Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou on facing Arsenal in another North London Derby
14/01/2025
Tottenham Hotspurs Training Ground, London, UK
14/01/2025
Tottenham Hotspurs Training Ground, London, UK
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00:00Long time no see, you alright?
00:01Yeah, good Michael, yeah, thank you.
00:02How's the team news after that plastic pitch Sunday and everything? Everyone else?
00:07Yeah, not too bad. I mean, it takes a fair bit out of the players, so we've had to do some extra recovery.
00:15You know, we're not training until this afternoon, give the boys a good chance to recover,
00:20because it does, pitch takes a bit out of you.
00:23The only one who picked up an injury was Timo.
00:27He picked up a hamstring injury, we're just waiting on the results of that scan.
00:33And then everyone else, like I said, apart from being sore, pulled through OK.
00:39And in terms of incoming, Richie is available.
00:46And Mike Artets has mentioned a few injuries for them this morning,
00:48but it's been a real tough few months in terms of injuries here.
00:53Are we at a stage now, as special as this game is, let's just play it.
00:55There's no good or bad time to play it. Let's just get this great game underway.
01:00Well, you've got no choice, that's the fixture.
01:02So, you've got to accept it.
01:05And yeah, we've been in a situation for quite a while now.
01:07And obviously, hopefully some light at the end of the tunnel in terms of players coming back.
01:12Like I said, Richie, and it's good for Mikey to get an hour on the weekend, whenever it was,
01:18lost track of days.
01:20But yeah, situation is what it is.
01:23But big game tomorrow night and big game for the club, big game for our season,
01:28big game for our supporters. So, looking forward to it.
01:31Mentioning Richie, obviously, you said as well, you need to look after him.
01:35It's been a while.
01:37Where are we, you, in terms of bringing in another forward?
01:40Obviously, that's the key.
01:41You've mentioned how far down the line are Spurs in that.
01:43Well, it's hard to say.
01:45Like most other clubs, January is a difficult month to kind of really have any certainty about anything.
01:53I said when, you know, there's a lot of things that need to come together.
01:57But, you know, I think I said last week that the club's working really hard in that area.
02:02And yeah, if there are any developments, we'll let everyone know.
02:08Because of the injuries, is it closed door on outgoings?
02:12Or if something, an opportunity arises,
02:14there's talk about Napoli potentially interest in Timo Werner,
02:17but with the injuries, is it a closed door, closed shop?
02:20Yeah, we can't afford to let anyone go at the moment.
02:22I mean, look, obviously, some of the young players,
02:24Alfie Donington went out on loan and probably look similar for young Will as well,
02:29because he hasn't really played a lot.
02:31But aside from that, yeah, we're looking at incomings if anything happens.
02:37You got a late Christmas present at Tamworth, I saw, just as you were walking in.
02:40That's nice, wasn't it?
02:41Yeah, no, they got me a nice mug, coffee mug with my face and Andy's face on it.
02:49Couple of handsome blokes, I can look at that
02:51and remember that game fondly.
02:53Yeah, thank you.
02:54Good people.
02:54Cheers, Angie.
02:56Hi, Angie.
02:57Your fourth North London derby,
02:59would you say the rivalry has intensified for you during your time here?
03:04Look, I felt it was intense from the moment I arrived,
03:08but at the same time, I've never tried to be disingenuous about this stuff
03:13and say, you know what, this means the world to me when I've literally just arrived.
03:17I mean, but you get the context of the game
03:20and what it means to the club and what it means to the supporters
03:23and also what it means for our season.
03:24So from that perspective, right from the first time we played them,
03:28I was well aware, maybe like being up in Glasgow,
03:31you're well aware of what it means
03:33and you're well aware of the ramifications of both the positive and the negative.
03:38So, you know, I've been sort of big on it from the first game.
03:44I said this year is as big as they ever come, especially for us in our season.
03:49We need to start winning games in the league and no better place to start.
03:53On that note, what could a win do for your season?
03:56Do you think it could be a turning point?
03:58Yeah, look, I don't like sort of framing games in terms of turning point
04:03because then you've got to go up to Everton and face David on the weekend.
04:07So there's no easy games.
04:08But in the position we're in at the league at the moment,
04:12irrespective of turning points or not,
04:13we need to start winning games and moving up the table.
04:17And, you know, whilst it's a massive challenge tomorrow night,
04:20obviously there's an opportunity for us to do that.
04:23Just finally, on Kinski, he's the first Tottenham keeper in 100 years
04:26to keep two clean sheets in his first two games.
04:29Not sure if you knew that.
04:30OK, well, no, I didn't know.
04:31Thanks to the stats man.
04:32It was the stats man that told me that.
04:35Obviously a huge test for him against Arsenal.
04:38How involved are you with him or do you sort of leave it to the goalkeeping coach?
04:42No, look, I'm as involved as anyone else.
04:45And to be fair, like, they've all been big games for different reasons for him.
04:48You know, obviously the Liverpool game goes without saying,
04:50but it was a hell of a challenge for him up in Tamworth too,
04:54especially with the way they play and, you know,
04:56their ability to sort of put pressure on goalkeepers up there.
04:59I thought he handled it so well and, you know,
05:03helped us kind of nullify what was a big sort of threat from them.
05:08So, look, he's handled everything really well.
05:10You know, I haven't spent any extra time with him.
05:13Bertie obviously has and, you know, part of the process is,
05:18because he has been a bit of a whirlwind,
05:19is to make sure he's kind of settled as well, even off the field, you know,
05:22because, you know, he's moved to a different country and, you know,
05:26just trying to sort of manage, you know,
05:30sort of everything around him as well is probably just as equally as important.
05:34But so far he's, like I said,
05:37he's been really good at embracing the challenge that we've thrown him
05:41and I'm sure he's looking forward to tomorrow as well.
05:45Hi, Ange. I just wanted to ask you about Lucas Bergvall.
05:48Before he joined last summer, I went to speak to his former club
05:51and they said they reckon it would be about six months
05:52before he fully adapted to the Premier League
05:54and the pace and the physicality.
05:56Do you feel like we're in that spot now where he's really becoming a player
05:59that you can look to in every game to start, really?
06:03Yeah, look, it's, you know, I think he's definitely growing
06:07and he's definitely, which is not unusual, like,
06:10he's 18, you know, coming from a different country and, you know, a different league.
06:14It was always going to take him a little time to adapt, for sure,
06:17just the training more than anything else.
06:18But we've certainly seen growth in him.
06:20And, yeah, in recent weeks, he's really making an impact now.
06:23And I think he feels more comfortable and more confident in himself.
06:28But there's so much more to come from him, like I said, with his age
06:31and, you know, where he is experience wise.
06:33But it's been a big year for him, like I said, moving to a new country,
06:37obviously a big league, a big club,
06:40you know, even playing, getting to the senior national team in Sweden,
06:44you know, as an 18-year-old.
06:45All these things are pretty big and significant moments.
06:49And you kind of look at how, you know, young people handle them.
06:52And I think he's handled it all really, really well in that, you know,
06:55he's just kept his head down and kept working and waited for his opportunity.
06:59And, yeah, he's doing well.
07:01Just going to ask you that, players like him and Archie as well,
07:04what is it about them kind of mentally that allows them to adjust that quickly
07:08to such a big stage?
07:10Well, I guess it's just, I mean, just upbringing and sort of
07:15the kind of people they are. It's,
07:18I'm sure it's a bit of DNA, a bit of nurturing,
07:21a bit of environment, a bit of everything, you know.
07:23And that's a big part of sort of what we've tried to do
07:26in terms of the players we've brought in here.
07:28And, you know, those two and, you know, Mikey, who's only 17,
07:31and guys like Kinski and Destiny and Pappé,
07:34you know, all these, Micky Van Devin, you know, who come across as young players.
07:39I think all of them, whatever challenge we've thrown them,
07:42irrespective of kind of, you know, where they are right now,
07:46because obviously a few of them are injured,
07:48but they've handled it really well from being a young person
07:52in, you know, significant moments.
07:54How important a game is this to have Richarlison back in?
07:56Because it's fair to say he likes a fiery encounter.
07:59And this is obviously one of those.
08:00Just good to get him back.
08:02You know, he's had obviously some unfortunate season for us,
08:07but, you know, last year when he played,
08:09and yeah, even a little bit he played this year,
08:12I mean, he was, you know, when he did his hamstring,
08:14you can see it's not just he does, he fights and scraps for everything,
08:19but he's got quality as well.
08:20And just having an extra attacking player,
08:23I mean, like I said, with him and Mikey now sort of being available
08:26makes such a difference to us in what we can do during games,
08:29you know, in terms of the way we play.
08:32We're taking our time with him this time, for sure.
08:36You know, he's been harassing me for the last sort of 10 days to be involved,
08:41but, you know, we've kind of tried to stay disciplined with that.
08:44And he's looked really good at training.
08:47By training, he looks like he's ready to go.
08:49So really happy to get him back involved.
08:51Hi, Ange, hope you're well.
08:52Just looking at the Arsenal team,
08:54they've got a few injuries going into this match.
08:57Do you have a bit of sympathy with Arteta,
08:58especially it looks like Gabriel Jesus has an ACL problem?
09:04Yeah, I don't know how much sympathy they've all had for me, mate.
09:06I'm not really sure.
09:07So, you know, I certainly have empathy.
09:12That's probably a better word,
09:14because I kind of understand how challenging it is for any team,
09:19irrespective of kind of the size or quality.
09:22And I guess with all these things,
09:23it's, you know, where the injuries hit and the areas they hit,
09:28and the significance of who the injuries are to,
09:31will make it challenging.
09:33But I'm sure, yeah, I'm sure Mikel is not going to let that get in the way of him
09:40putting out a team tomorrow night that will want to beat us.
09:43Yeah, you say where the injuries have hit,
09:45and for you it's been a lot about the defence,
09:47but I think for them it's sort of centring around the attack,
09:50and they're getting a lot of criticism around sort of not scoring enough goals.
09:54Do you sort of, is that part of it as well,
09:55where you can look at it and say,
09:57we've had a bit of that sort of criticism,
09:59and what are the reasons behind it as well,
10:01do you think, for teams losing these players in these positions?
10:06Yeah, look, I've said in the past,
10:08you've always, you know, I always, you know,
10:11put context around, you know,
10:14how you analyse and critique performance,
10:17and others choose not to.
10:19They just purely go on outputs,
10:21and, you know, if you look at a team and they lose,
10:24and they don't score goals,
10:25well, it's poor play, or poor players,
10:27or poor coaching, whatever,
10:29where, you know, I think in the context of,
10:32you know, cohesion, fluidity,
10:35if you've got injuries and disruptions,
10:36that does affect what you do.
10:39But, you know, I think, look, I've said before,
10:42I think we've obviously been hit really hard,
10:44but they're starting to accumulate for most clubs.
10:47I'll be very surprised if any club goes through unscathed,
10:50the way the season is going so far.
10:54You know, Bournemouth have had a couple now.
10:58You know, Brighton.
11:00You know, there's a few clubs who are now starting
11:03to rack up a few of those.
11:07You know, obviously us, with our fixture schedule,
11:09we've probably been hit harder than most,
11:11but, obviously, I'll be surprised if any club
11:15comes through unscathed this season.
11:18On the sympathy and empathy front,
11:20were you, was the sort of cynical side of you
11:22maybe a bit happy that they played 120 minutes
11:24against Man United ahead of this game
11:26because you also had to do the same?
11:29I'm not a cynical kind of person, mate.
11:31I just, I enjoyed the game.
11:33I enjoyed the theatre.
11:34I thought it was a cracking game,
11:35cracking cup game, and two sides going at it,
11:38and, yeah, enjoyed it.
11:41Hi, Adge.
11:42The rivalry with Arsenal became quite a big theme
11:45when you played Manchester City in May.
11:48Some Spurs fans seemingly wanted their team to lose
11:50or content for their team to lose.
11:52I just wonder what you learnt about the North London
11:54sort of rivalry from that experience?
11:59Nothing I didn't already know.
12:00I mean, it's, you know,
12:05yeah, I said at the time, I totally understand it.
12:09I don't agree with it.
12:09I would never go into a game wanting to lose.
12:11That's, that was the basic principle.
12:12It doesn't, didn't mean I don't understand
12:15the rivalry between the teams.
12:17Trust me, when I was in, you know,
12:19I was up at Celtic.
12:20There was only one other result I looked at,
12:22and if their weekend was going to be perfect,
12:24then it meant an L for the other team
12:26and a W for us.
12:28That was a perfect weekend, not just a W for us.
12:30So, I understand that,
12:32but it still doesn't mean I'll go into any game
12:34wanting to lose.
12:35I don't care what about, what the fallout is from it.
12:38You said after that game that you felt the foundations
12:41here were really fragile, that 48 hours,
12:45that experience had taught you that.
12:47Could you just elaborate on what you meant by that?
12:49Mate, you're going back a bit, seriously.
12:51And you're plucking out a, probably quite out of context,
12:54but there's been a hell of a lot that's happened since then.
12:56And right now, we're in a different place.
13:01We're kind of dealing with different things.
13:04I still believe, as I said recently,
13:07that there's been growth in the team,
13:09but that hasn't been matched by results
13:11and consistency of results in the league.
13:13So, we need to, we need to rectify that.
13:16That's got to be our main priority right now.
13:19And notwithstanding that, like I said,
13:21I think we've seen some growth
13:23and hopefully with some light at the end of the tunnel
13:25in terms of players coming back,
13:28hopefully that means we can sort of look at this
13:31back after the season as something
13:33where we can make an impact.
13:34Do you feel then that the foundations are firmer now
13:37than maybe they were then?
13:38Yeah, look, again, mate, you're asking me to comment on a quote.
13:44I can't remember the context,
13:46but yeah, if you want to sort of frame it that way, yeah.
13:49Okay.
13:50Finish this section with George, please.
13:53Hi Ant.
13:54Pardon me.
13:55Mikey's illness sort of come at an unfortunate time for him
13:58because I presume he would have got a lot of minutes
14:00over these last two months.
14:02He is only 17, obviously with Timo out.
14:04How kind of ready is he to come back
14:06and make an impact over these next few weeks?
14:09Yeah, look, he's, yeah, he's worked hard at training
14:12and you could say on the weekend,
14:14he needed some game time.
14:15You know, he started off pretty slowly,
14:16but by the second half, I thought he really,
14:18he sort of grew into the game and, you know,
14:22look, we used him significantly in the first half of the year
14:26and he made a real impact, particularly in Europe.
14:27I thought he did really well and we expect him to do.
14:31I mean, that's why we kept him with us.
14:33That's why, you know, he's part of the first team set up
14:35and obviously it's good to get him back
14:37because, you know, he is a player
14:40who we know can make an impact in games.
14:43And, you know, you took some stick at Tamworth
14:45and you're in very good spirit as well.
14:47You're going to get more pelters, I'd imagine, tomorrow night.
14:49Is that not going to really compare to Tamworth
14:51or just something you brush off?
14:53Yeah, look, I mean, look, look,
14:56as I said after the game, credit to Andy and his players
15:01and the people at Tamworth, the football club,
15:04I thought they did themselves proud on the day
15:06with the way they presented everything.
15:0890% of the crowd were very good and enjoyed the banter.
15:13There was 10% that were pretty unacceptable.
15:15The stuff I heard was pretty vile and detestable.
15:18Again, things thrown at me.
15:21Not a great experience, mate,
15:22but we kind of were expected to be the bigger person.
15:27I would love to turn around
15:28and not be the bigger person in that moment,
15:30but you deal with it and you go on.
15:33And just finally for me, at the start of this season,
15:35there was talk about how you didn't win away
15:37a top six club last season
15:39and you obviously ticked a few of those boxes,
15:40one of both Manchester clubs,
15:42and beat Liverpool in the Cup and Man City in the Cup.
15:45How much would you sort of love for a win at Arsenal?
15:48You know, this team, the club's not won at Arsenal since 2018,
15:51to be the next sort of thing this group of players can tick off.
15:54Yeah, look, all these things are challenges
15:56we need to overcome.
15:59Look, everything to one side, you know,
16:03you know, it's a derby, it's a big game,
16:04so irrespective of what's gone on beforehand,
16:07irrespective, you know, even if we were, you know,
16:10flying and in top position,
16:11it wouldn't change the significance of this game.
16:13You know, you understand that it's a standalone fixture
16:16in that it means a hell of a lot to our supporters, to our club.
16:20So that's the focus and that's what we've got to try
16:23and sort of really hone in on in terms of, you know,
16:28us wanting to really bring our best performance of the day
16:31so that we can make our supporters happy.
16:36And also, again, in the context of our season,
16:40it's just really important we start winning games in the league.
16:42So that's where kind of the emphasis lies.
16:47You know, I said I don't think, you know,
16:49things like, you know, turning points or significant moments,
16:54I just don't see it in that prism,
16:57particularly, you know, where we are at.
16:59We've had some pretty significant wins
17:01and yet we haven't kicked on from them this year.
17:02So, you know, if we do get the job done tomorrow night,
17:05then, you know, we've still got to make sure
17:08that our focus then is on another challenging game on the weekend.