Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou discusses PGMOL, goal keeper interference, set pieces and facing Chelsea tomorrow.
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00:00 I'm just not interested in your questions.
00:04 Just a quick bit of party on bases.
00:08 Kaff, yeah.
00:09 Was it anything you were picking from Rice?
00:12 No, I think it was – he actually strained it after that, I think, yeah.
00:17 I just want to ask you about Suma and the footy decision.
00:21 Can you just sort of talk us through your thought process
00:23 about that selection for the game?
00:26 Yeah, just again, just the makeup of the team
00:29 and how we were looking to sort of set up.
00:31 And you know, this is again had a sort of interrupted season.
00:36 And you know, mindful of the fact we've got a big finish here
00:40 that I think we're going to need all our midfielders
00:43 over the next sort of five games.
00:46 So yeah, it was just the way I thought the game was going to go
00:49 and the structure we needed for the challenge we were going to face in that game.
00:54 Did it start being more reactive when you faced them in opposition
00:57 or was it kind of similar?
00:59 No, no, no, it's not.
01:00 I mean, as I said, I needed to kind of find ways to test things and measure things.
01:09 And you know, when you're trying to build something
01:14 and you have few opportunities to do that in the way we play our football,
01:18 it's about trying to tap into as many of the sort of resources we have
01:23 in this playing group to see where we're at.
01:28 [Unintelligible]
01:41 I don't know. It's a strategy.
01:44 You can label it as a strategy, yeah.
01:46 So I have very little interest in that stuff, never have.
01:51 I don't – and it's not me casting judgment, but I just don't really care.
01:57 I mean, people are going to think that that gives them an advantage
02:00 or that's going to affect the game.
02:02 I just don't worry about that stuff.
02:04 I try and worry on – not worry, but try and focus on building teams that win things.
02:11 [Unintelligible]
02:18 Well, you know what?
02:20 If it's not going to be that, it's going to be something else.
02:22 Just, mate, who cares? Seriously.
02:24 I know it's great theatre.
02:26 I understand it and generates discussion.
02:30 But, mate, whether he's trying to under his glove tickle his armpit, I really don't care.
02:37 And I try and get my players to not worry about that stuff, not focus on that stuff.
02:42 It's not important, mate. Really it isn't.
02:44 And if you want to go down that avenue, what's he supposed to do?
02:50 Turn around and throw a punch and knock him out?
02:52 And what does that do?
02:53 Or tell him, "Please don't touch me."
02:55 I mean, seriously, we're not in the schoolyard.
02:57 And I don't think that that's where – well, it's never been where my focus lies.
03:02 I don't care about that stuff.
03:03 And to be honest, if I saw one of my players do it, I'd be saying, "Mate, well, seriously?
03:07 Get the ball and play some football."
03:08 But that doesn't mean that that's not a strategy that can be used.
03:12 I just don't buy into it. I don't care about it.
03:15 It makes no impact on me. It never has.
03:17 It's like, you know, "Let's just play some football, man."
03:20 And when you have to reach out to the club,
03:23 especially if it's a club that you're in,
03:25 if you're in a club like Columbia, there's a lot of clubs in there.
03:31 Oh, I mean, you're allowed to –
03:33 You're allowed to reach out to them.
03:34 Yeah, you're allowed to reach out to them.
03:36 They're not a hidden society, secret society.
03:38 So, yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm sure all the clubs do.
03:41 I'll see clarification on certain things in case anything's changed,
03:44 because you never know. And they're always open to that.
03:47 I think they want that dialogue.
03:48 And we're just trying to get some clarity on sort of, you know,
03:52 what the actual position is on sort of interference in the goals.
03:58 Because I think I mentioned that at the time.
03:59 I think it was after – I can't remember what game it was.
04:03 And again, I'm ancient, mate,
04:04 but I always thought the goalkeeper was a bit of a protected species.
04:07 And maybe that's shifted now and I've missed the memo.
04:13 No, not really.
04:17 Mike.
04:19 [inaudible]
04:47 I guess, yeah, again, I've always tried to, as I said,
04:58 create a mindset where, you know, you're always –
05:03 I just don't feel you should be more passionate about one fiction than another.
05:06 I just – I never believe – I don't understand it. I don't believe –
05:09 I know the significance of it to, like I said, the club and supporters.
05:13 Absolutely.
05:15 But I tell the players to play every game as if it's their last game of football
05:19 or, you know, to train as if it's their last training session.
05:23 And if I felt that they would show more passion for one particular fixture,
05:28 I'd be questioning what I do on a daily basis.
05:31 Because I know you can't be successful,
05:33 so you've got to have a really strong mindset.
05:35 And I think if you're kind of conditioning yourself in that way,
05:37 then you don't cross the line.
05:39 You know, it's when you feel like, okay, I don't know, I really hate this club.
05:45 I want revenge and I'm going to just go out there
05:48 and do something that I don't do on a daily basis.
05:50 I think that's when you can eventually, you know,
05:54 come undone in terms of crossing that line.
05:56 So, my view is that, you know, on every day, every game we play, mate,
06:01 let's go at it like it's the last game we have.
06:04 (INAUDIBLE)
06:20 Yeah, I mean, I don't think we were cheered off.
06:22 I think there was an appreciation for effort
06:24 and I don't think that's a bad thing.
06:26 I mean, ultimately that's, I think, what all supporters want to see.
06:29 They want to see their team giving everything.
06:31 I think even the most sort of passionate supporters understand
06:35 you're not going to win all the time.
06:36 But the manner in which you play and you present yourself,
06:40 and I think on that day what the supporters were applauding
06:43 was the effort of the players.
06:45 You know, they kind of, a bit like the weekend,
06:48 they refused to lay down even when things were going against us.
06:52 And I think it's right that the players got acknowledged on that day.
06:56 I mean, if you've lost 4-1 and, you know,
06:59 when we lost in Newcastle away, you know,
07:03 we didn't get cheered off then, and rightly so,
07:05 because we didn't have the same application as we did in that day.
07:09 Tom.
07:10 (INAUDIBLE)
07:28 (INAUDIBLE)
07:41 Yeah, but I think I said after the game too,
07:43 I think, you know, whilst people were focusing kind of
07:45 on the way we went about it, I knew it was going to be a people day
07:48 because, you know, I knew we'd lost Madders
07:51 and Micky van der Veen for a big spell.
07:53 I knew we'd lost Christian for a chunk.
07:56 And, you know, I think at that stage we'd already lost,
08:00 sorry, Perisic and Solomon, and I'm going, okay,
08:03 well, this will be a real test for us from now on.
08:06 And part of me, well, not part of me,
08:10 but I expected something to happen because it was never going to run
08:13 as smooth as it did at the start.
08:14 And it's a credit to the players.
08:15 We got off to such a great start.
08:17 But I knew after that game that, yeah,
08:20 we would be really, really challenged in terms of the squad we had
08:25 at the time, where we were in our development.
08:29 But, you know, the manner in which we played, yeah, I mean,
08:31 I think it maybe gave people a small insight into kind of what we're
08:37 trying to create here and, you know, the way we're going about it
08:41 in terms of how we're going to deal with challenges.
08:44 And, you know, subsequent to that, we've still tried to do it the same way.
08:49 And, you know, like I said, we haven't always succeeded.
08:52 But, yeah, I still feel, as I said before, that I think all these, you know,
09:00 the kind of pain we're going through for a lot of things this year is going
09:03 to hold us a good step.
09:05 [INAUDIBLE]
09:26 I don't think it's inevitable.
09:28 I think there's definitely an avenue there.
09:33 Again, you've got to remember that they've sort of put a squad together.
09:39 Yeah, it's Maurizio's first year.
09:42 There's a hell of a lot of challenges within that.
09:44 They've got a young squad.
09:45 So I think there is an avenue there.
09:48 But it's not guaranteed and it's certainly not inevitable.
09:50 If you feel like anything is inevitable, there's a fair chance you won't get there.
09:56 Nothing will get you there.
09:58 But, you know, as I keep saying, they obviously had a plan
10:03 and a strategy in place when they signed these players
10:07 and putting Maurizio in charge.
10:09 And, you know, I've said before, it's about, you know,
10:12 how true you stay to that strategy and plan whether you get to the other side.
10:16 [INAUDIBLE]
10:22 [INAUDIBLE]
10:43 Not in the least.
10:45 And I get it.
10:46 It's not an answer.
10:47 Look, to quote Billy Joel, you may be right,
10:51 I may be crazy, but it's maybe a lunatic you're looking for, mate.
10:55 Because I'm just not interested in it.
10:57 I don't - I never have.
10:59 And I think enough of you have done enough research on me to know
11:03 that this is not the first time I've been questioned
11:05 about set pieces in my coaching career.
11:09 There is an underlying reason for that, which I'm very, very comfortable with.
11:17 No.
11:20 Do a bit of work, mate.
11:21 Come on.
11:22 Can I take from that that eventually it will be us as a team?
11:27 Eventually I will create a team that has success
11:30 and it won't be because of working on set pieces.
11:35 Cool. Matt?
11:39 I just quoted Billy Joel, didn't I?
11:40 Yeah, sorry.
11:41 Does anyone know who that is, by the way?
11:44 You almost sang along, didn't you?
11:47 You were talking about creating a team that will create success.
11:51 Yep.
11:52 And there's a lot of things to think about.
11:54 Is there anything in six months since that chance again
11:58 that has made you think twice about what you're trying to do?
12:03 No, not really.
12:04 I mean, obviously there are things that have happened that, you know,
12:08 you're kind of always assessing, okay, well, you know,
12:12 how do we continue the progress with what we're dealing with at the moment?
12:19 But a lot of it, like I said, is not kind of mapped out because you just don't know.
12:25 I said last week we started the season with a sort of clear idea
12:31 about what squad we were going to have, but obviously, you know,
12:35 we're still doing business in the last week of the transfer window.
12:41 You know, the challenges we've had since then in terms of injuries
12:44 and a couple of season-ending ones and absences and disruption to our sort of
12:52 fixturing has, you know, mean that you're kind of looking, okay,
12:57 well, how can we overcome the fact that we haven't been able to get sort of
13:03 regular run of games?
13:04 How do I really assess the group I have at the moment?
13:07 Like I said, some of them are not playing as much probably
13:10 as I would have wanted them to so I can see where we're at.
13:13 So they're the kind of things you kind of try and fill the gaps that exist.
13:19 But for me, you know, I keep saying there's kind of three pillars
13:23 to building that and the success.
13:25 One is the environment, which I think we're on the way of doing,
13:28 but we still have some further development there.
13:32 Our football, the way we play, again, very much a work in progress,
13:35 but progress and the squat and, you know, all three of those three things.
13:43 I haven't really changed my mind about what I think we need to do,
13:47 but certainly there are some gaps there which I would have liked to have seen
13:51 a little bit more evidence from.
13:55 [Inaudible]
14:01 I hope so.
14:03 Yeah, I hope so. That's the plan.
14:08 [Inaudible]
14:12 Yeah, postseason.
14:14 The only reason I say that is because it's not about the here and now.
14:18 It's about the overall strategy because, again, I'm talking about, you know,
14:23 where I want us to be in the next sort of six months
14:29 to be in a better place to deal with what we did today.
14:32 So, you know, Timo, we signed until the end of the year on loan
14:36 and he's part of that strategy to say, okay,
14:39 what do we need to do in the summer? Can we do it?
14:44 Are there going to be other gaps there
14:45 and where does Timo fit in with that strategy?
14:47 So we have a plan in place and that was kind of irrespective of -
14:53 I think he's been very good for us.
14:55 I think he came in at a really important time.
14:58 You know, in January when sort of particularly when Sonny was away,
15:03 then Richie got an injury and, you know, we're really short in those wide areas.
15:08 You know, him coming in was very, very helpful for us
15:11 and I think he's made an impact.
15:14 But in my mind, those kind of decisions, the definitive ones,
15:20 I still need some more sort of clarity about what we've got here first.