Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou says "You can't fast track experience and maturity, these things need time"
29/10/2024
Tottenham Hotspurs Training Ground, London, UK
29/10/2024
Tottenham Hotspurs Training Ground, London, UK
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00:00and sort of, you know, the oscillations that people kind of just do well or do badly in certain games.
00:07When you look down the road, you sort of ask them,
00:10because he often talks about the support he got in quite difficult times early on,
00:14and kind of sticks his foot in to see what they do with people like that.
00:17Back to him, do you sense really that there's that kind of,
00:21have people, not necessarily in the club, but around the club,
00:24appreciate that you actually have to be back for a much longer period for that,
00:29and whether that can be delivered or not,
00:31and then down the line where he is now, where he loses it
00:35so people don't want to freak out in the same way?
00:40Yeah, again, I think you need to separate kind of the emotion of, you know,
00:46what people feel or the way people respond externally.
00:51But, you know, like I said before, you need to be clear in what your objective is
00:57and stick to that process.
01:04I mean, if anyone can show me where things can turn around in 15 months or in two years,
01:11any club, apart from maybe City where it took Pep a year,
01:17which is like an eternity to be fair for Pep,
01:21it doesn't exist.
01:22So there is a formula there, you know, and if you want to look at recent history,
01:25there's Liverpool, there's Arsenal, there are plenty of that.
01:29And there's plenty of others who have not stuck to a process,
01:32big clubs and small clubs, and haven't got any progress.
01:35So there's evidence on both sides, but it's not easy, you know.
01:40It's because, like I said, invariably scrutiny comes
01:45and criticism comes when things don't run smoothly
01:48because people want them to run smoothly.
01:50So how you react through that process is really important.
01:53So all I can do is, you know, like I said,
01:57stay really clear-headed about what my role in that is
02:03and, you know, the club to stay aligned with that.
02:08And that's what I feel.
02:09You know, we're kind of aligned in what we're trying to achieve here
02:12and we know it's not going to be easy.
02:13That does not mean, though, that this is going to take five years.
02:16I'm not saying that, but you can't fast-track experience.
02:20You can't fast-track maturity.
02:24All these things need time and you've just got to stay true.
02:32And like I said, you can't at the same time,
02:35you can't just, there's something going on with me,
02:37I feel like I'm mechoing.
02:40You can't do that with just cheerleading either.
02:45You can't expect that everyone's going to say,
02:47oh, it's okay, you're lost, you know, because you're on this path.
02:52That's not healthy either.
02:55You need the criticism, you need the scrutiny from outside
03:00and then how you deal with it is much more important
03:03than trying to alleviate it, you know, how you deal with it.
03:07Maybe it's valid criticism, okay,
03:09so introspectively you're looking at is there something there.
03:14But whether it's valid or not valid,
03:16if you just jump at the first time because you're going,
03:19oh my God, if we lose again they're going to come for us,
03:22then there isn't really a process.
03:24All you're trying to do is create some sort of utopia
03:28that doesn't exist in football.
03:30So this is part of the process.
03:32I keep saying I enjoy this bit because this is the hard bit
03:34and it has to be a hard bit.
03:36Every story has its struggle.
03:38Now, how far that struggle is or how much that struggle is,
03:42no-one knows.
03:43I don't know, no-one knows.
03:45But you get through it and then you'll reap the rewards.
03:50But, you know, how you deal with this process
03:55is critical to getting those rewards
03:58because, like I said, there's evidence on both sides pretty clear
04:02that, you know, you can have sustained success going a certain way
04:08or you can chase success going another way.
04:12And there's pretty clear results about which approach works better.
04:16How do you sort of deal with it?
04:19Because you did it differently,
04:20your background is different sorts of clubs,
04:22so this is different to Celtic.
04:25Are they constants in the background?
04:27Yeah, yeah.
04:29Yeah, there are and, like I said, it's alignment with key people
04:33who know every step of the way
04:35because, you know, I'm not doing this on my own.
04:39Every step is kind of discussed.
04:42We know where we're at.
04:45I think I said on the weekend we're struggling in difficult moments
04:52because we lack some maturity, leadership.
04:54Now, there's two ways of dealing with that.
04:56You can either go and buy it, acquire it,
04:58or you can wait for it to develop within your own group.
05:02We've gone down this way
05:03because I think that's the better way for me.
05:08But with that process, it takes time and experience.
05:12You've got to go through tough times.
05:13I can't artificially create tough times for the guys
05:16to see how the guys respond.
05:18They have to come at us, and it's not nice and it's not pleasant
05:21and no one enjoys it.
05:22I certainly don't, but it's necessary.
05:25So how do people react after a loss?
05:27How do people react if they haven't had, you know,
05:29we haven't had the right reaction?
05:32And then you get growth.
05:33I'm so optimistic about this playing group.
05:36I think there's such a high ceiling with this group of players.
05:40The more we get exposed to difficult times,
05:42the more I believe that that ceiling gets higher.
05:48So we've just got to stay, from my perspective, how I deal with it
05:51is I just keep clear markers that we kind of look for
05:56to charter our progress and focus on that.
06:01And as I said, don't be afraid of criticism
06:06or scrutiny coming your way.
06:08It's healthy.
06:09It's good because that shows me how people react.
06:15Are you expecting to play a bunch of kids in the City's team tomorrow?
06:22Tomorrow, do you think there's something else going on in the family?
06:25Look, I don't know, but I think if you look at sort of,
06:31Pep in this competition, he's always pretty heavily rotated
06:36for his whole time there.
06:37I think they won four in a row, didn't they, Carabao Cups?
06:41He does seem to be suggesting there's going to be more rotation this time.
06:45Can you just say that?
06:46No, no, but he's not playing his kids.
06:50And they disrespect Pep's kids, but they're good players if they're at City.
06:56I mean, they've got a pretty good program there.
06:58They invest a lot.
07:00Don't look at the ones who are just playing at City.
07:02Look at some of the ones who are playing around.
07:04I think Pedro was part of that at one stage.
07:06So if you're part of the City infrastructure, you're a good player.
07:12We're expecting a tough game, and that's what we want.
07:15But irrespective of who they put out, we want to win tomorrow.
07:18We want to stay in this competition.
07:20We want to put in a strong performance.
07:21We're at home.
07:23And we're playing City, which we expect to be a tough game.
07:27I was going to ask, if all you're going to do is favourites,
07:30is that what's happening right now?
07:31Or do you feel like that brings in pressure?
07:34No, it doesn't really matter.
07:35I mean, it's really irrelevant whether we're favourites, underdogs,
07:38whatever it is.
07:40In Cup competitions, that's the beauty of them,
07:46that irrespective whether you're a favourite or underdog,
07:49it doesn't really matter.
07:50It's about performing on the day.
07:52You always say that you're a winner in the World Cup,
07:55but you never win every game.
07:58The argument's been made in the past.
08:00If you get the trophy like they said,
08:02you can help create success elsewhere,
08:05because it gets voted on as well.
08:07But you also say that you want to see progress
08:11over the whole course of the FA Cup season.
08:14Can those two things go hand-in-hand,
08:16or is one more important than the other?
08:22Look, in my mind, I think they go hand-in-hand,
08:26but I still feel progress in the league is a better indicator.
08:34Because I just feel then you know that you're putting yourself
08:37in a position every year to win Cup competitions,
08:40or compete in every competition.
08:42Because like I said, that's the only thing you can strive for.
08:45You can't guarantee success.
08:47No-one can.
08:48It doesn't matter how much money you spend,
08:49it doesn't matter who you are.
08:50You can't guarantee it.
08:51But you can put yourself in a position.
08:53So I think you do that.
08:54If you're strong in the league on a consistent basis,
08:58I think by extension you should be strong in all these Cup competitions.
09:02Because I always say Cup competitions, not GAC competitions,
09:04by their nature can be pretty tricky anyway.
09:10So I think that's still where I think our most meaningful progress lies.
09:19Winning a competition, is it positive?
09:22Absolutely.
09:23Our supporters will love it.
09:25It's great for the club.
09:26Yes, you get that winning feeling too.
09:31But as I was saying before, it ain't a pain to see it for everything, obviously.
09:41Do you remember any of the progress you've had over the years?
09:43Well, I mean, I don't.
09:46Who knows?
09:47I just don't.
09:48I just don't know in today's world.
09:49Because like I said, I've got a manager who won two in the last two years
09:52that's just got the sack.
09:54So like I said, everyone tells me just win a trophy and you'll be fine.
09:58I don't think so.
10:00I think the measures these days are constantly shifting
10:05and there will always be something that people seek to be better.
10:09What's more important for me, like I said, is us getting to a space
10:13where we're consistently challenging for all honours.
10:16And if we're there in that space, like the big clubs are,
10:22and where we should be, then I think the rest will take care of itself.
10:27Okay, thank you very much.
10:29Good luck tomorrow.
10:30Thanks.