Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou states that Mikey Moore is ready to start the Premier League ahead of their clash with Crystal Palace
25/10/2024
Tottenham Hotspurs Training Ground
25/10/2024
Tottenham Hotspurs Training Ground
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00:00How's the team looking ahead of Sunday, Sonny?
00:05Last night all good, no issues out of last night, obviously a bit of fatigue with some of the boys because they haven't played for a while but all good.
00:14Sonny, he's still not right, he's still not feeling 100% so he won't train today so unlikely for the weekend and we'll see how he is beyond that.
00:28James Madison on Saturday, he looked a bit down because he obviously wants to be part of a winning team but how proud were you last night?
00:35He showed real maturity and leadership, he spoke really well post-match as well, it sort of justifies you giving him the armband doesn't it?
00:42Well he was part of a winning team on the weekend too so I think I made the point, I thought he actually played well in the first half, it was just a tactical change I thought was needed for the team to win.
00:54But I understand the players obviously want to play all the time but I thought he was really good last night, I thought his leadership throughout the game was good in the way he played, he was really positive on the ball and when we needed moments of creativity or discipline he was there.
01:14I thought especially in the second half, obviously Mikey had that spell where he was really feeling good and I think Matt has made a point of just giving him the ball and I thought that showed real leadership because in that moment it's easy for Matt to try and do things himself but I think he sensed that Mikey was doing some special things and kept giving him the ball.
01:39Look he's a vice-captain, he's one of our leaders and last night I thought he really stood up and played well but I thought he played well on the weekend too.
01:47I bet you're delighted you called him Neymar as well aren't you?
01:49Yeah brilliant, yeah great. Look I think we all understand with young players you do have to be really careful but as I said after the game I don't get the sense that that's going to affect Mikey at all and there's no denying he was great last night, I thought he was great the whole game especially in that period and yeah so exciting for us.
02:14Another player Madison had an influence on last night was Richarlison, he's never played badly for you has he? It's just on and off injuries isn't it during your time here, what do you have to do to keep him fit and what do you say to him because he's a confidence guy as well but he's played well under you.
02:30Yeah no he's always contributed when he's played but like I said we've worked really hard and to be fair to his work really hard this rehab time not just from his injury but just getting him into a better physical condition and he looked good last night, he looked strong, he looked lean, he had plenty of energy and he's going to be a really important player for us for sure.
02:52Like I said we took a little bit of a different approach with him, hopefully with the objective of breaking that cycle where he comes back for a bit and breaks down and credit to him he's worked hard and he's feeling really good about things, great for him to get a goal last night.
03:08Hi Ange, it's fair to say that Michael Moore yesterday played really well but he hasn't started in the Premier League so far so do you imagine that he's kind of getting to the stage where he's now ready to start a Premier League match?
03:22Look he's ready to start any game, like I said I just feel that especially with young players you've just got to be really careful about their introduction into senior football, it's not like even last year he didn't really have a full season of football, he had quite a few injuries, a couple of injuries that left him out.
03:43He went from under 18s football to playing very little under 21s before we integrated him so you have to look at that, I think he's still physically growing and you have to take that into account so I think he's ready to play, start a Premier League game for sure but for me it's about making sure that for us what we want to do is continue to kind of develop Mikey in the right way, give him the platform to keep improving.
04:10So far whatever we've asked of him he's made a real impact and the plan is to continue to do that.
04:18And in terms of this weekend it's another away game, obviously your last one was away to Brighton, what do you want your players to take away from that performance against Brighton going into this one against Crystal Palace?
04:29I think I addressed that, it wasn't something that has been a common occurrence for us in that second half of Brighton, we dropped off in many respects from the key fundamentals of our game and as I said it's hard to say why but obviously there were some objective markers that we know we fell short of.
04:54When you've got objective markers it's not just me talking about it, the players know the levels they need to hit and we've bounced back since then and it's a good challenge for us for Palace, obviously they're going through a tough spot but we've still got some talent in that team and you get a feeling with Palace that once they do turn around they can go on a run like they did last year under Oliver so it'll be a good challenge for us.
05:22You mentioned Palace, obviously they are struggling this season, they haven't won a Premier League game, sitting in a relegation zone, you mentioned their threats, where do you think their threats really will be on Sunday and how dangerous is it coming up against a team who are desperate for that first win of the season?
05:36Look it's always dangerous in the Premier League, you just mentioned the Brighton game, there's never really any games where you go in there and you're thinking it's going to be a comfortable afternoon or evening and especially away from home, the Premier League is always challenging.
05:49They're going through a tough spell but I've got no doubt they'll come out of it because they do have some quality in the front third and they're a hard working team and I think for us what's important is that we're on a good run, we've been on a good run for a while and we want to continue that and the basis of that good run has been just how hard we work and sticking to our principles.
06:14Hi Ange, how are you?
06:15I'm good mate.
06:16So how special is Mikey Moore, how special can he be? I mean wasn't this long ago when everyone was saying England's next world class youngster coming through is Duke Bedding which is right and then Cole Palmer, how special?
06:29Look I don't know, I don't know what you mean by special, I mean he's a talented young player, he's a bit behind the guys you've mentioned because like I said he hasn't started a Premier League game yet so we've just got to be careful about sort of and I think Mikey just wants to be Mikey.
06:47As I said after the game what I do see with him is he's very mature for a 17 year old, he handles things really well both positive and negative, he works hard every day and he's making an impact at an age where it's very difficult to make an impact at this level.
07:11But that's the beginning of a process for him and the beginning of his career and like I said from my perspective it's about making sure that we're constantly working with him and giving him the opportunity and the platform to keep improving and if he does then Mikey will be Mikey and that'll take him to wherever his ability does.
07:33In terms of if you can explain the process because sometimes we young players we all say like we did with Phil Foden, he should go out on loan rather than sit at Man City and be on the bench and maybe a few minutes here and a few minutes there and there'll be some people saying that about Mikey Moore, why doesn't he go out on loan, play every week, why stay with you and play just bits and pieces?
07:52So what is the pros and cons of you keeping him for the whole season and maybe getting just those bits and pieces rather than week in week out, say starting for Leighton Orant?
08:03I think the key is that you treat education case individually. I think if you start just having a sort of blanket policy I think that's where you miss. I said the key for us this year was to try and expose Mikey to a first team environment that was more important than him just getting game time because he hasn't been at this level for any length of time.
08:29Other players who maybe had a year of first team environment and haven't had game time they need to go out and play but Mikey wasn't in that boat. I know you say bits and pieces but we're only sort of seven or eight games into Premier League season and with Europe and Carabao Cup he's already played.
08:46If we get between 15 and 20 games from Mikey between now and the end of the season I don't think that's bits and pieces, I think that's meaningful for him and then we assess it from there but I really think it's important you just treat these things on an individual basis because ultimately what you want to do is what's the best for that player rather than sort of have a blanket approach.
09:08You've spoken positively about James Madison and his leadership last night. Can I ask you about one decision he made and whether you were comfortable with it or not was when the penalty was given to me like he was going to take it and then suddenly thought no I'm going to give it to Richarlison who probably needed a goal for his confidence. I mean most clubs have designated penalty takers and managers want to stick with that or were you really happy last night that he gave his mate the chance to get some confidence?
09:38I was happy with the outcome mate. I don't care how they get to it, if the ball's in the back of the net I'm happy. We do have designated penalty takers but in that moment I think both are equally good at taking penalties I think matters.
09:53We went through a thought process and thought it would be beneficial for us, for Richie to take it but I was comfortable with if they threw the ball to Fraser I'd maybe be a bit more worried about it. He'd probably say he could do it but I think it wasn't such a wild sort of decision in that moment. I think there was some clarity around it and like I said the ball thing was, we scored.
10:21I just wanted to ask you about this team where they are now compared to this time last year when obviously results wise there was that amazing start. I think this equivalent Friday was what made it eight wins two draws against Palace. How do you see the team now compared to that team that started so brilliantly last season?
10:41Yeah a lot different. I think we're certainly more consistent in our footballing, more consistent in our performances. Look the results last year were great and we were playing a lot on enthusiasm and real energy we had.
11:06But I knew that wasn't sustainable and pretty quickly we found that out for a number of reasons whereas I think this year we've already had some injury disruption so to speak and we've handled them a lot better. I think we've got a much more well rounded squad to handle what's ahead of us. We've had a heavier games program but we've held that together.
11:29I think we've progressed as a side. I think players have developed in the last 12 months to another level when I think about Brennan and Decky and others. So we're in a better place but we need to be and hopefully in 12 months time we're also in a better place because that's the only way you can progress.
11:47Interesting since the start of the season, I know you talk a lot about growth of players in the team and I just wondered what you thought were the main growth areas since the start of this season for the team?
11:56Like I said just the consistency of our performances. I think within games we're controlling games a lot more. We're less vulnerable in certain areas than we were last year particularly defensively and just a lot more cohesion in our build up play in the middle to front third.
12:20I think a lot more threatening in that front third. I kept saying last year I thought that was the area we needed to improve the most and I think we're getting there now. Obviously Brennan is becoming a real threat there. Obviously Sonny always is. Getting Dom in has been fantastic for us and like I said with Decky in the midfield now and Matt we just look a lot more threatening going forward so all those kind of areas.
12:50Just on Mikey, for fans obviously having a player coming through is one of the most exciting things that can ever happen. What's it like as a manager when you start to see a talent like that blossoming? How exciting is that for you without wanting to big him up too much?
13:04It is exciting because it filters through the whole club because I'm sure everyone in the academy takes enormous pride in it. Everyone who's had a hand in his journey, coaches, people around him, everyone takes pride in that so the whole club feels good about seeing somebody who's come through the program.
13:28As a manager you're excited that at 17 you've got a player who's already showing a maturity in mindset where he's given himself every chance to be the best player he can be because I don't sense in him.
13:50Sometimes with young players they're exciting but you think I can already see there could be some pitfalls down the road but I don't sense it with him so at 17 you wonder if he keeps going like that what's he going to be like at 2021 and hopefully I'm still a manager that benefits from that mate but you never know.
14:09Jed Spence, how is he in regards to his fitness?
14:13Getting closer so we're hoping next week he'll join back in training.
14:18Dane Scarlett's had a really good past 10 days or so, he's got a couple of important goals for Oxford as well. How pleasing is that for you and the club because he maybe hasn't gone the way you hoped in regards to regular starts for Oxford so far?
14:34It's important for Dane, for all our guys out on loan part of the reason we put them out on loan is to get game time not to sit on the bench but again they have to earn that.
14:50It's important for Dane, it's an important year for him, he needs to play, he needs to score goals at that level to make sure he keeps progressing.
15:01So pleased that the last 10 days with England and with Oxford he's got himself a couple of goals and he's just got to maintain that now.
15:10Like I said whilst we put him out on loan with the best intentions a lot of it is up to the players themselves to go there and make an impact so pleased that he's started to do that.