Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou previews facing Man City at home for the Carabao Cup
29/10/2024
Tottenham Hotspurs Training Ground
29/10/2024
Tottenham Hotspurs Training Ground
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00:00Afternoon, Ansh. Could you give us your reaction, first of all, to the news
00:03over at Ten Haag leaving Manchester United yesterday? Were you shocked when you heard it?
00:07No, not really shocked. I guess disappointing as it was. Almost inevitable with, you know,
00:19the scrutiny it had. So, yeah, I mean, it's just the nature of football these days.
00:27Can you give us a little bit of an insight into the scrutiny that a Premier League manager
00:31faces on a day-to-day basis? And I can imagine, obviously, a club like United,
00:35it intensifies more and more, but obviously you're at spurs, but just give your opinion on that.
00:40Look, I've said in the past that it's becoming more and more difficult, I guess, to,
00:47you know, do the role in kind of any sort of processed way.
00:52Like I say, it's just the nature of what we do these days. It seems like,
01:02you know, if you look at Eric, he's there for two and a bit years.
01:07In those two years, he won a trophy in each year. I think they finished third the first year.
01:16I don't know if he was here with that record. Would he have lost his job? I don't know.
01:21Would he be under the same scrutiny? I don't know. Because everyone tells me all I have to do is win
01:26a trophy. But I've got a feeling it'd be the same because I think, you know, people want to, you
01:34know, I think just the nature of the world today, you've got to, as a manager, you've got to hit a
01:39sweet spot where you have success, you play football everyone likes, you get every signing right.
01:45And in that moment, you seem to get some sort of validation. Anything other than that, it seems to
01:52be, you know, for some clubs, they win trophies, but they want football. Others want football, but
01:59then changes, they want trophies. So it is a difficult task. But I think what you've seen in
02:08the past, I'm sure Eric will bounce back from it because he's a good manager, he's a top manager.
02:14And, you know, you've seen it with other managers and, you know, I'm sure his career will continue
02:19to go on strongly. You raise a good point, there's a lot of variables, you know, involved in a job as
02:24a manager or a head coach, as they're called these days, you know, do you think that sometimes there
02:28is too much onus on head coaches and managers in terms of all those things that you were talking
02:32Well, I mean, we're, no, I don't think it's too much. It's just that we're obviously the public
02:37face of it. And you have to, you know, when you are, you have to take that responsibility. It's
02:40just like I said, it's just, you know, I think you need to kind of have a clear idea, I guess,
02:49if you are in this position, as we are as managers of what we're trying to achieve, because, you know,
02:56we're the ones inevitably have to answer these questions. So, you know, about progress and where
03:01we're at and what our aims and ambitions are. So, you know, I guess it's easier when that's aligned,
03:08you know, with the overall objective of the club. But if that keeps shifting, then
03:12becomes really difficult to kind of figure out, you know, what the outcomes are supposed to be.
03:19What we do know is that any process that, you know, you want an outcome of
03:26continued sort of opportunity for success, because that's the only thing you can
03:31kind of try and achieve. You can't guarantee success. There's no such thing.
03:34It doesn't matter who you are. But what you try and achieve as a club, I think,
03:38is the opportunity for success on a regular basis. That process takes time.
03:43And just focusing on that, I mean, I think, you know,
03:46that process takes time.
03:48And just focusing now on the short term, you obviously will be hoping for a reaction after
03:52the Palace result over the weekend. Have you seen a bit of a reaction on the training ground
03:56the last day or so?
03:58No, I don't think it's about a reaction. I think, you know, it's, you know, it's fairly sort of
04:07understandable that the players and everyone was disappointed with, you know, with the way
04:12things went for us at Palace, both performance and obviously outcome.
04:19But we've got to get away from this kind of, you know, reactions and, you know,
04:23trying to tone for something, you know, you've got to sort of part of the process for us is just
04:29making sure that every game we kind of stick to our principles, irrespective of what's
04:33happened in the past, you know, because if you wait for reactions for good performances,
04:38then you're actually, you know, anticipating another challenge where you should be just
04:43trying to focus on consistency in performance, consistency in,
04:47you know, mentality of how we approach every game.
04:51Hi, Joey.
04:53Just going back to Ten Hag and the whole thing about managers,
04:57does job security ever worry you when you're in a job or is it when you're in a job,
05:01you just want to do your job, play good football, win trophies?
05:05Look, I've, you know, it's easy to say, but I've never worried about job security.
05:10I think if you do, then you're probably, you know, going to end up not doing the role,
05:22you know, the justice it deserves for yourself more than anything else,
05:26because the reality is there is no job security.
05:28I don't know what job security looks like.
05:30You know, what's the average tenure of a manager these days?
05:33So if you think, you know, I'm going to be around for five years, that's highly unlikely.
05:39So, you know, if you worry about those things, I think you end up,
05:44like I said, chasing your tail a little bit, trying to,
05:47and probably making decisions for the wrong reasons.
05:52I've always, as I said before, I understand I won't be here forever, but I work as if I will be,
05:57and I make decisions that I think will get us to being a successful football club.
06:01And, you know, if you deviate from that,
06:07then the inevitability is that the end will probably come sooner than you want,
06:13because I said job security for managers just doesn't exist,
06:18because there is always something that, you know, unless you win it,
06:23and you win it in the right style with the right decisions,
06:29everyone else seems that will be under scrutiny.
06:32So you've got to understand that's part of the role.
06:35Not that there's anything wrong with that.
06:36I think criticism scrutiny is healthy.
06:40Even criticism scrutiny that's not valid is useful,
06:46because that's what tests your resolve in doing what you do.
06:50Because if your guest is going to jump at the first time somebody questions what you're doing,
06:54it probably means you don't believe in it.
06:56You're playing against someone tomorrow who's been at his club for nine years, going on 10.
07:03Do you ever believe that you'll ever be at either Spurs or your next club for that length of time?
07:09Like I said, that's how I kind of, you know, plan things,
07:13because I want, you know, whatever we achieve to be sustainable.
07:18So you make decisions on that basis.
07:21So that if things keep going in the right direction,
07:27then I don't know how long I'll be wherever I've been.
07:30You know, usually I've left after a kind of successful period.
07:33But as I said before, you know,
07:36the successful periods of the clubs I've been at have outlasted me.
07:39So I think that's important.
07:42Not that I'm kind of the key in that,
07:44but it's just that that's what you try and build.
07:46So, you know, how long I stay at one club has always kind of been defined by,
07:51you know, kind of, is there still an alignment?
07:54Is there still a challenge there?
07:57And, you know, that's what I kind of focus on.
08:01And finally, from me, Pep suggested that he would maybe rest players or rotate players,
08:06those that weren't 100% wouldn't be risked.
08:09Do you care who's in the shirt opposite you,
08:11or would you just look at the shirts and think, we want to beat this team?
08:15Yeah, I think.
08:18Look, I think it's fair to say that most clubs rotate through the Carabao Cup,
08:24but you just have to look at Man City's record in this competition.
08:29And, you know, you look at Man City's record in any competition,
08:34they're a fantastic football club and they've had success for a very long time.
08:37And I think sometimes, you know, people take that for granted.
08:41They just say, oh, it's City.
08:42But it's very, very difficult in this league and these, you know,
08:46in this country to maintain that kind of excellence over the time they have.
08:49And they do that because irrespective of who plays,
08:53there's a level of performance they continually deliver,
08:55whether that's, you know, they've rotated the team or not,
08:58whatever the competition, very, very few competitions,
09:02they drop out at an early stage.
09:06Can you give us team news? Is Sonny fit?
09:08Sonny, no.
09:09Well, he's almost fit, but we're probably, you know,
09:13from our perspective, we'll aim him for the weekend.
09:17We're quite confident he'll be right for the weekend.
09:21The only one that's missing out, it's a bit of a disappointment as well,
09:23Sonny has had a setback after, you know, during the week.
09:29And it seems like it's a serious one, so we're just waiting for more information.
09:33So that's the only one that's disappointing.
09:36And then from the weekend, everyone else is OK, Jed's back training.
09:40Is it the same injury then?
09:42Yeah, yeah, well, not exactly the same, but it's the same area.
09:46You've had two games in this competition,
09:47you made nine changes at Fulham last time out and eight at Coventry this year.
09:53Is that likely to be your approach in this competition going forward?
09:57Or do you pick on a game-by-game basis?
09:59No, I think we, similarly to what we've done in all our sort of midweek games,
10:03Europe included, is try and pick a team we think will win the game
10:06and take into account that, you know, we did play Sunday.
10:10And, you know, obviously City played on Saturday.
10:13So, you know, we've got to sort of make sure that our players,
10:18the ones we put out there tomorrow, are able to compete physically
10:21with what's going to be across the other side of the pitch for us.
10:25So, you know, I'll select a team, as I have, like I said, recently.
10:29The good thing for us is that just about the whole squad's
10:32had regular football or some kind of football.
10:34So, you know, that means that whatever changes we make tonight,
10:38the players coming in are at a good physical level.
10:42Rob, please.
10:44Hi, Ansh, just to ask you about Dean Koleseski.
10:46He said this season he's seen a growth in his maturity on and off the pitch.
10:52How much of a change and growth have you seen
10:55in terms of his leadership qualities over the past 16 months
10:58since you've been in the club?
10:59Yeah, look, I think...
11:02Yeah, I think Deckie's growing,
11:03but I think that's kind of where we are as a group.
11:05I think a lot of them are kind of growing,
11:07and they're growing through experiences.
11:09And I think for Deckie, the weekend was another sort of growth period
11:14because I think, you know, he obviously got hurt pretty early
11:19and wasn't happy with it.
11:20And I think in many respects, he lost a bit of his composure after that.
11:23And that's another growth for him, you know, to understand.
11:27And that's part of it as well.
11:28You know, you can still...
11:29You need to focus your energies on helping the team on the day
11:33rather than sort of being personally aggrieved.
11:36But that's where we are as a group,
11:38and I think that's where we get our growth
11:40by going through experiences like we did on the weekend
11:42with a lot of the players
11:43and them going through that
11:45and understanding how to deal with it better next time.
11:47But, you know, Deckie's been fantastic for us this year
11:51in terms of, you know, both his output,
11:53but also his attitude, his mentality.
11:56And, you know, I think there's more to come.
12:00Jake, please.
12:02Hi, just one for me.
12:03I think there's been a rising trend this season
12:05of teams coming from behind in Premier League games to win.
12:08Saw it with Brentford at the weekend.
12:10Just wanted to know if you thought
12:11there was a particular reason behind that.
12:15No, not really, mate.
12:16I think I've never gone for trends in football
12:20that last a couple of months.
12:23Trends in football last a lot longer than that.
12:25I think, you know,
12:29it's the nature of a little bit of the Premier League, I think,
12:32that, you know, most teams tend not to sit on the kind of results.
12:40You know, there seems to be in the Premier League
12:43a propensity for teams to keep,
12:46you know, playing right until the end
12:48in terms of getting a result.
12:51And, you know, you see quick turnarounds within that.
12:54So, but yeah, I mean, I think a trend in football
12:58needs to last longer than a couple of months.
13:01OK, we'll finish with George, please.
13:02Hi, Ant. Rich Arleson's obviously fit again now.
13:05Do you sort of see him as an option going into this game on the left
13:08or are you seeing him more as a centre forward
13:10with Dom and they sort of competing?
13:12No, I think Richie obviously played a lot of his football on the left.
13:15He's definitely an option there for us.
13:17Yeah, he's an option through the middle as well.
13:19So, yeah, look, again, he's getting, you know,
13:23some good match minutes now.
13:25So hopefully, you know, in the next couple of weeks,
13:28we've still got a good game schedule where, you know,
13:32like I said, he's only just getting his season started.
13:34So the more we can expose him
13:36without sort of overburdening him in these early stages,
13:39I think we'll, you know, he'll be able to contribute even more.
13:42And the Man City game last season at home
13:45sort of got overshadowed,
13:45but you went with Pape Sarr as kind of the full Stein.
13:48Was that just kind of because you was without Richie,
13:51I think at the time he injured,
13:52or was that more to kind of counter what City do?
13:54I don't think we had a striker available, mate,
13:56if I remember correctly.
13:57So, yeah, Pape won't be a false night tomorrow, mate.
14:01Is that something that potentially, like,
14:02throughout the season you could...
14:03Oh, look, I think with the way we play,
14:07you know, whether it's Dom or it's Richie,
14:09or, you know, we've played Sonny through there,
14:12we kind of try to play with sort of our fixed position there.
14:17And it depends on the opposition and what they do.
14:20And, you know, obviously City will pose
14:23some different challenges this week
14:25than we had in sort of the last game.
14:27So within that context,
14:29it's just about adjusting sort of some of our play for that.
14:32And obviously, I know you want to win every game,
14:34but I think some fans would probably look at this seven-day week
14:37and some of them would see this Man City game,
14:39even though it's the fourth round of the Caribou Cup,
14:41as the biggest one of the week.
14:43Do you get any kind of sense from staff, players,
14:46that no one or any of them don't realise
14:48the significance of this fixture on tomorrow night?
14:52Look, I've said on countless occasions,
14:56I'm not a supporter of the club.
14:58I'm the manager of this football club.
15:00And I'd hate to think that any supporter of this football club
15:02thinks that I try harder in one game more than another.
15:07Supporters can feel what they like,
15:09which is the most important game.
15:11But it would be the biggest injustice for me as a manager
15:15if I said to them, you know what,
15:16we're going to try harder tomorrow than we will on the weekend
15:19or that we did last weekend.
15:21It doesn't work that way.
15:24You need to separate supporters of a football club
15:28with people who have the responsibility of representing it.
15:30Our responsibility lies in trying to be the best we can be every day
15:35for our supporters, for everyone who's part of this football club.
15:39It's not about, again, trying to gain brownie points.
15:48That's not what our role is.