Postecoglu on tricky Brighton test, blue cards and conceding late goals (Full Presser)
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglu is expecting a tough game against Brighton and spoke on the proposed trial of blue cards
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00:00 Hello, thanks for your time.
00:04 Team news really, Sonny trained on Thursday I think, be available to start?
00:09 Yeah, Sonny got back on Wednesday, yeah did recovery on Thursday but trained with the team today.
00:16 So he trained, Biss trained, he obviously joined up as well this week.
00:24 Lasalos trained this week, so yeah I think the only ones still out are Solomon and Sessignon at this stage.
00:36 So with Sonny and Basema and to a lesser extent Lasalos, are they going to be available?
00:42 Yeah, definitely Sonny and Biss, they trained well.
00:49 Gio trained all week but he's obviously missed a fair bit of football so we'll just have to see how he is or whether we give him another week or not.
00:55 So correct me if I'm wrong but I'm thinking this potentially could be the best you've been in terms of strength of squad players to select from for the whole of the season?
01:06 Yeah, maybe the start of the season, first two or three games I thought we were kind of, I only sort of referenced it from training and that.
01:16 Yeah look it's probably the, for want of a better word, the healthiest squad we've had for quite a while anyway.
01:25 That's a nice dilemma then isn't it, having a problem who to play rather than trying to find players to fill places.
01:32 Much more preferable, yeah absolutely.
01:34 Can I ask you about Micky van der Ven?
01:38 He's sprinted his way into the record books, fastest player in Premier League history since records began, only four years but that's all we got to go on.
01:48 I guess you're not surprised, how important is that to you?
01:53 Yeah look, obviously we kind of knew what we were getting with Micky from a physical perspective.
02:00 There's plenty of evidence that we'd already seen that he was, obviously his speed and his ability to recover was elite for sure.
02:10 But then you've still got to, it's not just about running fast, pretty, no I won't say it.
02:17 Football's, it'll get the headlines, football's more than that, it's more than just speed of running.
02:24 You've actually got to use that in the right way and I've been really impressed with just the way he's adapted to Premier League football.
02:32 He's up against the top strikers every week and obviously he was out injured when he's played.
02:38 He's just his ability to use that speed in such an effective way in terms of his defensive work, I think it's been outstanding for a young man in his first year.
02:48 And don't forget, before he came to us he only had one year in the Bundesliga.
02:54 There's so much more to come from him but I've been really pleased with just the way he's gone up to this level and used what he has as his strengths.
03:05 I think I was in the Brentford game 10 days ago, he's only just really back from injury.
03:10 Do you kind of grimace a bit when he jacks up?
03:13 You can't think of it that way, it's his game and obviously he had the injury at Chelsea.
03:20 There's always a possibility with, knock on wood, with high-performing athletes.
03:28 But he had a really good rehab program and he hasn't missed a beat since he got back.
03:34 Obviously if we had more games in this period or shorter turnarounds, probably last week we kind of pushed it to the maximum with such a short turnaround between Brentford and Everton.
03:46 But he got through it okay and he's good to go.
03:49 You were a defender, did you have a touch of the Usain Bolts about you?
03:53 Nah, I was quick. Don't look at me now to be fair but I was quick, it was one of my strengths. Thanks for asking Gary.
04:01 Down to Vishali please.
04:04 Hi Andrew, don't know how I'm going to follow that up.
04:08 Just going back to Son, what kind of an example do you feel that he sets the team given the fact that he had that disappointment against Jordan just a couple of days ago.
04:16 He's had a long flight back from Qatar, he's already trained and he's made himself available for tomorrow's game.
04:22 Yeah, I mean it wouldn't surprise anyone to see him sort of be like that.
04:29 Look, he was very, very disappointed with Korea's exit because they hadn't won it for quite a while and after they got past Australia they felt that when you get to the semi-final stage you feel like you're so close.
04:43 But anyone who watched the tournament, he gave everything. He gave everything for his nation and he didn't leave anyone questioning his commitment to his country.
04:53 He was spent by the end of it but I spoke to him not long after it and he was keen to come back, get amongst the boys again.
05:02 It's great to have him back here and it didn't surprise me that he came back and he wanted to train straight away and be available. That's why he's the person he is.
05:11 And in terms of Brighton tomorrow, the game back in December was a crazy one, it's safe to say, 4-2.
05:17 They have been quite up and down since that match so what are you expecting from them?
05:22 I don't think too much different. I know their results haven't been great but the identity they have, the kind of football they play doesn't change since Roberto's been there.
05:32 That's why they're such a challenging opponent because irrespective of their form, they're still going to go out there and be brave on the ball, play their football, try and dominate and we've got to be ready for that.
05:43 As you said, the last game was pretty entertaining and I suggest tomorrow won't be a dull affair either.
05:49 In terms of Roberto, he won't be available because he's got a touchline ban. How much of a difference does it make potentially when a manager's not available on the touchline?
05:58 I don't know. We all like to think it makes a massive difference or otherwise why are we in our jobs?
06:05 Disappointing, Roberto won't be there because I've got a lot of time for him and I've got a great respect for him but it's the existence we have as managers these days.
06:15 I think I'm one card away from sitting in the stands so I shouldn't cast judgement on others.
06:22 Disappointing he won't be on the touchline but hopefully I'll get a say at him at some point.
06:27 First of all, how are you?
06:30 I'm very well, thank you for asking.
06:33 Spurs this season have conceded a few goals late on in games, most notably last week at Wolves.
06:40 How much is it now about your team not only getting in front in matches and asserting themselves but also keeping that concentration right to the end?
06:49 Look, it's disappointing to concede goals late. It's disappointing to concede goals early.
06:56 Either side at half time is not great, around the 70th minute mark you get disappointed.
07:03 I don't care, I really don't care. I get it, people will want to analyse it, that's fine.
07:08 We're always going to be a team that scores goals or concedes goals late.
07:11 The way we want to close out games is by going and scoring more goals.
07:17 That's not going to satisfy everyone and certainly the statisticians' heads will explode me explaining it that way.
07:25 It's just the team we want to be and that's still the most important thing for me.
07:28 What we haven't done so far and what we won't do is jump at shadows of trying to fix what the current potential issue is.
07:38 We're still building a team here, we're still building a way of playing and for me that's still the most important thing.
07:44 It was disappointing to concede late last week but overall at a difficult place, for the most part we handled it okay.
07:51 We've spoken about rule changes two or three times this season, I think I know where you're going to come from on this.
07:56 Blue cards, Simbins are the latest fad after VAR and possible doing overthrowings and kicking the ball in.
08:04 Where do you stand on blue cards and Simbins and is it just time that people stopped mucking about with football?
08:10 Like I said, I don't think people will be surprised by my thoughts.
08:15 I struggle to understand why this urgency all of a sudden to bring in new things.
08:24 I don't know that there's that much wrong with the game as I see it.
08:29 My biggest issue with the game at the moment is, like I said, VAR has changed the experience,
08:34 whether that's you're a player, you're a manager, you're a supporter, whatever you are, I think it's changed the experience of football.
08:41 I'm assuming that's a means to an end.
08:44 They think that the introduction of technology is going to get us to a better place, I'm yet to be convinced about that.
08:50 Beyond that, I don't know why a different colour card is going to make any difference.
08:57 I struggle with this whole taking from other sports.
09:03 What I do know about other sports is that most of them are trying to introduce rules that will speed up and unclutter their game.
09:13 We're going the other way and I don't know why because that's been always the difference of football compared to the other sports.
09:20 A football match always has a life of its own and within that there's mistakes, there's flaws, there's imperfections.
09:30 Other sports tend to be able to stop and start and stop and start without affecting it.
09:36 Most of the other sports that I look across at are trying to speed up their game, make it a better spectacle.
09:44 I don't know why we're trying to go the other way but again, I guarantee I won't be the one that's in the room when they're making those decisions.
09:52 One of the things JAR have stopped is necessarily fans being able to go hell for leather and celebrate a goal.
09:59 Last weekend after Arsenal's win over Liverpool, the Arsenal team and their manager got a bit of a clog publicly for celebrating a win.
10:08 I've seen you after Spurs wins at home and you go around the whole ground and the songs are playing and what have you.
10:14 Should teams be able to celebrate wins, big wins especially, without being fearful that they're going to be taken to task by the celebration police?
10:23 Yeah, I think that's why we do what we do.
10:29 You know what, I guess we're running out of things to talk about if we're talking about that stuff.
10:37 No, of interest to me. I think people should be happy when things go well and sad when not because that's what life's about anyway.
10:45 Hi Ang. The Mali coach said that Yves Bissouma had been suffering from malaria during the tournament.
10:52 Is that something you're going to be mindful of and ease him back in?
10:55 No, that's not right. He had a slight form of malaria before the tournament started but it cleared up after the tournament started and he had no issues after that.
11:03 So it's 100% ready to go?
11:04 No.
11:05 Fantastic. I think this is the first chance we've had to speak to you about Lucas Bergvall. Obviously a very talented young man.
11:11 Is it a case of maybe being patient with him as he adapts to a new life, new culture, new football or is he such a talented player you can probably see a bit of an impact earlier in his Spurs career?
11:21 Well, considering he's in Sweden I reckon I'm going to have to be a little bit patient. At least six months or so.
11:27 He's just so in for us and we're really happy to get him in. I think he's a really talented young player.
11:34 Obviously just beginning his career, Jaha and the Scandi pub did a lot of work with him. We met the family. Great family, great kid.
11:45 Let's just wait until he's got his slippers under the door here before we start putting expectations around it.
11:52 Okay. And Manner Solomon, obviously waiting for him to come back. Is there any latest update?
11:57 Yeah, he had another procedure on Monday on his knee. Nothing major but again just sort of, obviously he had a slight bit of a problem.
12:06 So probably still looking another two, three weeks for him.
12:09 Thank you.
12:10 George from BBC please.
12:14 Angelo, sorry I know Richarlison's been here a while but his Tottenham career has been stop-start.
12:19 But now you've got him scoring and you've got Son back from the Asian Cup.
12:23 I just wondered how pleasing that is for you and how dangerous a partnership could that be for them two if they click for the rest of the season?
12:32 Just how good could that be for them two firing for you?
12:36 Yeah, look, obviously very important. Richie's been - and look, we've needed Richie to sort of step up in Sonny's absence.
12:45 Because Sonny was, until he left I'd say, was pretty much the informed sort of attacking player in the competition in terms of his goals and assists and just his general play.
12:55 So with him going, you know, Richie's really taken on that responsibility.
12:59 And as I said recently, not just his goals but his general work rate, his general play with us has been really good.
13:07 So he's in a great spot and great to get Sonny back.
13:10 And obviously, you know, Timo's getting stronger and we've still got Brendan and Deki and Kulishevsky.
13:16 So it's good, it's good. We've got some real strong options in that front third.
13:21 We're going to need them, not just for starter games but to be able to change games as well.
13:25 Just to be able to put players on who can make an impact I think is going to be important for us in this run in.
13:31 And just over the last six weeks you've had various issues with players away, injuries.
13:35 How well do you think the team have navigated this period for the last month?
13:40 Are you quite pleased with what you've got through?
13:42 Yeah, it's been okay. From the point of view of, you know, the players have given absolute maximum, yeah.
13:48 In terms of our football, it's been okay. Results have been okay.
13:52 But, you know, I've sort of been at pains to say that along the way it's just something we have to deal with
13:59 and we're going to have to deal with whether it's that or other issues moving forward.
14:03 And I thought the group as a whole, you know, dealt with it well.
14:08 It could have been very easy for us to sort of, you know, fall into a bit of a hole or kind of make excuses.
14:14 But kind of tried to maintain our standards. Didn't always reach them but not for the want of trying.
14:20 And like I said, those kind of things hopefully make you stronger moving forward.
14:24 Hey, Dan, sorry to finish this section.
14:27 Hi, Ansh. At the start of December after Benton Core hurt his ankle, you kind of wistfully said
14:34 'I was looking forward to seeing him and Basuma play together'. I think you said 'I had all these plans'.
14:38 Just wondered if you could kind of elaborate on how you see those two guys potentially working together.
14:45 Yeah, look, at least there's that possibility now. I mean, obviously, you know, Biss started the season really well
14:53 and he had some disruptions, some of his own doing with suspensions.
14:57 And then, you know, Rodgerie sort of came back and then he got injured.
15:01 And then, you know, when Rodgerie was up and running, then Biss and Pape left.
15:06 I mean, it's not just about those two. It's just about that midfield mix.
15:09 Madders has been out. We've just got Madders back.
15:11 We haven't had the luxury of sort of being able to kind of come up with different kinds of variations of our midfield set up
15:22 because they're all unique in their skill set.
15:24 And I think it gives us a real ability to tackle sort of different kinds of challenges along the way.
15:32 You know, we've had Pierre, obviously, in there and Skippy as well.
15:34 So, you know, I just think for us now moving forward, as much as it's great they're available for games,
15:41 it's just the level of our training is going to be so much better.
15:45 And that, for me, is always the key.
15:47 I still think training is the most important thing, part of what we do at the moment,
15:51 apart from obviously preparing the guys.
15:54 Our training levels, even today, these first days today, really, we've had everyone in.
16:00 You can just see that everyone pushes each other.
16:05 The demands are greater and that just means people raise their levels.
16:09 So whether that's Rodgerie and Biss or, like I said, Pape or Madders now is getting sort of really good shape or Pierre, Skippy.
16:18 All these guys, Gio when he's up and running, just gives us more sort of avenues, like I said,
16:26 to create a sort of midfield mix that could challenge most teams.
16:31 And do you see Benton Core primarily as a six or an eight?
16:35 No, I mean, I see him as a midfielder who can play for us and hopefully we're getting away from sixes and eights.
16:43 OK, we'll end the broadcast section there and move on to the embargo section for 10.30pm tonight.