Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglu discusses injuries, taking care of players and how he wonders what else could possibly go wrong at times.
03/01/2025
Tottenham Hotspurs Training Ground, London, UK
03/01/2025
Tottenham Hotspurs Training Ground, London, UK
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00:00No, I'd be no good bald and my wife would definitely leave me.
00:08Look, you know, like I said, Tom, it's just, I've never been this kind of guy who, you
00:15know, worries me and like anything else go wrong, I just think, you know, it's a hell
00:18of a challenge.
00:19I keep telling the guys in there, it's just going to make the story better, you know,
00:25and more interesting at the end, wherever we end up.
00:27It's just part of, you know, and I think these things do kind of go in cycles at times where
00:32you just feel like, oh my God, what else, you know, every time I get a message or an
00:37update, you know, what else could possibly go wrong?
00:40But I really believe all these things are just temporary.
00:42They're a good test of character.
00:44They're a good test of resolve.
00:45They're a good test of resilience.
00:47And I still, you know, think that within that context, there's still opportunity for growth
00:53and we'll get through it.
00:56As I said, I've got a really resilient group of players who are just refusing to make excuses.
01:00They're working as hard as anything.
01:02That's all you can ask for and eventually we'll get over this and who knows, you know,
01:08I think they do go in cycles, mate.
01:11There's been times I've won things and I've thought, I don't know how that happened, the
01:13footballing gods were smiling on us, you know, and I don't question it then because I think
01:18we deserve the success and I don't question it now.
01:20It's just where we're at.
01:22When you've been in Newcastle last time, you said that there's been injuries, you know,
01:25pretty blistering stuff and there's quite a lot that was getting scored there.
01:29This, since, in the 20-24 to be honest, there's been a lot of times when you've fallen behind
01:34particularly, giving yourself a bit of a moment to turn it around.
01:39What do you put that down to?
01:40Why does that consistently happen?
01:43I don't know.
01:44I think, like I said, some of it's just, I don't know, it's context.
01:49I really think those things are an occurrence because of something that's really tangible.
01:56I think there's always reasons for those things.
01:58I don't think, you know, I don't think we're slow starters.
02:00I don't think we're, you know, it's a lot we don't create chances.
02:03I mean, a lot of these games, maybe not the weekend, but a lot of these games we've fallen
02:07behind.
02:08We've had the best chance to score first and we haven't.
02:11I can remember at least three of them in recent times.
02:15We've had unbelievable chances in the first two minutes of a game to go ahead and we don't
02:19and then the opposition score.
02:20So, I think there's always context to that, but I think it is important at home that it
02:25does make a big difference if you can start strong and get the first goal because it kind
02:29of helps you build momentum into a game.
02:33For us, going goal behind, even though our propensity to come back is still strong, it's
02:41not helpful, particularly in the current situation, because it just requires a hell of a lot,
02:44again, more energy that probably we don't need to be using right now.
02:48I'm just wondering, I know you've been asked a lot of times about James Mercer and
02:51when he's been given out of the team because he's a big name, creative player.
02:55But he does seem like, on the face of it, almost like a poster boy for your style of
02:59play and yet he's in one week and then there's a lot of injuries.
03:04I suppose the question is, what is it about him that needs to do to get into the club?
03:10I don't know about that.
03:11He was due to play last week but he was sick so I had to change the team on the day and
03:15sort of leave him out on the bench because he was ill on the day.
03:20I think the reason he's still doing well is I've kind of been able, because I've got midfield
03:25numbers, to rest him a little bit.
03:26I just don't think any player can play the volume of games we're playing at the moment
03:30and the way we want to play and maintain performance.
03:33I just don't think it's feasible.
03:36I don't think there's anything in the way Madders is playing that would mean he'd get
03:40more game time.
03:41I still think the key with us with Madders is to keep him healthy, keep him fit, keep
03:45him sharp and that is by not playing every game.
03:48Especially with, like I said, the program we've got.
03:53So I think when he's played this year, his goals tell he's strong, he's always impacted
04:00the game and that's what we need him to keep doing.
04:04But I don't think that means he's going to play more.
04:08I just don't think it's feasible for anyone.
04:10At the moment, the only ones who are kind of playing regularly are the ones we've got
04:15no real options for.
04:16We have to play them all the time.
04:18I'd love to give Dom Solanke a rest.
04:21I'd love to give Golosiewski a rest.
04:23I'd love to give Radu and Archie a rest because I think that would help improve performance
04:30but it's just a cycle we're in.
04:34Can you talk a little bit about Jed Spence?
04:37He certainly feels important to you.
04:40He's been nowhere for two and a half years.
04:42Has he impressed you last month?
04:46What do you need to be on the outside?
04:51Yeah, no, you're right.
04:52A lot of it is just down to him.
04:54He's just really knuckled down.
04:56He has to be patient but I think he's been really good for us.
05:00As I was saying to Tom before, even in tough times, you get these little spurts of opportunity
05:07for others that maybe wouldn't have happened for Jed.
05:10The reality of it is, maybe if we'd have everyone healthy, we wouldn't get the opportunity.
05:14In January, we'd be looking at a different scenario for him.
05:16But right now, he's performing really well.
05:19I was disappointed he got sent off against Forrest because I think he could have helped us last week.
05:24He is very important for us.
05:28I think it's the destiny going down, especially.
05:30Not because he's just a player available, but in the games he's played, he's played really well.
05:35He's made an impact.
05:36Maybe he senses that opportunity as well.
05:39The opportunity now to not just become part of Tottenham on a permanent basis in his own mind
05:49where he feels settled, but now push him to be a starting player.
05:52I think he has the capacity to do that.
05:56Was there something he was doing wrong?
05:58I don't think there was anything missing.
06:00There was probably a reason he hadn't settled, whether it was here or anywhere else.
06:06But I think I mentioned at the start of pre-season, there was an opportunity for him here.
06:12We were going to give him that opportunity.
06:14We weren't necessarily going to get him out of line.
06:15The rest was up to him.
06:16A lot of that is just how you deal with, how he dealt with the fact that he had to train
06:22every day really hard without a lot of prospect of playing.
06:26I think he impressed everyone with his attitude towards that.
06:29Maybe in the past he was a little bit impatient or maybe his attitude wasn't great in terms of
06:33he wasn't playing or he wasn't feeling like he was a regular.
06:36But this year he's had to bide his time and he's done that in the best possible way,
06:40waiting for his opportunity.
06:41Now when he's got it, I think he's grown.
06:44Some of it's just maturity too.
06:45He's not a young boy anymore.
06:48He probably feels like, well, if I'm going to have a Tottenham career,
06:51now's the time to grab that.
06:53I think he has done that.
07:07He wasn't doing the darts.
07:09He was kind of, yeah, I've got no problem with that.
07:12I've got no problem with the players having lives.
07:14It's a lot different trying to play a game of football.
07:16And, you know, living a life.
07:21I don't see any problem with that.
07:23And I don't think it sort of hurt him.
07:25Like I said, he wasn't 100 per cent and it was a game where we needed somebody to be 100 per cent.
07:29He's still well enough to play, so it wasn't like he was bedridden.
07:33If he was bedridden and didn't turn up to the game and then went to the darts,
07:37then, yeah, there may be an issue there.
07:39But I have no issue with that.
07:47The deals that are done now may be a bit late.
07:50No, because, again, like I said, hindsight's an easy thing.
07:54But, you know, I still feel the players we brought in,
07:58I mean, no-one will tell me that Dom Solanke or Archie Gray or Lucas Bergvall,
08:04and obviously Wilson, we've hardly seen him, are not good acquisitions for us.
08:09And, you know, in the world of hindsight, everything looks so much easier and simpler and clearer.
08:18But that's not the world I live in. I live in the real world.
08:21And I think the business we did was good.
08:25And I think medium and long term will be fantastic for this football club.
08:31I've got no doubt about that. We've got some great players in.
08:35Yeah, we tried to do some other deals that didn't happen,
08:38but that's because they weren't the right ones for us or we just couldn't make them happen.
08:44But, you know, I didn't expect to have this kind of attrition in terms of the playing ranks, I think.
08:54Even if, say, two out of all our defenders, whether it was Vic and one central defender,
09:01were fit through this period, I'm sure we wouldn't be in the spot we're in.
09:16Yeah, but... OK.
09:19So, van der Ven, we've got Radha Dragosan, we've got Ben Davies.
09:25How many centre-backs do we need to have?
09:27Seven? Like, that's the real world.
09:30So, unless you're saying that those players aren't good enough and they needed to move on
09:34to bring in a fifth centre-back who, if everyone was healthy, wouldn't play at all.
09:40We had enough cover, but we didn't expect to lose all our centre-backs in one go.
09:44In any club, so you name me a club that if they lost their two starting centre-backs
09:47plus their back-up centre-back would be flying right now
09:51or would have another centre-back that could walk in to do exactly the same job,
09:55I'd be very surprised.
09:57Goalkeeping is always a tricky one because, again,
10:01you want to bring in the right kind of goalkeeper.
10:04It's not just about numbers.
10:08Like I said, in hindsight, everything looks clear and everything looks...
10:12Everyone wants somebody to blame.
10:14Everyone wants somebody to be at fault.
10:16And sometimes it's just the way things happen
10:18and you deal with what you have in front of you.
10:20So the perfect plan does not exist,
10:22but I understand the need for people to think that that's the way it should be,
10:27that I should have...
10:28Well, not me because it's not about me.
10:29This football club should have every base covered
10:32so that every possibility that happens throughout the year
10:34you have a solution for.
10:35Well, that's not the reality.
10:41Just a few. We'll see.
10:45Fair to say I almost got involved in training yesterday,
10:48which is not a good thing, by the way.
10:52Yeah, we'll give him a...
10:53I mean, it's illness, so you kind of...
10:56You almost work hour by hour, so hopefully...
10:59I'm hoping it's not too bad.
11:00I'm hoping that...
11:02But obviously it disrupted our training week,
11:04but I'm hoping that we'll be OK.
11:09A few, mate. A few.
11:11Nah.
11:14He's better. He's trained.
11:16He's still sort of...
11:19It was good to have him a couple of days away from training and everything,
11:23but he was better.
11:24He trained, anyway.
11:25Alan, we'll finish with you, please.
11:27You've touched on January being difficult months in terms of transfers.
11:32Are you waiting for another club to make that first move
11:35to create a domino effect?
11:38No, no, no. I don't think it's...
11:41You know, like...
11:44To get a deal done, you need, you know,
11:48multiple parties to come to agreement, you know,
11:51and there's so many moving parts to that.
11:53It's not just a matter of saying,
11:54well, this is the player I want, let's go get him.
11:57You've got to think about the player.
11:59You've got to think about their representatives.
12:01You've got to think about the other club.
12:03Then that club thinks about replacing that player
12:05and they've got to deal with another club.
12:07So there's multiple moving parts.
12:08So again, it's not an easy process.
12:10Like I said, so...
12:11But all you can do is, like I said,
12:15you know, work as hard as you can to try and, you know,
12:21help the situation.
12:22That's what the club's doing.
12:23Like I said, I can tell you,
12:25the club's working as hard as it possibly can
12:28to try and get some help for the playing group.
12:34But not all of it is in our power.
12:36Okay. Thank you. Thank you.