Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou on focusing on executing their football head of the North London Derby
14/01/2025
Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium, London, UK
14/01/2025
Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium, London, UK
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00:00Yeah, if we can get him some help, yeah, because I really think, you know, Dom's just, he's
00:29been outstanding in the way he's just sort of carried the front line in many respects
00:34for us during this period and, you know, you've got to put, again, context of the way we play,
00:41we put a lot of demands on that position, you know, in terms of it's not just him sort
00:46of standing up there and scoring goals, it's working hard for the team and I really think
00:52if we'd had some, you know, if Richie was available, I think we would have, you know,
00:57I think he would have been able to contribute even greater for us in terms of his output
01:00in goals but, yeah, I really love what he brings to us as a team, you know, from a football
01:08perspective, from a sort of cultural perspective, I mean, I think the other growth we've seen
01:14in recent times is just him and sort of Deckie becoming leaders, on-field leaders in the
01:18team and, you know, again, with Dom obviously being a new player, you know, he probably
01:28would have been easier for him sort of just to slip in and try and do his job but he's
01:32taken on the responsibility of helping the whole team so, look, I think, like I said,
01:37he's been great for us and I really feel there's more to him and his game and we'll be able
01:44to get more out of him if we can get him some help.
01:46It wasn't like he was cheap, he was the most expensive side of him but, in hindsight, he's
01:53easy now because he's playing so well at the time but were you surprised that there wasn't
01:57more, there weren't more clubs in him this summer given how rare it is to find a striker?
02:03Oh, no, I mean, I don't know who else was in for him, I'm just glad we got him.
02:08I mean, I think you're fine in terms of, you know, outlay.
02:12If you're trying to sign a striker, you know, sort of with proven predigree these days,
02:18it's pretty hard not to sort of spend, because, like I said, clubs know how difficult it is
02:23to get those types, especially, you know, for me, Dom was kind of proven in that, you
02:31know, sometimes when they play in other leagues you go, okay, how are they going to go in
02:35the Premier League but he'd already done it in the Premier League and, you know, he'd
02:38shown some real growth in his time at Bournemouth so, you know, nothing's a sure thing but I
02:45really thought it was a real kind of safe bet for us that we knew what we were getting,
02:50you know, we were getting a proven sort of Premier League striker that was going to fit
02:54into our style of play, which is the most important thing.
02:58But even in terms of sort of what I was hoping for, I think he's exceeded that in my mind.
03:04Just one question on Lucas, Benny, before you started, I was sort of watching the video
03:08before you came on, and those driving runs that you've seen in the last few games,
03:11they remind me a little bit of the way Jude Bellingham runs forward and also the fact
03:15that he seems to be able to play in all of the central midfield positions.
03:19Is he almost in a similar model to Jude?
03:22Hard to say in terms of, you know, it's always hard sort of comparing players but he does
03:31seem to have that sort of unique ability of, you know, not unique ability but unique sort
03:38of traits of being able to play those different kind of roles in midfield.
03:44So, you know, usually midfielders will tend to sort of one way or another but he seems
03:50to be able to sort of, you know, cover the sort of defensive side of the game, have the
03:57technical ability to sort of, you know, dictate tempos but also the running capacity to break
04:04lines and I think he's got goals in him as well, you know, I mean, obviously he scored
04:08his first one but, you know, from what we see at training, he's a good finisher.
04:11So that's the exciting bit but, again, we've got to temper that with he's 18 and he's
04:15still got a lot to learn but, you know, from my perspective, that's exciting in that,
04:21you know, we're trying to build this team is, you know, the fact that we've got, I think
04:26there's a few players in our team that are sort of multifunctional in that way.
04:30It just gives you a great scope with what we're trying to create moving forward.
04:35And, you know, I think back to goalkeeper, as you said, brilliance against our
04:40midfielders, aerial stuff, you'll probably have a lot of that against Arsenal as well.
04:46Is that different challenge, the same sort of challenge now?
04:50Yeah, well, look, it's a different challenge but it's more got to do, I guess, with
04:55the mindset in that, you know, he was prepared to embrace that challenge and I think
05:01he's prepared to embrace the challenge of, you know, we all know how, you know, we found
05:07out in the last game just how strong they are on offensive set pieces and the players
05:12they've got in there in terms of both delivery and execution and you need, you know,
05:18you need to be well organised but you also need your goalkeeper to play a pivotal role
05:22in that and I think so far what I've seen of him and, you know, he's embraced those
05:26challenges, you know, it's not easy, you know, you go to a place like Tamworth and
05:33they're throwing balls literally under the crossbar and you've got about 20 bodies
05:37around you to deal with and it's, as much as it's about technical ability, I think
05:43it's more about sort of mindset and tackling that and he didn't show away for it
05:48which I thought really helped us because then that gives confidence to the players
05:52around him that, you know, if it's in his area he's going to come for it so then
05:56we can sort of focus on our job.
05:59Obviously a lot's been made about Arsenal over the last 18 months and their set pieces
06:03and last year a lot was made about you defending your set pieces.
06:07It's changed hasn't it and what we've done can help you?
06:11Oh look, I think it's just sort of the evolution of the team.
06:14Like I said last year, I mean, you know, people just, you know, again, like it's
06:20pretty simplistic in their outlook when I spoke about set pieces that, you know,
06:24well I don't care about set pieces and we don't have a set piece coach so we don't
06:28work on them. I mean it's just, anyway, but we haven't put more emphasis on them
06:34it's just we've changed some things around the way we're defending them and
06:38it's working really well for us this year in terms of, you know, we've changed
06:42our set up a little bit and the players have kind of embraced that and, yeah,
06:48I think for the most part we've been really good.
06:50Yeah, like I said, obviously when we played them at our place,
06:54you know, they scored a good goal and that was the difference.
06:57But they've done that to a lot of teams, I don't think that's just to us but
07:00for the most part I think we've handled set pieces really well and we will have to
07:04tomorrow because, like I said, they've got good delivery which is always difficult
07:07no matter what your set up is, you know, especially Declan Rice, he delivers a great
07:12sort of corner in and they've got some big guys in there so we're going to have to be ready for it.
07:17Do you have to be ready for things like gamesmanship against Arsenal
07:21any more than anybody else?
07:23I know you're in Newcastle quite good at it as well but Arsenal on Sunday
07:28winning a penalty, scuffles off the ball, things like that, do you have to tune in?
07:32Yeah, no, look, again, I don't worry about, we can't let sort of the stuff
07:39we can't control affect what we do.
07:42We've got to try and make sure that we just focus on executing our game plan
07:51and our football and I don't sort of, I've never sort of worried too much about
08:00those kind of things in terms of, I think they can end up making you take away
08:08your focus on what's important to us because ultimately what's important to us
08:11is if we play our football and we play a real high-tempo game and really sort of
08:17maintain a real intensity in it, that whenever we've done that this year
08:22we've been a hard team to stop and it's only when we've kind of gone away from that
08:28for whatever reason that we've allowed the opposition to get on top of us.
08:33Don?
08:34Just on that, I think everyone or most people expected the Liverpool game
08:38to be more open than it was, especially after the 6-3.
08:41I certainly felt the same about the last one from Ndadi,
08:44it was a bit caged in I thought it was going to be.
08:46I mean, how do you think the game's going to go?
08:49Yeah, it just depends, I think a lot of those things are kind of
08:53sometimes just game state, if there's an early goal that might open things up,
08:57it might close things up, it just depends.
09:02I think usually the higher the stakes the more, like you said,
09:09human nature players get a little bit more cagey about the way they play.
09:16For us, like I said, even though you said the Liverpool game was a lot tighter,
09:21I still felt what sort of got us the outcome in the end was that we started
09:27the game at a real high intensity.
09:29We had a great chance, obviously we lost Rodrigo early,
09:32but we started the game at a really high intensity and we finished really strong.
09:35I think we probably finished stronger in that game because we maintained
09:40a real high tempo in that first half and I think it'll be important tomorrow night
09:45as well that we start the game really well, try and play as high tempo as possible
09:49and then hopefully the physical conditioning we have allows us
09:53to sort of get on top of them late.
09:55You talk about an early goal there, it feels like it's a difficult moment
09:58for Arsenal in the conference that they're in front of goal,
10:01there's a bit of unrest in the crowd.
10:03Can you use that if you go out early or even if you keep it tight?
10:10Again, they're the kind of things that you may say that,
10:15but that's not how I prepare for a game.
10:18I'm preparing for a game that Arsenal are going to be at their best
10:23and if Arsenal are going to be at their best, we're going to have to be ready for that.
10:26If we go into a game thinking that maybe they're just not at it,
10:29then I think you fall into a trap of not preparing in the right way
10:34because their form up until the last couple of games was pretty compelling.
10:41If anything, I was reading how they turned things around pretty significantly
10:45and I think they had.
10:47Once I had a guard cap back in the team, they were looking very, very strong,
10:51they looked their results apart and like I said,
10:53it's really the last couple of games where people have all of a sudden dropped off them.
10:58That's the nature of football these days.
11:01It's like a week, ten days, all of a sudden,
11:04somebody who people were saying was flying all of a sudden is struggling.
11:09I don't buy into that.
11:10I still think they're one of the top teams in the country,
11:13they've got some fantastic footballers,
11:15they're well organised, they work hard for each other
11:17and it's going to take a massive effort for us to knock them over.
11:21You keep saying he's not a centre-back.
11:25For an 18-year-old, he looks quite good there.
11:29Is that because he doesn't want to play there?
11:31Or is that just because that's fundamentally not his position?
11:34Could he end up there?
11:36No, I actually wouldn't dare say he doesn't want to play a position.
11:41He's not a centre-back because he's never played at centre-back.
11:43He's playing there for us now and he's doing a hell of a job.
11:49But that's not where I see him and the attributes he has.
11:54I definitely think he'll...
11:56Again, a little bit like Lucas,
11:58I think the beauty of it is that he's got some real unique traits,
12:03which means we can use him in a lot of areas.
12:08But I don't see centre-back as where his ideal position is, I think.
12:15But that, notwithstanding, he's done an outstanding job for us.
12:35You don't want to hear my explanation.
12:37You'd rather hear that I don't like defending
12:40and we don't defend and we're open
12:43and we've got this ridiculously high line
12:45and we get torn apart in every game.
12:47That's the narrative.
12:50Considering the challenges we've had,
12:52I think our defending this year has been very good.
12:56We've obviously got blown away in a couple of games,
12:58the Liverpool game significantly and the Chelsea game.
13:01But aside from that, even the losses we had were only by a goal
13:03and very tight games.
13:06I think it's been a collective approach of us working hard defensively.
13:11But I think what's let us down is just,
13:14I think I've said it before, just moments in games we've lost focus.
13:17Even games we've defended really well,
13:20we've just switched off at key moments and it's really cost us,
13:26whether that's home or away.
13:29And still, that's the area we need to eradicate.
13:36But at the same time, like I said,
13:40Tony's the fourth keeper we've used this year.
13:44We've had I don't know how many different back fours.
13:48Anyone will tell you that cohesion and communication,
13:52understanding between defensive units is key
13:55and we haven't had that.
13:59Considering all that, I think for the most part,
14:03our defensive set-up has worked.
14:06Mainly because I think just how hard the team works as a unit.
14:09It's not just about the back four.
14:11And I think because we do work so hard,
14:13we make it difficult for oppositions to create a lot against us.
14:21It doesn't fit the narrative, does it?
14:24That I'm just one-dimensional and pretty simple in my approach.
14:27It's much easier to say that I don't care about defending or set-pieces
14:31or we don't work on defensive set-ups.
14:34All I care about is...
14:36It doesn't fit that narrative.
14:38But I do know that to have success,
14:40you need to be strong defensively.
14:47In fact, the majority of our work is what we do when we don't have the ball.
14:51That doesn't mean defending.
14:53That means pressing the opposition really aggressively
14:56so that we get the ball higher up the park
14:58and we create more chances.
15:00It's not just about scoring goals,
15:02but we work hard on that aspect of the game.
15:21Look, I think we're guilty of that at times.
15:24I've said before.
15:25I think we've had some moments where we've been wasteful this year
15:28and whether it's games we should have put away and we didn't
15:32and other games we've had really good chances
15:34and we haven't taken them and the opposition go up and score.
15:40It's still the hardest part of the game to solve for everyone.
15:48As I said before, the Tamworth game,
15:50scoring goals is still the hardest thing.
15:52It's what makes our game so exciting.
15:56Irrespective of the quality you have,
15:59the ability to put the ball in the net,
16:02sometimes it just needs to come off somebody's backside
16:06and go in and then you're happy, mate.
16:08It's just as good as somebody putting it in from 30 yards top corner.
16:11But that's the nature of football.
16:15It's about those key moments.
16:26I think in the Liverpool game you could notice
16:28it was about maybe 10 minutes into the game,
16:30half through that, you could notice from the start
16:32there was this almost a sigh of relief.
16:34I'm just wondering how that's manifested in this game.
16:37I guess it happens with every new player,
16:40but particularly a key position like goalkeeper,
16:44I think it does give some comfort to the players around him.
16:50If they see he's handling it well,
16:52it means then they can focus on their own job
16:56and be a lot more clear-headed.
17:02Whether it's struggling to adapt to the way we want to play
17:07or the challenges, because we obviously prepare for games,
17:11we prepared for Tamworth and what they were going to do.
17:14We knew every time they had a throwing in their half
17:16it's going to come in the box.
17:17How are we going to deal with it?
17:18This is how we want to deal with it.
17:19But that's all great in theory.
17:20Then you've got to go.
17:21I think when he came out for the first two and caught them,
17:24then the players around go,
17:26OK, well, he's got this, so if he's got this,
17:28I've got to make sure.
17:29Whereas if he didn't and there was uncertainty there,
17:33then I think that tends to filter through the whole team.
17:42It's a more pivotal role because he understands
17:47the consequences of a goalkeeper not feeling comfortable
17:56because he's usually required in key moments.
18:00Whereas a player, yes, there are key moments,
18:04but there's also other parts of the game
18:05where he can settle into it and find his feet
18:08and work his way through any issues he may have.
18:11Whereas a goalkeeper, for the most part,
18:16whenever he's involved, whether it's with the ball
18:18or without the ball, it's a pretty key moment.
18:21So his ability to sort of just fit in really quickly
18:26has helped us enormously.
18:28OK, thank you.