Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou on facing West Ham in a London Derby, Tuchel's England manager appointment and "exploding" on the players
18/10/2024
Tottenham Hotspurs Training Ground, London, UK
18/10/2024
Tottenham Hotspurs Training Ground, London, UK
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00:00Tough one, Brighton, then a lot of the players going off on international duty.
00:05Have you had a chance to strangle, explode at them yet after that?
00:09Yeah, look, I was speaking metaphorically, as you can see, because I'm here, I haven't exploded.
00:18Yeah, look, it's one of those where you're kind of as much therapy as anything else,
00:23just get things off your chest, but at the same time, you know,
00:25it's about giving the right sort of feedback.
00:30The emotion of what you're feeling straight after the game is obviously dissipated ten days later,
00:37but obviously it's important that the players get the appropriate feedback for what was,
00:44you know, a real sort of difficult game for us,
00:48because we, as well as we did in the first half, we were really pulling the second half.
00:52During the break, there was talks with Van Der Leek and Ryan Mason potentially going there.
00:58It didn't happen. Can we get more on that?
00:59And how pleased are you that he's still here?
01:02Yeah, look, it wasn't too much in it, but, you know, I've always worked on the premise that, you know,
01:08part of my role is also developing coaches and something I take great pride in.
01:14And Ryan's obviously someone who sees himself one day taking that opportunity.
01:19And, you know, it's obviously a really important decision for the guys.
01:24And it's not like, you know, we want them to leave.
01:27And certainly with Ryan, he's doing a great job for us here.
01:31But at the same time, I think if it's something that they want to explore,
01:35I think it's important they do that because it confirms one thing or another for them in their head
01:40about, you know, where they're currently at and whether it's the right job for them.
01:44So, but, you know, to be fair, Ryan, he was pretty straightforward with it.
01:49And the only thing I said to him, look, I didn't want it drawn out or taken any time.
01:53And he didn't. He's really happy where he is now and committed to us.
01:57I know how much you value the importance of international football, being a former Australia head coach yourself.
02:02Obviously, the news this week, Thomas Tuchel is now the England head coach.
02:06You've managed in Japan. You're proud of being there.
02:08You've managed in Scotland. You love it there. I know how much you love London.
02:10One day, would you consider being the national manager of England or elsewhere, non-Australia?
02:17Look, I... One day. Yeah, one day.
02:21Look, from my perspective, like I said, I enjoyed international football,
02:24but I felt, you know, there was a...
02:27By the end of it, I was really keen to get back into the day-in, day-out of club football.
02:32And it's where I kind of... I'm really passionate about.
02:35But, you know, in the future, who knows?
02:38And yeah, you know, I think, you know, you're kind of...
02:41I do feel an attachment to certain nations that I've worked in.
02:44So, I wouldn't be exclusive to, you know, to Australia.
02:48Probably, in fact, I wouldn't coach the Australian national team again
02:51because I've kind of done that.
02:52So, but...
02:54Look, it is a real... It's a different role.
02:58There's greater responsibility because, you know,
03:01there's a whole sort of nation's expectations around that position.
03:07And you feel that, but hugely enjoyable as well.
03:11And you said you gave the appropriate feedback to your players after the Brighton game.
03:15What was that feedback?
03:16What kind of reaction do you want to see tomorrow?
03:19Yeah, look, I think by appropriate, I mean, you know,
03:21you can't just dismiss what happened in the first half
03:25and just focus on the second half.
03:26I mean, it'd be different if it was a really poor performance all round.
03:30Then you've kind of...
03:33Not an easier, but the analysis can be fairly straightforward.
03:37But, you know, kind of the question is
03:39why we were so good in the first half and so poor in the second half.
03:41And the second half was more around that
03:45it just didn't look anything like ourselves.
03:46We were really passive with and without the ball.
03:49We kind of...
03:51We lacked real conviction and courage in everything we did.
03:54It's almost like we felt like we'd done enough.
03:56And I hadn't seen that before in us.
03:58And it's a good lesson for the whole group
04:01that, you know, you need to, you know,
04:04make sure that irrespective of how a game is going,
04:07that you kind of stick to the core principles of your football.
04:11And, you know, it's a timely reminder for us that,
04:16you know, particularly in a game of football,
04:18when you haven't put...
04:19Really, in the first half, we should have finished the game off.
04:21But when you don't,
04:24it's very easy for momentum to shift.
04:27Tomorrow, we West Ham's fifth London derby in the Premier League this season.
04:30But this is the one that means the most to their fans.
04:33Are you aware of this rivalry and the significance of it?
04:37Yeah, no, I was made very aware of it last year
04:39and know what it means.
04:41And yeah, an important game.
04:45Yeah, we...
04:47Yeah, last year, we played really well,
04:49but didn't end up winning here at home.
04:51It was kind of the tale of our sort of,
04:53that part of our season a little bit.
04:55But it's going to be a challenging game.
04:57They've got some fantastic players in the team.
04:59Obviously, they've got a new manager.
05:00They're doing things a little bit differently.
05:03You know, we saw in the last game just what a threat they can be,
05:05particularly going forward.
05:07And a good challenge for us.
05:08But I think the emphasis has to be on us reproducing the form
05:13we've shown in recent times.
05:15And I say more importantly, sticking to the principles of our game.
05:19You mentioned the new manager.
05:20Julian Lapategui was singing your praises yesterday.
05:22What do you think of him?
05:24Yeah, I mean, you just have to look at sort of the positions he's held.
05:27And that gives you a fairly clear idea of how highly he's regarded
05:31and the impact he's made.
05:34You know, you don't become sort of manager of Spain or Real or the jobs he's held.
05:40And, you know, I'm always interested when managers come in
05:44and sort of try and take a club in a new direction.
05:47Obviously, they're trying to, you know, play a little bit differently.
05:50And it's not easy to do.
05:52So you kind of, I'm always intrigued by managers who kind of take that path.
05:56And yeah, look, he's a top quality coach.
05:58And I think, you know, I think he's starting to build sort of the team
06:03that he wants at West Ham.
06:04And yeah, I think it'll be exciting for the supporters.
06:09Hi, Ang, how are you?
06:10I'm good, mate.
06:11You didn't beat West Ham last season in either game, drew at West Ham.
06:14And despite being actually dominant at home and the first half,
06:18lost at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
06:20But this will be a very different West Ham.
06:21So you mentioned already the new manager likes to play in a very different way.
06:25Will that suit the way you like to play?
06:29No, not necessarily.
06:31I mean, you know, I think it is a different approach,
06:34but most of the personnel is still there from last year
06:38when you look at sort of the kind of lineups they've had the last two or three weeks.
06:42So, you know, there's still, you know, that emphasis that they had last year.
06:46I mean, they're a big side, they're a physical side.
06:48They've got some real speed on the wings.
06:50So I don't think there's a style that suits us or doesn't suit us.
06:53I think when we play well, we can play well against most systems and styles,
06:57as we've shown.
06:59And if we don't or if we don't stick to our principles,
07:01we can struggle against anybody.
07:02So I think more important for us is how we approach things.
07:06Going back to the Thomas Tugel appointment as England manager.
07:09First of all, did you or were you surprised that a top football nation
07:13like England couldn't come up with an English coach?
07:18No, I mean, you know, I think.
07:22Yeah, obviously they were looking for somebody to replace Gareth,
07:25who'd done an unbelievable job.
07:27And, you know, I guess like most things, they probably canvassed,
07:31you know, who was the most appropriate for the role now.
07:36You know, I think there are some very, very good English coaches around.
07:41But, you know, with national team jobs, it's not always straightforward.
07:44You know, it's about timing sometimes.
07:46I certainly found that when I became Australian national team boss.
07:51It was a good time for me and a good time for them to look for an Australian.
07:54And I was doing well at the time and I could get out of where I was.
07:58It's not always the case.
07:59So things have to align.
08:01But I think they've got a fantastic manager in Thomas.
08:04He's got an outstanding record, particularly in kind of knockout football
08:07and again, highly respected and
08:11great group of players they've got at the moment
08:12who are just beginning to sort of emerge,
08:16you know, on a global basis.
08:17So exciting appointment.
08:20And having done the international football management already,
08:24is there more scrutiny on a manager at an international level or a club level?
08:28I mean, certainly with England,
08:30you'd think it would probably be a bit higher than Australia, with respect.
08:33And I mean, for example, you'd never ask for Australia
08:35whether you'd sing the national anthem or not.
08:37I mean, we've already asked Thomas Tuchel.
08:38I don't know if you'd sing the national anthem, you're England's manager.
08:42There's a lot of questions in there.
08:44Let me get a head around all of it.
08:46Look, I get, yeah, there is a lot more scrutiny
08:50in the England national team manager's role, absolutely.
08:54More than probably any other role anywhere in the football universe,
08:57I'd say, from living here.
08:59And it's funny how, you know,
09:02there's this clamour for an English manager, but
09:05I'm not sure you guys have treated English managers really kindly in the past.
09:10It's not like they get extra support by being English and managing their national team,
09:14just looking at the history.
09:15And again, I'm looking at it from afar.
09:17So, you know, I think whoever, you know,
09:21whenever an Englishman does take this role,
09:24I certainly felt this, you know, when I was, you know,
09:27manager of Australia, there is a greater weight on your shoulders
09:31because it is your nation and
09:35you're always going to live there.
09:36You know, it's like sometimes with the foreigners, you know,
09:38they can do the job and if it's not great, they go back and live where they live.
09:41And they don't have to deal with it on a day to day basis, you know, whereas
09:45so there is a greater weight of responsibility
09:47when it's your own national team.
09:48I really believe that, and particularly the England national team.
09:51So, I mean, that's something that I think probably that, you know,
09:54the people who make these appointments are wary of is it's not just about coaching.
09:58It's how you deal with all these other things that are attached
10:01to the England national team job.
10:02And sometimes the foreign coaches
10:05don't probably have to deal with it as much as an English manager would.
10:08So, you know, there's a real challenge there.
10:11But like I said, I think that, you know,
10:15they've got an outstanding manager in Thomas.
10:17And I think the key thing is, irrespective,
10:20they've got a fantastic generation of players coming through.
10:24You know, I'd be excited if I was an England football supporter.
10:28And Jim, I wanted to ask you a bit more about this
10:31England manager's position, and there's been a lot of debate
10:33about the calibre of English coaches in English football.
10:36I was wondering what you thought of that,
10:37you know, with a lot of English coaches in your backroom staff.
10:40Do you think that English coaches are of the highest calibre
10:43and what are the barriers for them to get opportunities?
10:46Yeah, look, there are, absolutely.
10:50I mean, you know, even in the Premier League, you know, you look at Eddie and
10:54even guys like Steve Cooper, who've done a great job with the England underage teams,
10:57which is always a good indicator about international football.
11:00So, you know, there are fantastic English managers there.
11:04But I've just never looked at
11:06coaches from, you know, and their nationality doesn't really interest me.
11:12You know, it's about how they work and, you know, how passionate they are about what they do.
11:16It's a tough job, how they deal with things.
11:19And, you know, I think
11:23part of the growth comes from being open to allowing,
11:27you know, different kinds of, you know, cultures and nationalities into your game.
11:32I don't think the Premier League would be the best competition in the world
11:36if it was restricted, you know, in terms of the access.
11:39We've got some fantastic footballers, some fantastic managers,
11:42which I think helps the game grow here.
11:44And I don't think it necessarily should stunt, you know, the growth of,
11:48you know, English players.
11:49It certainly hasn't stunted the growth of English players
11:51because you're getting some of the best English players coming through.
11:55And I don't think it should stunt the growth of the English managers either.
11:59If anything, hopefully it raises their level, raises their ambitions,
12:03challenges them even more.
12:04I think I've always, I've always, you know,
12:07proscribed the theory that, you know, you kind of,
12:10you always pitch it to the highest common denominator
12:12and get everyone to sort of climb to that rather than sort of
12:15bring things down just to create opportunities for someone.
12:18The player comparison's interesting there, how we have a lot of players like that.
12:22But do you think that maybe
12:24managers should look like the players to go overseas a little bit?
12:27You did that with Japan and Ryan obviously had the interview in Belgium.
12:31So do you think that that's actually maybe a pathway
12:33that should be explored by more Englishmen
12:34if they're not getting the chances here?
12:36Yeah, I certainly subscribe to that theory.
12:40I think it does, it allows you to grow.
12:42Sometimes, you know, when you've just had a real sort of
12:48siloed kind of journey of,
12:50you know, the same kind of culture, the same kind of football,
12:55you know, for there to be growth,
12:56you really almost have to go out and discover it yourself.
12:59Whereas when you do, when you, when you manage overseas
13:02and there's been great examples, Bobby Robson did it,
13:04Sir Bobby did it, you know, Terry Venables did it,
13:07you know, some England managers who, you know, Roy Hodgson did it.
13:12Graham Potter's done it.
13:13And, you know, they're all world-class coaches.
13:15So there is some merit in it.
13:17And it's not easy because I think sometimes there's a fear
13:20that if you do go overseas, that you get lost to the system here.
13:26Whereas if you stay in the system, eventually you'll get.
13:29But I always think the part of growth as a manager
13:34is to try and experience as many different things as possible.
13:38And, yeah, you know, coaching abroad certainly does that.
13:41Hi, Ange. I just wanted to ask about Jed Spence's new contract
13:45and the journey that he's been on since he came back to the club this summer.
13:49Yeah, look.
13:51Yeah, yeah, I think I've said a couple of days ago and I'll consistently say,
13:56you know, most of a player's future is in their own hands, you know.
14:03It's not really there as much as in control of that as anyone else.
14:08I think sometimes footballers forget that, you know.
14:10And with Jed, it could have been easy for him to come in this year,
14:13go out alone again and see what, you know.
14:16But it seemed that when he came into pre-season, he was determined to make a career,
14:21you know, for himself here at Tottenham and try and have a crack here
14:25rather than just wait to be loaned out.
14:27And, you know, he did everything right at training.
14:29His attitude was great.
14:31You know, he's a good footballer.
14:32I think the way we play suits him.
14:33And, you know, he's knuckled down to that and he's, you know,
14:37he's earned himself a spot on the roster in our squad.
14:40And, you know, the rest is up to him again, you know,
14:44because it's an easy decision for me to make when I see that.
14:49Like I said, sometimes footballers think that their fate is in other people's hands.
14:53You know, for the most part, it's in their own.
14:55You know, if they're doing well and if they're doing everything right,
14:58the future tends to take care of itself,
14:59whether that's, you know, where you currently are, you move on.
15:02But, you know, and Jed's certainly done that.
15:05If I've done my research properly, Tottenham have not played a single goal kick
15:09long this season.
15:11So I just wanted to ask if you could just explain
15:13why it is so important to you that players always look to pass it short.
15:20Yeah, I don't know, I might have played one or two longer,
15:23but I won't second guess your research.
15:26Yeah, look, it's part of sort of the way we want to play our football.
15:30I think a shorter pass is more certainly going to start off with possession.
15:33We don't want to really give away possession.
15:35I think we're the kind of team we are.
15:36We want to try and sort of set things up where we have control position of the game.
15:41And I think a shorter pass kind of guarantees that.
15:44And then from there, you move your way forward.
15:47And, you know, it's a big part of sort of our build up plays to try and,
15:53you know, manipulate our positions as much as we can as we move up the park,
15:57rather than just sort of, you know,
16:02go long to a contested ball and hope we get the second ball.
16:05We're just not that kind of team.
16:06So, but within that context, I think, you know, there's enough variety there
16:11that we still make it sort of difficult for teams to
16:14kind of stop us from achieving that.
16:18Hi, Ange. You mentioned in your injury update yesterday
16:21that some players are still waiting to come back into the building.
16:25Cristian Romero played the early hours of Wednesday morning,
16:27had the long flight back.
16:29Bit of a quicker turnaround this time.
16:30Yeah. How is he?
16:31Yeah, he's OK. He's good.
16:32Yeah, no, we got everyone back yesterday.
16:34The last of them was, yeah, Christian and Pape and Biss, and they're all good.
16:40They've reported well.
16:42Yeah, look, we got the early kick-off, so that's a quick turnaround.
16:46But we trained this morning and they're all fine.
16:50Lucas Bergwald picked up a small knock, but he trained as well.
16:53So he's no problem.
16:54So in terms of, yeah, the internationals,
16:59yeah, everyone's got a clean bill of health.
17:01With Rich Allison hopefully back in the squad tomorrow,
17:03what have you done differently over the past six weeks or so
17:07just to make sure these injuries stop reoccurring?
17:09Yeah, we've just taken our time with him,
17:12but it hasn't been just about sort of
17:16him recuperating and sort of recovering from the injury.
17:19We've tried to use it to really kind of build his real fitness base up
17:24so that when he comes back, and to be fair to him, he's worked awfully hard.
17:28He's, you know, he's trimmed down.
17:31He's, you know, he looks really lean now and he's worked really hard.
17:35So, you know, we've tried to use it almost as a,
17:39you know, another sort of pre-season for him on an individual basis
17:42to not just get him to recover from his injury, but also because, to be fair,
17:46he probably recovered from his injury a couple of weeks ago,
17:48but we've used the last couple of weeks of just getting his fitness base up
17:52and, like I said, getting him really in good physical condition
17:55so that we don't keep going through this cycle of him coming back and breaking down.
17:59And like I said, I mean, hopefully everything's good.
18:02But, you know, to be fair to him, he's worked really hard
18:04and he's looking really good. He's had a good week of training.
18:06He's, you know, he's missed playing.
18:09He's a real kind of, you know, infectious guy as well.
18:13It's just good to have him back with the group.
18:15We'll finish this section with George.
18:16Hi, Ange. I just wanted to go back to Kuti Romero.
18:20Has he sort of hit the levels that you want this season
18:23or is he kind of still working his way to his best?
18:25Because he had a busy summer again, didn't he, with the Copa America quick turnaround?
18:29Yeah, I think Kuti's been, I think, again, probably reflective of our season.
18:34You know, he's had some really good moments for us
18:38and then he's had a couple of disappointing moments for him,
18:41which I know he's been, you know, he has been happy about himself.
18:45But it is tough, you know.
18:46We've spoken about the schedules and, you know,
18:50it's funny how the guys who didn't have international commitments,
18:53not that there were many of them, you know, look really refreshed
18:55and, you know, really ready to go.
18:57And not just for us, but for football in general.
19:00And, yeah, the amount of travel and the amount of games,
19:04because he always plays, Kuti does,
19:06you know, we've always got to sort of bear that in mind.
19:08And, you know, it's something that the players need to sort of learn to cope with
19:14the best they can.
19:15But, yeah, he's still real important for us.
19:18You know, he's an outstanding defender, he's a great leader in our group.
19:22And, yeah, he's still contributing.
19:25And just funny for me that after the Brighton game,
19:28the kind of spurs he tagged was doing the rounds
19:30and there was a stat about Tottenham taking the lead,
19:33taking a two goal lead 10 times in the Premier League year
19:36and letting it slip.
19:37Is that something that the players just have to embrace
19:40or is it better to block that type of stuff out?
19:43Mate, it's irrelevant, who cares?
19:45Like, it doesn't matter.
19:46I mean, you say it's 10 times, well, it hasn't been 10 times with me,
19:49so give me a break.
19:51Like, let me get the 10 and then start putting tags on me.
19:54But that's, you've got to accept that, right?
19:56You've got to just say, well, that's it.
19:59You know, people will always find easy kind of ways to,
20:04you know, you've got a wound to stick their finger in that wound.
20:06So that's, you know, if you're not prepared to accept that
20:08when things haven't gone well, well, you know,
20:11make sure things go well.
20:12You know, there's one way to change that.
20:14So, you know, if we want to change the perception of ourselves,
20:17then it's not going to come because,
20:19oh, please don't call us those names.
20:21It's going to become because we're proving that we're a team
20:23that, you know, can be relentless in their approach
20:27and be successful.
20:29We'll have one quick one from Gun.
20:30NJ, just a quick question.
20:32How about Sonny, is he available to play tomorrow?
20:35Yeah, yeah, no, Sonny's good.
20:36He's worked hard these two weeks.
20:39Obviously he was very disappointed to miss playing for his national team,
20:43but I think it's been good for him these two weeks.
20:45He's worked really hard.
20:46He's had a good, good solid training week
20:48and, yeah, he can't wait to get back out there.
20:51He's good to go.