Full version of our Q&A with James Trembath.
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00:00So, James, let's look at Tottenham Hotspur and the North London derby obviously going
00:05into the game. Maybe a point would have been taken from Spurs, you know, albeit the sort
00:10of form they've been in as of late, and Arsenal's form has been fantastic. They are clearly
00:16really trying to make that title push and keep just behind Liverpool at the top of the
00:20table. Spurs, you know, it's not been an amazing season league-wise. What do you sort of take
00:26from the North London derby? Maybe it was a chance of a bit of redemption for these
00:31players. Obviously, you know, we saw the Tamworth game in the FA Cup. They needed those senior
00:35players to come on and get them over the line in extra time. What did you sort of think
00:39from their perspective in this North London derby? Is it something that is, you know,
00:45in terms of the whole Spurs fan base, how are they feeling following this loss?
00:50Well, I mean, I think Ange Possekoglu said after the game last night, you know, unacceptable,
00:54unacceptable performance. And I think I'd probably go further than that. I think, you
00:59know, diabolical, abysmal, you know. I can stand losing, albeit it hurts this one big
01:07time with it being against Arsenal, but you can stomach losing as a fan. What you can't
01:11stomach is a team that, you know, has no heart, no desire, no will to win, no character. And
01:18that was everything last night. The only players that come out with any credit are
01:21the two 18-year-olds, you know, Archie Gray, Lucas Bergwald, exceptional again, both of
01:27them last night. But the senior leaders in the team ought to hang their heads in shame,
01:31to be honest with you. You know, we've got so many young guys in that team, you know,
01:34a goalkeeper playing in his first London derby, third game only for the club, you know, Radu
01:38Dragacin, 22-year-old centre-back, Archie Gray, 18-year-old midfielder having to fill
01:42in at centre-back, Bergwald in midfield who's a teenager. And what they really needed last
01:47night was support, was leadership on the pitch from some of those senior players. And
01:52you know, we just didn't see any of that last night. You know, Bissouma gives the ball away
01:56for the second goal. Song was relatively anonymous. Madison came on, did very little in the second
02:03half. You know, these so-called senior players really should be having a good look in the
02:07mirror. We lost every duel. We were weak in every tackle. And as I say, second half we
02:14improved, but the first half, it was like a tsunami, really. You know, we had to weather
02:17storm after storm in terms of pressure. We lost the ball. You know, players hid, in my opinion,
02:23last night. You know, the goalkeeper had no options and he was trying to play out from the
02:25back. Solanke had absolutely no support, ploughing that lower four up top. So, I think, you know,
02:31there'll be a lot of soul-searching going on, I suppose, and there ought to be in that dressing
02:34room in the next sort of coming hours. Yeah, maybe just touch on the leadership there and
02:41obviously losing Harry Kane. Is that sort of maybe one of those dominos that fell? Losing Kane,
02:47so much leadership, captain of England, captain at Spurs. It almost seems like they haven't
02:53really replaced that leadership in the team. Yeah, I mean, Kane was never the vocal off-the-field
02:59leader, but on the pitch, obviously, led by example, you know, goal after goal, he was the
03:03best striker, the best playmaker probably in the Premier League in that era. And, you know,
03:07any team's going to miss taking out Harry Kane, especially the way we play with Posta Koglu. You
03:11know, he'd have been filling his boots full of goals, I'm certain, in that team. But, you know,
03:17we go back to the transfer strategy, bringing in so much youth and really pegging our hat on the
03:23future this summer. We didn't buy enough ready-made players that could make the squad deeper.
03:27You know, there's a lot of mitigating factors around, you know, the injuries. You know, we have
03:32had a real, real rotten run with the injuries. I mean, you know, 10 first-team players out last
03:36night and key players as well at that. You know, there's not many teams that could lose the
03:40goalkeeper and both centre-backs, the left-back as well. But the squad wasn't deep enough to start
03:46with, and that is a failure in the summer in the transfer recruitment policy. But, you know,
03:51and you take your point completely about losing Kane, you know, there was going to be a period
03:56where we did struggle, but now we're really, really, really struggling. You know, one win in
04:01nine games, five points in the last 27, you know, it's worse than relegation form. So things have
04:07really got to pick up. And as I say, you know, some of those senior players need to be, you know,
04:12doing more to help the team. And, you know, I appreciate, you know, the play in every couple
04:16of days at the moment, it's the same players going to the well. There will be an element of fatigue,
04:20and I think you could see that among some of the players last night. I mean, Kulosevsky
04:23been our standout player this season. But last night, you know, he was knocked off the ball
04:28very, very easily. He looked like he was running on fumes towards the end. Brennan Johnson came on
04:33as well, and, you know, just didn't really want to get involved in any tackles. You know,
04:38they were backing out almost last night. And, you know, you'll have to look at Declan Rice
04:41when he came on and did his interviews after the game. And, you know, he said the manager
04:45didn't need to give a team talk. You know, this is Tottenham we're playing, and if you can't get
04:48up for a derby, you're in the wrong job. And, you know, that was really, really evident,
04:53I thought, last night with Spurs. We just didn't play the game as if it was a derby,
04:58and that was what, you know, really, really disappointed.
05:02Yeah, just looking at the January window, any transfer rumours in terms of Spurs and
05:07in and outs? Obviously, you know, you've mentioned the sort of strategy of bringing in these younger
05:12players. Is there anyone on the books that could be coming into Spurs, you know, this month?
05:18Obviously, it's an interesting one. There's not been an amazing amount of business in the Premier
05:22League. Everyone wants to sort of stick to those tight PSR and FFP rules this month. Is there anyone
05:29on the books, maybe, that you could bring in, you know, in terms of Spurs?
05:37Well, I mean, you know, I think we're crying out for two key positions, really. You know,
05:40we're crying out for a real number six, you know, a Rodriesque, if you like. We're never
05:44going to find a Rodri, but a Rodriesque holding midfielder. I think that the system crumbles with
05:49Postacoglu when we don't have that real linchpin in the midfield. And, you know, we see flashes
05:54from Bissouma. You know, he plays well for 20 minutes and then goes missing for another 60.
06:00That's just how he's been at Spurs. You know, we've seen some real, real quality performances
06:03and you think, yeah, he's the answer. And then the next minute, he goes off the boil. So, you know,
06:08a holding midfielder, number six, I mean, obviously, we've got this deal in place potentially
06:12next summer for Johnny Cardo. So, from Real Betis, whether that could be accelerated remains to be
06:18seen. Obviously, a tough market in January, but we're crying out for a number six. You know,
06:23we need some support in that centre-back position as well. You know, we've got Ben Davies coming
06:27back from injury. I don't think van der Ven and Romero are too far away either, but we're
06:32absolutely desperate. I mean, you know, left-back Jed Spence has been one of our better players in
06:35the last few weeks, but he's not a left-back, you know, and that was very, very obvious last night
06:39with, you know, Kinski with the ball at his feet playing out to Archie Gray, out to Jed Spence,
06:44and the Arsenal players were targeting both Gray and Spence last night, really hemming us in in
06:47that corner. No natural left foot between the pair of them, you know, not through no fault of
06:52their own, but it was definitely a tactic and it really, really stunted us going forward. So,
06:56we lack the balance in the team on that left side at the moment, you know, and again,
07:01you go back to the summer, we went into the season with one available left-back. So, we need to
07:06address the left-back position. We need depth at centre-back, Dragosin, I feel a little bit
07:11sorry for him. He's become a bit of a fan, what's the word, fan target, if you like,
07:21but the fact remains he's barely played with a recognised centre-back, you know, he's 22 years
07:25old. Yeah, he's not amazing with the ball at his feet, but he does the, you know, the defending
07:30side of the game relatively well and he's been, you know, playing a lot of football, probably more
07:35than we thought he would this season, without a great deal of support on that side and next to him.
07:40So, I've got a little bit of sympathy there, but as I say, defensive reinforcement is a must.
07:46Holding midfielder is the most crucial part of the jigsaw, in my opinion, that we're really
07:49missing to make the system work and we need some more quality in those wide positions. You know,
07:55we lost Odeboe, which was a blow, albeit he's a young player, but Son just hasn't hit the heights
07:59this season. I know he scored against Arsenal, but he's been very, very poor this year. He looks a
08:04shadow of himself, you know, you may say his legs have gone a little bit, or it looks that way.
08:09He plays a lot of football. He's been a fantastic player for Spurs. He's still a world-class player,
08:14but he's had a very, very poor season. Bernard Johnson, lots of goals, lots of assists, but
08:191v1, he doesn't do enough. You know, we're a bit one-dimensional at times when sort of
08:25planning doesn't work going forward. So, a quality winger. We've been linked with Marcus Rashford.
08:30To be honest with you, I wouldn't pay you to take Marcus Rashford at Spurs. I'm not a fan.
08:35Great player, but there's clearly baggage and there's clearly problems off the pitch for whatever
08:39reason at Manchester United. And, you know, if you're leaving a club like Man United, albeit
08:43they're having a lot of problems at the moment, I'm not so sure about that one. And, you know,
08:48in terms of outgoings, whether Timo Werner, you know, he's a bit of a curious case, isn't he,
08:53Werner? Shows flashes, he's got pace to burn, but mentally he just looks like he's shot to pieces.
09:00I don't know whether the Chelsea experience really sort of affected him, you know, a couple of really
09:04high-profile misses, but you go back to when he was at Leipzig the first time round and he was a
09:09goal machine, wasn't he? Was it 37 goals in one season? He was absolutely prolific. And he gets
09:15into those positions with his pace, but then, you know, for whatever reason, he just can't finish
09:21and you never have any confidence in him to finish and hit the target. So, but, you know, whether he
09:26has his long cut short and we look to bring in another forward player, that remains to be seen.
09:31He's out now with a hamstring injury, so that might curtail that one. But, yeah, we need Daniel
09:36Levy to get his hand in his pocket and bring us in some reinforcements and quickly as well before
09:40the season totally unravels. And finally, just on Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall, obviously both
09:4518 years old, both made a huge impact in this Spurs' size this season. Obviously, you know,
09:50you mentioned there hasn't been great form, but they have really shown their worth and, you know,
09:55really shown they've got so much potential in the future as well. How important and how good
10:00have they been, you know, in sort of shining light in Spurs' poor season?
10:08Yeah, I mean, you know, Archie Gray has been absolutely terrific. I mean, you know, as we've
10:12said before, he's been asked to play out of position. He probably didn't expect to play as
10:15much football. I mean, he's played now in every position, practically on the pitch,
10:20certainly in the back four, but we've never actually seen him in his true position in midfield.
10:23And, you know, when we do, he's going to be an absolute star. I mean, I don't think it's,
10:28you know, an over-exaggeration to say that Archie Gray is going to be a generational talent and,
10:32you know, potential future captain of this club. I mean, he's had, you know, he shows more signs
10:37of being a leader than some of the older players. You know, he was trying to nurture Radu Dragacin
10:41through last night, you know, when Fraser Foster practically threw two in against Manchester United
10:45and he was the one saying it was my fault, you know, bad back pass, not your fault. And that's
10:49a 37-year-old, you know, senior goalkeeper. So he's been incredible and he's oozed class. Yes,
10:55he's been caught out of position a couple of times. You know, we've had a couple of goals
10:59we've conceded where, you know, the backline's pushed up and he's just been a little bit slow
11:02to push out and it's cost us a couple of goals. But overall, you know, he's been terrific and
11:09£40 million will probably prove to be a bargain in the coming years because we need to build the
11:13team around him. He's been fantastic. So he comes out with a lot of credit. He's been playing very,
11:17very well as sort of that eight, but he also can play as a six. And I think he's, you know,
11:21he's certainly got goals in him as well. He's got, you know, terrific technique. So the two of
11:25them, you know, come out with real, real, real large amounts of credit and, you know, the goalkeeper
11:30only been 21, Kinski. He was a little bit shaky against Arsenal, but, you know, he's shown signs.
11:36I think he's going to be a very, very promising signing. We've obviously got Mikey Marr coming
11:39back in now. He looked good in the second half against Tamworth, albeit, you know, caveat the
11:43opposition. But a long layoff again, he's had with his virus. So Green's shoot certainly around the
11:49young players, but we need that. We're crying out for some experience and some proper leadership to
11:53really sort of steer us through this difficult path because this is uncharted waters for these
11:58young guys.