Ange Postecoglou spoke to the media on Wednesday at the AFAS Stadion ahead of our UEFA Europa League Round of 16, first leg against AZ Alkmaar on Thursday night (5.45pm UK).
Here's what he had to say...
Ange on the latest team news and players who haven't made the trip...
"So, in terms of who hasn't travelled, Deki Kulusevski is the only one. He's got a knock on the foot, he's not really sure when to be honest but it's got a bit sore in the last couple of weeks. He's been able to train and play and just get through it okay, but it wasn’t getting better so we did some further investigations, no real clarity, but we're waiting on a couple of things to find out the extent of it, he's unlikely to be back before the international break. Nothing serious, nothing surgical or anything, but he didn't travel. Ben Davies, he's close but is still doing some work back at the training ground with Richy. Everyone else is here."
Ange on whether or not Romero, Solanke and van de Ven could start against AZ...
"We’ll see, we'll train tonight, obviously they've all been out for significant amount of time, so we'll see when we reintroduce them, but they're all here and training, we'll make decisions after that."
Ange on Argentina calling up Cuti...
"It’s interesting, I've been in the game for 26 years, including as a national coach, and one rule we know is don’t have any control over international football. Everyone knows that. I don't know why it becomes a question every time. Even if he's injured, they can call him up. So, from our perspective, it's not our concern. Our concern is to get him up and running and hopefully get him some game time. If he's fit he should go and get more game time rather than not playing for two weeks. The international side of it, people have asked me a couple of times over the last couple of days and it's almost like they're not really sure. International football is pretty clear - clubs don't have any control on where their players go."
Ange on Micky van de Ven's fitness...
"He’s training, we’re mindful that the last time, whilst he came back and played half a game, we still felt and he still felt like he just didn’t feel right. So we’ve taken a different sort of road with him this time. He feels really good. He’s been training with us for a good week and a half and is in a good space. I guess it’s just about a timing thing now and how we reintroduce him. We’ll probably be gauged by how he feels in terms of what he does actually getting out there and having a runabout, but in terms of training and how he looks at training and how he feels, he feels very, very confident that once he’s back in the team he’ll be all good."
Ange on the Europa League and if he feels 'it's there for you'...
"I'm not sure what there for me is, but it's a competition we obviously want to do well in. We've got ourselves in a good position, we're in the Round of 16, we've got two tough games against AZ and that's the first thing to overcome. You're right, the club hasn't in recent years done well in this competition, but it's a major European competition, we're in the last 16 and for us there's an opportunity there and we'll see how far we can go in it."
Ange on if there is more belief in the squad now...
"It’s hard to say. We obviously started the season feeling pretty good about where we were at, but obviously it hasn't transpired that way. You just don’t know. Certainly a combination of things, players, significant players coming back for us, but also just having the opportunity to train with the whole group has been really valuable to us. I think the time off and players coming in, having time off and scheduling things better, means we're in a good place certainly to tackle things ahead, so certainly from that perspective. A month back, we were really struggling, with no players and no recovery, so from our perspective the past few weeks have really been good for training, recovery and just the level of intensity we can put into preparing for games."
Ange on playing Cuti and Micky again, and there not being a 'lower tempo' game to do that...
"I never think about it that way. I don’t know what a lower tempo game is, every game players know they have to come in and perform. It's more just making sure they're ready. For us, I've always felt our training is a real good preparation for the way we play, the best preparation for the way we play, and the fact Romero, Dom and Micky have been able to train with us at the usual intensity we train at has been a good indicator for me about whether they'll be able to cope."
Ange on sensing a real hunger in the squad...
I think it is fair to say the boys really understand there is a great opportunity for us. I think they’ve appreciated the fact that the guys who have been playing through are now able to recover and train and prepare themselves better for games. That’s coincided with seeing their team-mates come back and certainly the guys who have been out injured, we’ve already seen with guys like Vic, Brennan, Madders to a lesser extent (due to length of time out) but Wilson, Destiny, they’ve come back with a real hunger and desire to help the team because I think they’ve all been frustrated to sit on the sidelines and see how difficult it has been for the group of players who have been playing. They’ve just wanted to help and now they get that opportunity. Again, I think you sense that in the group that they appreciate they have some support and some help. There is a platform there for us to hopefully get back to playing our football and seeing how far we can progress."
Ange on the importance of 'silencing the home crowd'...
"It will be a tough challenge. They did well last time (against Galatasaray). We obviously played Galatasaray away and they’re a very good side, especially in European football, but the key for that tie was how they (AZ) played at home. They set it up and with us tomorrow night, we’ve got to make sure, whatever happens, at the end of the game we’ve still got an opportunity to go back to Tottenham and win the tie. We understand with the home support... I’ve been here with Celtic in a Europa game, so I know the experience of it, and they’re a good side, but we’ve got to make sure we play our football and dictate the tempo of the game."