Tottenham's Postecoglu on Brighton challenge and trying to take team to next level (Full Presser part 2)
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglu on Saturday's game with Brighton and trying to take his team to the next level
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00:00 put some things into place with our training, with the way we want to play our football,
00:04 to see if we can go up another level, another two levels, another three levels between now
00:08 and the end of the year. We've got 15 games to go.
00:10 Like I said, we've got probably the healthiest list we've had since the start of the season
00:16 and that gives you that platform. But we've still got to go out there and perform. It
00:20 doesn't make it any easier. It doesn't give us any sort of impetus unless we take advantage
00:27 of that. Now, the evidence I have so far is, like I said, at the start of the year when
00:32 we, like I said, apart from Rodrigo, everyone was fit. Our training levels were great and
00:36 that was reflected in our football. So we've got to try and replicate that and hopefully
00:40 raise it a notch. Because I think the other thing you know is, going into the tail end
00:44 of the season, every team has got a fair bit to play for. So there won't be any sort of
00:48 easy fixtures along the way. Everyone's got a hell of a lot of motivation. So we've got
00:54 to match that. We can't just say, "Well, we've got a lot of good players out in." So we've
00:57 got to just go out there and we just roll out our football. At the start of the year
01:01 we were doing that because, like I said, our training was really good. Guys were really
01:05 focused and we need to do that. And look, having the extra bodies also means competition
01:10 for places is also at a higher level, which I always think is good. I like it when there's
01:18 competition for places. It's not that I think people get complacent. It's just everyone
01:22 tries to raise their level, which is only a good thing whether you're in or out of the
01:25 team. You want to push to get in there and if you're in there you want to maintain and
01:29 increase your standards so you don't miss out. So I think all those kind of factors
01:33 give us a platform to finish the season strong and we should finish the season strong.
01:37 You just mentioned custodians when you were talking to Tom there. You sort of made it
01:54 clear what you want custodians to be. Are you concerned about what custodianship we
01:55 have at the moment?
01:56 Well, I don't even know. I mean, I assume that the governing bodies are the custodians
02:00 at the moment. But I guess what I'm talking about is the detail of it that when, for want
02:09 of a better word, when change presents itself, who's representing the game and are we getting
02:15 enough of a cross-section of who we need to be. So if you're asking me how it currently
02:21 works, I've got no idea, mate. I haven't been in that space and dare I say it, I never will
02:25 be. But when I talk about those things, I take my manager, I'm just talking as a fan
02:32 of the game. That's all I'm saying is that as a fan of the game, I've always loved the
02:37 fact that for the most part, our game has remained untouched for my sort of 40 years
02:45 of experience in it. There's been some rule changes, which I remember when I was playing,
02:52 I could pass it back to my goalkeeper and he'd pick it up and then he'd throw it back
02:55 to me and I'd pass it back to him and pick it up again. And you know what, they changed
02:58 it. Why? Because they didn't want to see that. They didn't want to see the game slowing
03:02 down. They didn't want to say, "Good decision. Let's go with it." And I don't think anyone's
03:06 complained about it. But other than that, there haven't been too many shifts. I don't
03:12 know why all of a sudden we've seen such a major transformation. We've let technology
03:18 in the door. We know that's going to affect it. So let's just see how that plays out before
03:22 we start thinking about other significant changes. So that's, I guess I'm saying is
03:26 the conversation we're having now, who's having those conversations. I don't know. You might
03:30 know better than me.
03:31 I haven't because I struggle with that stuff. Like I've said before, I've kind of always
03:56 been the one where you've got to just respect the referee's decision or the umpire's. But
04:00 I think we have seen some stuff to get some clarification. Because again, I think, now
04:07 again, I'm going to get called out for this, but there was a thing that was quite evident
04:13 in the game that the goalkeeper was a protected species. I don't think that's just me making
04:18 that up. And the reason people say that was that if you really impeded a goalkeeper in
04:22 any way in a six yard box, you're going to get a foul. You kind of knew that. I knew
04:26 that as a player. I've known that as a manager. That seems to be a shift there. Now somebody
04:32 will say to me, well, the rules haven't changed, but I think there's been a shift there where
04:36 now, because to me it's obstruction, right? When you stand in front of a goalkeeper, stopping
04:42 him before the ball's even arrived, in layman's terms, that's obstruction. Now somebody's
04:47 going to tell me that's not a law either, which wouldn't surprise me. But again, it's
04:50 something that I've kind of thought was part of the game. And I've seen it in general play.
04:55 I've seen our guys get blocked trying to close people down by other people. I'm finding it
05:01 bizarre that it's not getting pulled up anymore. With the goalkeepers, like I said, what's
05:08 that going to do now? Well, it's pretty much open slaving. You can sort of surround the
05:13 goalkeeper and crowd him and put balls on top of him and you've just got to wait for
05:17 the scramble to finish and see what happens. I was really proud of Vic the other day that
05:22 I know people kind of, I think they had nine corners after we conceded. I think he dealt
05:27 with just about every other one by coming out and actually having a crack at it rather
05:31 than sort of standing on his line and saying, "I don't want to get exposed." So I can't
05:35 praise him highly enough for the way he handled it. And the whole thing about people saying,
05:39 "Well, they've got to be stronger." What does that mean? If he pushes or does anything to
05:44 play with VAR, you've got no chance. You're going to get a penalty against you. So we're
05:50 kind of telling our players now, just be careful in the box. They were looking for everything
05:53 VAR. You're not going to get away with a little shirt pull or a little push. So how are goalkeepers
06:00 supposed to be stronger in that sense when you've got somebody standing next to you?
06:05 Obstructing you from doing your job is my point. If there's contact before the ball
06:09 arrives, I thought that was obstruction there. Like I said, I'll get called out for this
06:14 because I'm probably behind the times and maybe there's been a rule change. But there's
06:19 definitely been a shift as I see it, where we've had at least two goals, maybe three
06:24 that in the past would have been called for fouls on the goalkeeper that are being called
06:28 now. And not just our game, I've seen it in other games too.
06:31 Do you feel like you've got to adapt?
06:34 No, we've just got to adapt and adjust to it and deal with it the best way we can because
06:38 obviously there's been a shift in the way that's been dealt with.
06:41 Back please.
06:42 How are you?
06:43 I'm good, thanks mate.
06:44 I would like to ask you because you guys obviously have come right to Apo. Last time you guys
06:45 came on right, you guys lost last time out 4-2. I just wanted to ask, what lessons have
06:46 you guys taken from that game to ensure that you guys don't forget yourselves in that considering
06:47 the division 3?
06:48 Yeah, not a lot. I thought it was a good game. Probably should have finished 4-4 in the end
06:49 to be fair to us. I thought we were a bit unlucky.
06:50 I think we were a bit unlucky.
06:51 I think we were a bit unlucky.
06:52 I think we were a bit unlucky.
06:53 I think we were a bit unlucky.
06:54 I think we were a bit unlucky.
06:55 I think we were a bit unlucky.
06:56 I think we were a bit unlucky.
06:57 I think we were a bit unlucky.
06:58 I think we were a bit unlucky.
07:24 I think we were a bit unlucky.
07:51 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:19 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:21 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:22 I think we were a bit unlucky.
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08:26 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:27 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:28 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:29 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:30 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:31 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:32 I think we were a bit unlucky.
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08:34 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:35 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:36 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:37 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:38 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:39 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:40 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:41 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:43 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:44 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:45 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:46 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:47 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:48 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:49 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:50 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:51 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:52 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:53 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:54 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:55 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:56 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:57 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:58 I think we were a bit unlucky.
08:59 I think we were a bit unlucky.
09:00 I think we were a bit unlucky.
09:01 I think we were a bit unlucky.
09:02 I think we were a bit unlucky.
09:03 I think we were a bit unlucky.
09:04 I think we were a bit unlucky.
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09:06 I think we were a bit unlucky.
09:07 I think we were a bit unlucky.
09:08 I think we were a bit unlucky.
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09:10 I think we were a bit unlucky.
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09:12 I think we were a bit unlucky.
09:13 I think we were a bit unlucky.
09:14 I think we were a bit unlucky.
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09:16 I think we were a bit unlucky.
09:17 I think we were a bit unlucky.
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09:19 I think we were a bit unlucky.
09:20 I think we were a bit unlucky.
09:21 I think we were a bit unlucky.
09:22 I think we were a bit unlucky.
09:23 I think we were a bit unlucky.
09:24 I think we were a bit unlucky.
09:25 I think we were a bit unlucky.
09:26 I think we were a bit unlucky.
09:27 It can be.
09:44 I guess I always felt with those kind of things, it depends really on the manager and he's
09:49 a) probably he's brief but also he's got a personality in how he wants to tackle the
09:55 job.
09:56 For others, they're more comfortable in a different space.
10:01 Others feel like they're kind of the spokesman for the club and they take on that responsibility.
10:06 I think, and like I said, a lot of that depends on kind of the club model and how they want.
10:12 So I think there's room for both.
10:16 I think one's probably more demanding.
10:17 I think when you kind of become sort of the spokesman for the club, you can get sort of
10:24 dragged into areas where, you know, for all of us, we've got a limit sort of energy and
10:30 time we can spend on these things and our priority is still always going to be the team
10:34 and producing results.
10:35 So I can see why a lot of clubs would probably say, you know what, let's just protect our
10:42 manager and sort of get him to focus on what's important and build other things around him
10:47 and I think you'll see that more and more.
10:49 I think you'll see more, for want of a better term, of support services around managers
10:56 in the future with the demands of the role because it is becoming, obviously I've been
11:03 doing it for 26 years and at different levels, but it's becoming even more consuming than
11:09 you kind of thought it would be when I first started.
11:13 Davide, we're finishing here, please.
11:17 I always kind of like managers and coaches who, you know, their teams have kind of a
11:32 clear identity but also he's a little bit different and, you know, probably because
11:41 of kind of my own sort of journey and the way I've got to where I am, you kind of always
11:48 get attracted to those kind of ideas because you kind of know that for somebody to go even
11:52 slightly against the grain in football to do something just even a little bit different,
11:58 it's quite challenging, you know.
12:00 You've got to really have some strong self-belief and some clear ideas in your head and with
12:06 Roberto you can see, I mean, before he got to the Premier League, I was Sassuolo or Shakhtar,
12:13 wherever he was, you could already see those elements of him doing things differently and
12:19 there are a lot of managers like that that I always respect because, like I said, it's
12:24 very difficult even to go slightly against the grain in football because you'll get questions
12:28 straight away as to why you think you can do something differently and it's going to
12:34 be better than what's happened before so I've got respect for that.
12:37 Your team's probably the best football in the Premier League.
12:41 What do you like about Brighton in terms of the way they play?
12:47 Well, thank you.
12:48 I mean, I reckon there'd be supporters of other clubs that disagree with you but, look,
12:53 like I said, with the way they play, they're really brave with their football, with their
12:58 possession football, they're prepared to sort of draw teams in into areas that other clubs
13:06 would look at risky, about bringing the opposition into really deep areas to then be able to
13:11 exploit them and that takes a lot of, not just bravery, but a lot of coaching, a lot
13:16 of information, both from, and the players are included in that, they've got to be pretty
13:21 brave to play that way so I have a great admiration for them because, like I said, that's, I'll
13:27 guess in football, that's where the greatest risk lies when you play football in your own
13:31 defensive half or defensive third, knowing that there's always the potential that something
13:36 won't go right and you concede and the question will come straight away as to, well, why do
13:42 you do that?
13:43 So, you know, I think whenever I see teams that are kind of set up in that way, and like
13:47 I said, there are different variations of it, and, you know, they're exciting to watch.
13:52 Again, if I stopped being a manager and I'm a supporter, it'd be one of the teams I'd
13:56 like to watch.
13:57 OK, thanks guys.
13:58 Thanks, guys.
13:59 Good luck with that season.
14:00 Keep this up.
14:01 Thanks, man.
14:02 Sorry about that, mate.
14:03 It's my fault.
14:03 (laughing)
14:06 [BLANK_AUDIO]