue to do so.
How do you look back on 2024, happy to see end of it because of the bad stuff?
No, because then you dismiss all the good stuff. You know 2024 which I know right now people don’t recognise as anything but we finished fifth last year. We finished eighth the year before and people keep forgetting that. I didn’t pick up a club that finished third or fifth. Even though the back end of last year was a struggle for us, I thought it was still a real positive season on the back of what we had to do in terms of player turnover because we lost some significant players. I enjoyed 2024, it was a big challenge for us and yes it didn’t finish well, but that’s the case for every year; all of us have challenges within it. I guess going into 2025 now it is about making this year better than the last, but that should be the aim every year.
How much can this clear midweek help the energy levels of squad even though you have lost more players?
I guess it helps but it is not going to totally refuel the tank in terms of where we want to be because we’re still dealing with a small number of players. It is different if we had a full squad because again we’re going into a really busy period, January is massively busy for us with big games and it will not be long before it banks up again, but it was good for the players to have a couple of days. As much mentally as anything else to clear their heads and get away from the club to spend time with their families. From that perspective it has definitely been beneficial and they are a very, very resilient group. They are not willing to lay down, they are fighting tooth and nail to make sure we turn this around and it’s a credit to them.
You've got a big League Cup semi-final next week, does it have to come into your mind with selection for tomorrow?
No, not really because it’s not like I’ve got massive selection issues at the moment. It’s kind of whoever is fit, we get out there and whoever is fit, we’ll try get out for the next game. Big game for us tomorrow. From a league context, we need to start picking up points for sure and winning these games, so all our focus is on that.
Newcastle were 12th at start of December, but are now fifth and last December lost six out of six but regrouped and finished seventh, are they a good example to your squad if you get players back, you can get going again?
I think if you look at that time last year, I actually spoke about it at the press conference. They had a ridiculous amount of injuries and I actually specifically mentioned Newcastle and how they have a ridiculous amount of injuries and it’s no wonder their form is suffering, but that’s a boring tale, mate. It doesn’t mean and like I said, people will be outside with pitch forks and looking for heads, so let’s not take that narrative.
But is that a good example?
I think so but it’s a boring stuff, mate and I’m a boring person, so I don’t think you’ll get much traction with that.
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