Ange Postecoglou has spoken to the media ahead of Tottenham's Premier League encounter against Chelsea on Thursday evening. It is almost three weeks since the Lilywhites were last in action, with the team suffering a 2-0 defeat at Fulham prior to the international break.
Spurs will once again be in west London but this time they will be taking on Enzo Maresca's Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Ahead of the game at the home of the Blues, Postecoglou was in front of the media at Hotspur Way on Wednesday afternoon to preview the match.
The Australian provided the latest on the injury front and what challenge his side can expect from Chelsea. Postecoglou also gave his thoughts on Mauricio Pochettino's recent comments about a possible return to Spurs, his job, Cristian Romero playing for Argentina during the international break and plenty of other topics.
Here is every word Postecoglou had to say in his pre-match press conference...
Any fresh injury concerns?
Nothing in terms of new, everyone else is fine training. Radu [Dragusin] is the long-term one. Richy (Richarlison) is training, probably not tomorrow but a chance for the weekend if he keeps training with the first team as he has been and he's getting better. Deki (Dejan Kulusevski) and Kevin [Danso] progressing well, a week or two with them, not joined in team training yet but progressing well.
How do you balance the league position, playing a rival in Chelsea and also the Southampton and Eintracht games?
It's an important game and can’t go past that. It's an important fixture, an important fixture for fans, important fixture for the season, but even if focusing on other games it's always better to try and gain some momentum in form and performance leading into big games.
Semi-automated offside is coming in, what do you make of the technology and also the timing of it?
I don’t have a massive view on it. If it happens quicker than it currently does and it's more accurate because I've never felt comfortable with those lines and the accuracy of those lines, then I guess it is a positive.
I'd still like assistants to make decisions so don’t have to wait around but apparently it's an improvement in terms of timing and accuracy so hopefully it works well.
How did you react to Cristian Romero playing 180 minutes for Argentina? Is that helpful for the rest of your season or you rather he didn't play?
Delighted, mate, if he can get through two games with his international team then it's great for us as he's not played a lot of football. Footballers need to play. Rather than him sitting around for two weeks, he needed games.
I think you could see that with the performances he had with us before, especially the Fulham game by the 70th minute he was pretty much cooked in terms of his physical fitness. Getting through two games at international level, two tough games, is a positive.
What have you made of Chelsea's home form this season?
They’re a talented squad, good manager. I still think they've had a positive season in terms of what they're trying to build. They've got some real talent in that attacking third. They obviously got hit by injuries as well and have had some key players missing which affects all clubs and that affected their consistency and results. As you said at their place, they're tough to beat and it'll be a good challenge for us.
Have you noticed a different atmosphere around the club and fanbase ahead of Chelsea? Are people scarred by this fixture?
I’m trying to separate what you just said there. We are not talking about the fans, that is not what we are talking about here. We are talking about the next challenge which is Chelsea. We understand the significance of the fixture. They are a good side, particularly at home. They are a tough team to beat. We are going to have to perform at our best to overcome them but it is a great challenge for us.
As I said, we need to try to build some momentum into the rest of the season and finish in a positive way. Going to Chelsea we know we have to play well to beat them.
How beneficial has the last week been with extra time between games after the international break?
It’s been a good international break. It’s been a bit unusual not having a game on the weekend which worked well for us because the majority of our international players played so we were able to give them a couple of days to recover post internationals instead of flying straight back which I think was good for them.
The guys here worked really hard but again we could give them some time off within that context. The whole group got together at the beginning of the week and I think they are all in a good place mentally and physically. It was positive that guys who needed to play football did so and guys who needed a bit of a breather got that opportunity.
How is Lucas Bergvall feeling as it must have been disappointing for him to miss out on making his first Sweden start?
Disappointing for him. He picked up the virus pretty much the first day he got there and it knocked him about. They held him around to hopefully play in the second game but in the end they thought because he hadn’t trained at all it was better they sent him back to us. He probably had a day off and has trained fully since.
I watched your interview with Optus Sport, what specifically did you get wrong at the start of the season?
I thought it was pretty clear mate, just listen to the interview again. I don’t think there is anything else I need to expand on. You review things along the way and we will probably review things properly at the end of the year. My sense is that we had a lot of players who missed a lot of our pre-season and we kind of went into the season probably a little bit underdone (undercooked) in terms of our key players and I think we paid a price for that.
This pre-season might look a little bit different because we won’t have as many international commitments as last year but I said in the interview it is stuff we will review and try to adjust so pre-season, which I think is important for every club, particularly for us from a physical perspective that we try to get right this year.
Mauricio Pochettino has spoken about managing Spurs in the future, what did you make of that at a time when you're under pressure here and going into a defining part of the season?
Mauricio if he wants to come back one day I hope it happens for him. We all have dreams and aspirations. If that is what he wants. You’re suggesting he is trying to put pressure on me?
Timing of it felt a bit disrespectful to you, that’s all.
Well, I don’t feel disrespected. I think if you ask Mauricio that question directly, you’d get a pretty clear answer as to what his intent was. Again, nothing from me to sort of be consumed with. I’m more focused on trying to make sure we win tomorrow night.
I wanted to ask you about Romero’s future. He has two years left and been linked with a few clubs...
He has got a game tomorrow night mate, that’s what we’re focused on.
This would be first league game since Chelsea at home that Van de Ven and Romero started together, how much has their absence affected the team?
Yeah like any key players that miss games. It’s great to have them back and hopefully they’re able to contribute for us tomorrow night.
You said at Fulham Yves Bissouma can let game drift by, how have you addressed that with him?
Same way as every other player, mate. We work with the players, give them feedback and give them the opportunity to work their way back to be the best that they can be.
Been some poor away results and performances in recent months and some flashpoints with fans, you at Bournemouth and players in Alkmaar, how important tomorrow not just to get a result but try to unify fans ahead of important two weeks?
Yeah I just don’t think you can get caught up with that. Our job, our role and our responsibility is to try and put in a strong performance tomorrow to win. That is it. You can’t get consumed by too many things that really are out of your control. They are out of our control how other people feel.
What we can do is perform against a tough opponent tomorrow and try to gain some momentum leading into an important part of the season for us. That is where our focus and the players' focus has been.
Tomorrow night a good dress rehearsal for Frankfurt away in two weeks – tough away game, going to be loud and players will be under pressure, but got to come through?
It is a little bit different because I think European competition and knockout competition, it tends to be a little bit more cagey, but there are some elements there. Playing away from home, against a loud fanbase, against a quality opponent where certainly if we can come through that test, it gives you confidence about what is ahead.
James asked you about Mauricio Pochettino’s quotes and there has been a lot of talk about your own future over last two-and-a-half weeks, how do you deal with that as manager and human being?
I don’t deal with it, mate. I know what my responsibilities are and I am sure if the club decide to go in a different direction there are some outstanding candidates for it. And you know what, maybe someone will think, ‘Ange Postecoglou is not a bad coach, maybe we’ll take a punt on him.’
Mate, it doesn’t rock my world. It doesn’t consume me. I am here, I am passionate about what we’re doing. I was brought in to change the way the club plays, rejuvenate the squad and bring success. I am focused on that and that is what I’ll keep doing.
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