Ange Postecoglou had plenty to say during his press conference at Hotspur Way on Friday afternoon ahead of Tottenham's trip to Liverpool in the Premier League and we've got a full transcript with everything he said.
Arne Slot's men need just a single point from Sunday's game to secure the title and Spurs could have one eye on Thursday night's Europa League semi-final first leg against Bodo/Glimt at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Postecoglou will have to juggle his team accordingly with plenty of changes expected.
Ahead of the game, the Australian was at Spurs' training ground speaking to reporters about Cristian Romero's interview and his future, Liverpool and Tottenham's contrasting seasons, the latest on skipper Son Heung-min's foot injury, the continuing speculation about Postecoglou's own future at the north London club and plenty more.
Our Spurs correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Postecoglou and here's a full transcript from the press conference at Hotspur Way.
How are you with the Injury problems?
We don't really have injury problems. We've only got really one that's kind of…obviously Sonny's the one that's kind of working, trying to work his way back, and he's improving, which is positive for us, not for Sunday, but apart from obviously the longer term ones, everyone else from the last game has backed up really well, so rest of the squads fit and available, and in terms of team selection we'll see, we’ve got another 48 hours to decide which way we go.
Will Son be okay for Thursday?
We’ll see like I said, he's improving, its the first time he's kind of got out on the grass today, and he said he felt it's definitely better than what it was. So it's kind of a day by day decision.
Is it just about getting through Liverpool unscathed?
I think you want to do more than that. You want to go there and compete against, obviously, a very good side, and compete well and its not just about getting through unscathed you want to get through having played well against the top team. And I think irrespective of what's on the horizon. That's the primary importance.
Jamie Vardy is leaving Leicester City after everything he's achieved there, what do you make of that?
Great story. I haven't seen sort of the story around it, but I assume he still wants to play, because I think he still can play. But, yeah, look, incredible story. The ones that always stand out are the ones that are unique and he's certainly got a unique journey that, it is it's inspiring for everyone to see where he started and reaching the pinnacle of the game, including, you know, winning a championship. Incredible, great servant not too many players end up doing it the majority at one club, which is also testament to him. Great career and his longevity shows that, he obviously knew it was important for him to always be in the best condition and he made sure he always looked after himself. There's a lot of lessons there for many aspiring young footballers and he’s a great example of the different paths that people can take to get to the top. It's not always, you know, elite academies and big contracts when you're young. It's about working your way through. And he certainly did that and he's earned everything he’s got.
How do you balance the season’s highs and lows?
You just got to try to deal with what is before you. As you said, we are well aware our league form and league position is not good enough. But we also know there is an unbelievable opportunity on the horizon. I think irrespective of, this club has had many seasons and a lot of clubs have had seasons where they have done outstandingly well in the league but don’t have the opportunity we have right now of being in the final four of a major European competition. That is where the focus is and where the focus should be irrespective, especially of a club that hasn’t had a lot of success recently. We have got a wonderful opportunity. The players have and the club has and collectively if we give ourselves every opportunity to progress to a final then I think hopefully the momentum we gain from that will give us a chance to do something special.
Did you expect Arne Slot to do such a good job after Jurgen Klopp?
I wouldn’t have discounted the possibility he is an outstanding manager and as you said he picked up an outstanding team. They have been brilliant in the league this year. They have been really consistent, maintained a really high level. They have had the best players playing all the time and playing at a really high level. That is a credit to Arne, his coaching staff and the players themselves. They have been close in the last few years and the fact they are on the cusp of potentially winning another title is a credit to everyone involved.
What has Sonny needed? Treatment or rest?
A bit of both. The foot element because it is weight bearing you just need to give him some rest and some time off it and give him some treatment. The main thing is to get him off his feet for a week and allow it to settle so he can start the process of getting back.
Cristian Romero did an interview where he spoke about his future, how important is it for the club to keep him?
I haven’t read the report too closely but I mean it’s like me, if you get asked a question, you have got to answer it. I am sure there is a lot or if you ask me a lot of questions about my future, you’d probably get some great headlines out of that as well, but it doesn’t change (anything). Do you know what’s important right now? It is not Cristian Romero’s future or anyone else’s future, it is that we have an unbelievable opportunity to do something special at this football club and for me and everyone involved internally, that is what we’re concentrating on. Let’s put our heads down and make sure, because I think for our supporters that is what’s the most important thing to them, right now all they care about is that we’re in the last four of a European competition and we want to do something special. That is where our focus is.
Pedro Porro has played an incredible amount of minutes and touch wood, I don’t think he has had an injury – what does he do differently or how has he managed that?
He’s a pro, he looks after himself, he does everything right on and off the field, but also he’s got the type of body that is resilient to the amount of intensity and game-time he’s had. It is a credit to him. It is not just that he’s playing, he has kept to a really good level all year and has been a mainstay for us in a defence where I hate to think of how many defensive partners he’s played with. Four goalkeepers and upwards of 10 different defenders that he’s played alongside, he’s kind of been a constant. He’s been brilliant for us. From the moment I arrived he’s got a great personality, got great enthusiasm and passion for the game. I think that is why he gets the most out of himself all the time.
Richarlison has scored four times in the league this season, what impact could he have made if he was available every week?
I’m not sure, but not just this year, if you look at his record last year when he was playing, he was pretty compelling. With Richy, we haven’t been able to keep him fit and out there long enough, but the good thing is he is in a real good place physically now. Certainly with the opportunity we have before us, he becomes a real important player for us.
What does Richarlison offer that is different to Dominic Solanke?
Just a different type of player. Richy is a real 18-yard box striker where he makes an impact when the ball arrives in the box. Whether that is on the air or on the ground, he is a real impact player and tends to play around those areas where as Dom will work in other areas, but ultimately they are both strikers that fit into how we want to play. Just with Richy we haven’t had him available to us.
Archie Gray has played 40 times this season but he's only started once in the past month, are you looking to get more game time into him again or is it just competition for places?
With all of these things, people just look at them as a moment of time. If you had have said at the start of the year that Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray and Mikey Moore would have played the amount of time they have as teenagers, I wouldn't have said that that's impossible.
They've played a lot, they've played a lot because they've earned it, obviously opportunity as well, but Archie will play, he'll play even between now and the end of the year, he'll play significant minutes. Just the games haven't worked out the way we wanted them to, and we needed to get game time with other guys.
He's fit, he's available, other guys, it wasn't the case. As I said, we've got a real clear focus about where we need to be for the rest of this year and who needs to be in a good physical condition. Archie is in good physical condition, others weren't, so we had to give them some game time but there's no doubt that Archie will play a significant role still for the rest of this year.
You've played Liverpool three times, how do you reflect on those games because it feels like they've summed up the season - a brilliant win in there with two heavy defeats either side and had injuries for all three games?
Yeah, and they've been very settled, so like you said that's the story of our season and you know we've fluctuated between being really good at times with other times not so good. I mean they're the only team that's really beaten us comprehensively. I'm not really sure what the figures are, but out of the 18 games or whatever we've lost in the league, I think 15 of them have probably been by a goal, so it's not like.... but Liverpool for sure, they have beat us up a couple of times.
Like you said in the cup game first leg, I thought we were really good, we took the game to them even though again we had quite a few absences and. worked really hard to get a win in that game, so we know it's going to be tough at the weekend, but at the same time I think it's a great challenge for us.
You're obviously a proud man, proud of your record at other clubs and this season could finish with the Europa League, but obviously at the minute, the kind of the numbers with 18 defeats, it could be the worst ever Premier League season, how much does that hurt you personally, because obviously that's not what you wanted?
It's not about me, it's not about what I feel and me personally, it's about us as a club and obviously, you know, like I said, we've fallen well short, but we can assess all that at the end of the year in terms of the totality of my two years here. So you know, let's assess it there.
You spoke about how as a child you supported Liverpool, is it a bit weird now you can potentially be spoiling the title party, is there any emotion there this week or they're all strictly business?
No mate, I'm an almost 60-year-old adult, I've gone past my boyhood crushes, so it's got no, no impact whatsoever. I have great admiration for the football club, yes, I supported it when I was younger, but that was 50 odd years ago, so we've well and truly moved on since then.
There's a lot of talk about where you are in the league and the upcoming semi-finals, is there every a moment to switch off from the pressure? Can you switch off when it's this time of the season or do you just look forward to each game?
No, fair to say you can't really switch off. I think there's plenty going on that keeps you really focused and we've got an unbelievable opportunity on the horizon that I'm well and truly laser focused on making sure we we give ourselves the best chance of success.
