Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou reacts to their 4-3 home victory in the Carabao Cup quarter finals.
19/12/2024
Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium, London, UK
19/12/2024
Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium, London, UK
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SportsTranscript
00:00You seem to be cruising, you've all gone to very different places.
00:04Yeah, we were.
00:07We played so well and controlled the game.
00:12Obviously, it's a bit like our season's gone a little bit.
00:18We self-inflicted some pain on ourselves
00:21and then we had to scramble to get a foothold again.
00:27Ended up getting the fourth and winning the game.
00:33It should have been a lot more comfortable than it ended up being.
00:37But having said that, I still can't get away from the fact that
00:40this group of players has just done an unbelievable job at the moment
00:44to get us through this.
00:47The fact that we again scored four goals.
00:50Again, we played some outstanding football.
00:52We got tired, obviously, in the second half
00:55because, as I said, we've just got a small number of players we keep putting out there.
01:00I just think, obviously, we made it tighter than the game should have been,
01:05but still so proud of the players' efforts.
01:08Fraser's been so good for you the last few weeks.
01:10Do you just kind of have to take a note like that and put it to one side?
01:13Yeah, look, he's disappointed as well because he was.
01:15He was outstanding for us.
01:16I mean, he didn't have a lot to do before then.
01:17And even the first half, I thought he was really good with his feet.
01:20He found some great solutions.
01:21But obviously, I think sort of the first one then affected probably his confidence a little bit.
01:27He lost a bit of belief.
01:28And then that sort of second one just compounded it.
01:31But he's a big boy, mate.
01:32And, again, he's another one that's stood up for us big time this period.
01:37Like I said, I can't speak highly enough for this group of players.
01:40Again, tonight we had 10 players from our list unavailable for one reason or another.
01:46We had a day less rest than manu.
01:50We're not able to rotate the squad like we want to, like other clubs can,
01:55because we just don't have the numbers.
01:56And yet we're not just getting through games.
01:59We're still maintaining the kind of level of football.
02:04As I keep saying, we'll get some smoother waters at some point.
02:08But this period is going to see us have enormous growth.
02:14You talk about people stepping up.
02:16Slanky's got so hard.
02:17He's not always got an award, but a big performance from him.
02:21Yeah, he's been outstanding, mate.
02:23I mean, you know, he scored against Chelsea, I think, a week ago.
02:27So it's not like people keep going on about his goals.
02:30But his work rate, what he gives the team to be on these goals is unbelievable.
02:36But, yeah, his goals were quality tonight.
02:38And, you know, a good striker's goal is the first one, you know, the first one to react.
02:42And then the second one, you know, calm and composed and great finish.
02:47And like I said, you know, we love to give him a rest.
02:52But, you know, he just keeps going and going.
02:54And it's a credit to him and all the boys.
02:58How important is it for you and the club to sort of have this semi-final,
03:01these double-pedestal quality in January, you know,
03:04whatever happens in the next few weeks?
03:07Well, you know, we're in a semi-final of a cup competition.
03:11So I think that's something to sort of, you know, reflect as progress for us.
03:19And we've got an opportunity now, like I said, home and away, to get to a final.
03:23And we've earned that opportunity.
03:25And, yeah, it's one to look forward to.
03:29But we've got important games starting this week, starting Sunday,
03:32that we've still got to get through.
03:34And, you know, as I said, the mentality the boys are showing at the moment, you know,
03:40we're going to tackle these games in the same way we've tackled the ones in recent times.
03:44Is that reward for that mentality?
03:46Because you said that, you know, a few weeks, a week ago,
03:48you said that they need to fight through this period where you've got no players.
03:51Is it nice that they at least have this reward?
03:53Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
03:54Because you do.
03:55I mean, it's one thing to kind of fight and show determination and me praising them.
04:00But they need the rewards as well of winning.
04:03You know, how that makes you feel and how it, you know,
04:07because then you can sort of get them to dip into the well again
04:11because they know that, you know, good things can happen.
04:14As you explained before, I think,
04:16why you think playing up in the back suits your team
04:19and why you should persist with it if the pros are coming into the team.
04:23Just what's going through your mind when not just one, but two errors like that come up?
04:27Yeah, look, I mean, fair to say in 26 years there's been a few of them.
04:32I've always felt the pros well outweigh the cons of those kind of things.
04:37And those moments are rare, but when they happen, obviously, you know,
04:40they kind of stand out.
04:42And today there was obviously two.
04:44So, and like I said, I think it's just,
04:46I think the first one sort of affected Frey's, you know, for that next period.
04:53But, you know, for us it's still, I don't think we could be the team we are
04:59if we didn't sort of maintain our conviction around our beliefs.
05:03I know people will say, well, you know, just don't take any risks
05:06and all that sort of stuff.
05:08But then we wouldn't be scoring four goals and five goals and four goals and five goals.
05:11I mean, it's the hardest thing in the game to do, score goals.
05:14And we're doing it with bare bones of a squad.
05:16I think it's a massive credit to this group of players
05:20that we're performing at that level.
05:22There was no complaints with the team on the bench?
05:25Yeah, it was sick, mate. It's just the way we're going.
05:27It's just like we woke up this morning with a fever and Doc went and saw him.
05:31He had a high fever and we had to rule him out, unfortunately.
05:34So, it's just the way things are, mate.
05:36Just some of the outings?
05:37Pretty much, yeah.
05:38I mean, I don't roll up to game day looking for good news, let me tell you.
05:42So, yeah, it's just incredible.
05:45Like I said, this is 10 players off a senior list.
05:48It's just ridiculous.
05:49And the fact that we're still putting in these levels of performance,
05:55with guys, you know, Archie, Jed, these kind of guys.
05:59I mean, you know, we're getting, I believe,
06:06some real enormous growth in this period
06:09that maybe won't be evident until down the track.
06:12But I just think there's so much sort of good stuff in there at the moment,
06:19even though it's a tough period still.
06:21Okay, thank you.