Presser points | Spurs vs Liverpool | Ange Postecoglou

Ange Postecoglou spoke to the media at Hotspur Way on Friday morning, ahead of our Premier League clash against leaders Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday (4.30pm UK).

Here's what he had to say...

Ange on the Carabao Cup semi-final draw against Liverpool...

"We're in it, which is the main thing. It's an exciting fixture. I could be wrong, but in the recent history of the Carabao Cup, it has either been won by a Manchester club or Liverpool. We'll have to beat all of them to get through. Great draw for us."

On saying 'are you not entertained?' on TV after the 4-3 win against United, and if he's a fan of the film, Gladiator...

"Top film, top actor and a fellow Aussie... I genuinely believe that a big part of our game is, maybe entertainment is the wrong word, but you go to a game of football to kind of feel emotions that maybe in your day-to-day existence you don't get the opportunity to, both exhilarating and anxious. I think that's what we love about it. I've said before there's a lot of suffering in there when you're watching a football game, but if you come out on the right side, it's an exhilarating feeling."

On being asked, 'can you be that gung-ho against Liverpool?'

"I'm not sure what you mean by gung-ho but we'll play our football because that's what is winning us games. That's what we'll do against Liverpool, who are a fantastic side and are going really well. Arne has come in and it's not easy when you're taking over from somebody with the status of Jurgen Klopp. They're very settled as a team, they've got quality within the starting XI and the squad. They've dealt with things like last week when they were a man down (against Fulham) and they have real belief at the moment. They're the standout team in the competition so far but, again, on our day when we play football, we're pretty good opposition."

On Timo Werner's fitness...

"We'll see, the boys are coming in now (Friday, late morning) as it was a late night. Timo was unwell yesterday so we've got 48 hours or so before the game and hopefully he will recover. The plan is Destiny (Udogie) should be okay."

On Archie Gray's form at centre-back...

"I said last week that he has been outstanding. We have no choice as we have no other centre-backs. You put an 18-year-old kid there, I shouldn't say 18-year-old kid as he's a man in every sense of the word, and he's handled it brilliantly. If you do it for one game you can sort of get away with it, where you put a young player out of position in one game, but he's done it in multiple games now against some pretty decent opposition. Like I said, as an 18-year-old, he's handled it so well and it's not like he's surrounded by experience. Obviously, our goalkeeper is out, our two centre-backs are out, our left-back was out last night. Him and Radu handled it awfully well, awfully well. I keep saying you take out the goalkeeper, two centre-backs and a left-back from any team and I'm sure it will have an effect. It's not just the way they're performing, they're still trying to play in the manner we want to play. We're not making allowances that we've got Archie at centre-back or Radu or Fraser in goal, we're still trying to play our football and it's a credit to them."

On if he feels Fraser Forster needs picking up...

"Again, there’s no choice - there is a game on Sunday, so we can’t be sitting here worrying about Fraser, who is an experienced guy, like I say, he was disappointed with how things panned out last night. Other than that, he was outstanding for us and in the other games. You can sort of focus on those moments or look back on the rest of it being outstanding. You’ve just got to keep going with these things. You can wallow in negativity or uncertainty but you have just got to keep going. That’s my attitude in life. I am sure people are having some pretty bad days out there but you’ve got to put your shoes on and go to work and earn. Of course, we will help Fraser like we help all players, but we have got a big game on Sunday and I am sure he will be up for it."

On the likelihood of it ending 0-0 on Sunday, with the number of goals scored between the teams...

"I’d be very surprised, but you never know. That would be because, like I said, they’ve got a fantastic team with unbelievable attacking threats. You’re always going to be aware of that, but we are pretty good at scoring ourselves, so we will see."

On if his style of football might catch on with other managers...

"Like I said after the game last night, it is the team we want to be and some of it is around the premise that we want to be an attacking team in everything we do - both in the way we attack and defend. Within that context, we still want to be successful. It’s not discounting that important aspect to it. I’ve always tried to take the less travelled roads. For me, there is no real advantage to doing what everyone else or the majority is doing - I’ve got to do things a little bit differently. I’m a young 59-year-old sitting in the Premier League after coming from Australia. I think for us to be successful in the Premier League we’ve got to do things a little bit differently. It's not easy, but I think it is the path we need to choose. We need to be guided by our own principles."

On maybe not playing out from the back...

"No, because that would give us multitudes of other problems. We are where we are and will progress because of the way we play and I don’t think we need to protect anyone in our team. I think if you go out there and play then you put your hand up to play our way. Last night, what we try to do as coaches, we try to give as many tools for our players to make good decisions out there, but we can’t control games of football as much as we try to. I am a big believer in giving players the tools to make the best decisions out there. I think Fraser could have made better decisions, but it wasn’t because we tried to play out from the back, he just made some poor decisions and the other players made poor decisions which led to the ball being back with Fraser. You go, okay, how can we help by showing them a way to make better decisions in the way we play without getting away from our football, that would mean we wouldn’t have the same outcome as last night."

On growing up as a Liverpool fan back in Australia...

"Late 70s, early 80s. My first was probably around the ’74 FA Cup. I loved the whole pass-and-move Liverpool style. They used to play a lot of five-a-sides at training. I used to read about it. Five-a-side was a modern rondo. Ahead of their time, kept the ball on the deck. I loved all that stuff, mainly because my dad loved the way they played. That was born a bit from that. Fair to say they went away from that after a while, but a lot of my early recollections and enjoyment of football came from that style of game."

On a potential return to action for Mikey Moore...

"No, no. "He hasn't been involved so we'll need to get a least a couple of weeks training into Mikey and get him back up to full speed. Hopefully he is not too far away."

On Djed Spence's display against United...

"Brilliant, fantastic. Like I said last week, he’s had to bide his time, probably deserved to play a little bit more, but the situation at the beginning of the year, Archie was playing more as a cover for left-back and right-back and he wasn’t registered for Europe, so it limited his opportunities. He kept working hard in training. It’s not like he’s come in and filled in for us, he’s actually making an impact. He played a great ball into Dom for his goal, but defensively he did an enormous job for us. Physically he’s outstanding. It’s not easy when you’re training and training and don’t get that opportunity. He loved the day he signed for Tottenham. It’s taken him a long time to get out there. To feel the love of the supporters last night, well deserved."

On Djed showing he can maintain that consistency...

"It’s two games. Always put context into this. For him now, it’s about pushing on and challenging the guys who are there. At some point, we will have a squad and I will have some selection issues. Not at the moment. It’s great for us that, again, we’ve got a player who has come in in a difficult time and made us a better team."

On Guglielmo Vicario's recovery from ankle surgery...

"It’s going well. Typical Vic. He’s pushing every boundary. He’s still a fair bit away, but whatever timeline it is he’ll make sure he’s back as soon as possible. He’s still very much around the group. You saw him last night. He’s at training every day. He’s one of the leaders, and he’s progressing well."

On whether talk about football, 'has become more serious'...

"I don't know if it's criticism, but I think people have dived into analytics and information. It’s a bit like with VAR - they think the technology should bring perfection, and the beauty of our game is the flaws in our game. That's what creates moments and goals. People say, ‘Tottenham were great, but if they did this and if they did that, they would be...’ Okay, but if they were great, they would be perfect, but that will never happen. Sometimes you’ve just got to sit back and just say, 'okay, actually, that's pretty impressive in the last two game, we've scored nine goals and against Premier League opposition, with a fairly thin squad of players'. You've got to say, analysis aside, it's actually pretty good going and just enjoy it. Enjoy it for what it is because, again, you can - and many do - overanalyse things. Every goal has a mistake in it from an opposition player, every goal. You can dissect the living daylights out of it, if that's what you're looking for. That doesn't mean that's a flaw in the system, or a flaw in the game, or a flaw in the model. I just think that's a consequence of the beauty of our game. As much as managers want to control every aspect of it, you can't, because we're human beings."

On being aware of the wider discourse around football...

"I don’t ignore it, but I don’t seek it. Like I said, I’m still a fan of the game so if there’s stuff that comes across my desk that I find interesting, then I’ll read it. I like more reading stuff that’s got a bit of substance and context to it, but in terms of the general noise, I don’t think there’s any benefit to me jumping into that world because a lot of it is just the fact that there are a lot more platforms for people to have an opinion, which is great, but is that really beneficial or helpful to me? Or do I get anything? Because I think some of it is done to provoke a reaction, so if people think it gets me angry or upsets me, it’s not really the way I’m wired. Like I’ve said before, I’ve kind of backed away from social media in its current form because I don’t like what it brings out and like I said, I’ve got the world’s most silent phone, so it’s a blissful existence."

On 'leaving the door open' to sign another goalkeeper in January...

"I think I left it open in that if we had another injury to a goalkeeper, then we would definitely have to sign someone, so, yeah, but I didn't leave the door open in terms of... look, like I said, I think Fraser has done really well for us coming in. It's not easy. Any time a number two goalkeeper comes in, especially for an extended period of time, it's not the easiest position to come into, but I think he’s handled it really well, as I expected him to. And like I said, he was disappointed with last night, but we’ve got to keep that in context of his overall performances. It's not like it's, you know, it's been four or five games of kind of a series of mistakes. So, we keep the context of what happened last night. He still contributed to our victory. I thought in the first half of his feet, he was outstanding, he helped us platform us to get up the park to beat their pressure, and pulled off a good save just before they scored the first goal. He didn't have a lot to do to be fair. I thought we handled it really well. But, you know, he made a couple of poor decisions on the night and we'll work with him. Burchy will work with him and like I said, we've got no choice but to saddle up again on Sunday and go again."

On Arne Slot saying we were 'a joy to watch' and that he was such a fan, he could be Ange's agent...

"My agent will be happy to hear that! No, I appreciate it, kind words from somebody who is making his own impact in the game. Look, I think most fellow managers, whether they agree with my approach, will understand where I’m coming from and what I’m trying to do, so that respect is mutual from me. I said last week, we’ve all got really difficult tasks, we’ve all got our own challenges and we all go about it our own way. I admire the people who stick to their principles and have conviction in what they are doing whether they are successful or not, because we’re not all going to be successful as much as we’d like to. I appreciate the sentiment and most managers whether they agree with my approach or not will understand what I’m doing."

On Jamie Carragher's comments on needing to adapt our style...

"People tell me he likes me, so that’s a good thing. They say, ‘did you hear what he said? But he likes you as a person', so, that’s important to me. Look, it’s all valid, but I don’t need validation from anybody to do what I do. Whether you agree with my approach or not, there is validity in both and I don’t have an issue with that. I love the fact people are talking about our games and analysing our games. I think that is important as well for this football club, and I’d rather that than us be anonymous and no-one talk about us, or we’re just grinding out an existence. I’ve always said, you have to be prepared for scrutiny, you have to be prepared for criticism and it’s how you react to that, that is more important. I don’t think one is any less credible than the other in many respects, but what I am saying is I don’t need validity and it won’t change what I believe, because what I believe is borne from a lifetime of experiences and values that I won’t let anyone tamper with from the outside. I’ve said before, whether it is Jamie or anyone else scrutinising or criticising our approach, that’s healthy because to me how you react to that is much more important than that itself, because if you’re going to jump every time, it tells me you don’t really have a lot of belief in this building about what we’re doing, if we’re always going to worry about what he is saying, or we need someone to say a good thing, or someone already said a bad thing. I think it is healthy if it’s coming from the right sort of place. Someone like Jamie, he is there to give his opinion and will not stand there and say, ‘I’ve got nothing to say', he’ll give an opinion. Some of the other stuff I kind of don’t understand because I think it’s just about getting headlines but, again, if you react to that it kind of says more about yourself than anything else."