Presser points | Palace vs Spurs | Ange Postecoglou

A little over 12 hours after our 1-0 win against AZ Alkmaar, Ange Postecoglou was back in front of the media at Hotspur Way for his press conference ahead of our Premier League clash at Crystal Palace on Sunday (2pm UK).

Here's what he had to say...

Team news

As always, a team news update was up first...

Ange: "Last night all good, no issues, but obviously a bit of fatigue with some of the boys as they haven't played for a while but all good. Sonny is still not right or feeling 100%. He won't train today and so unlikely for the weekend and we'll see how he is beyond that."

James Maddison

Ange was asked, 'how proud were you of James Maddison last night as he showed some real leadership and maturity?'

Ange: "He was part of a winning team on the weekend too. I thought he played well in the first half, it was just a tactical change that was needed for the team to win. I understand the players obviously want to play all the time bit I thought he was really good last night. I thought his leadership throughout the game was good in the way he played, really positive on the ball and kind of when we needed moments of creativity or discipline he was there. I thought, especially in the second half, when Mikey had that spell when he was really feeling good, Madders made a point of just giving him the ball and I thought that showed real leadership because in that moment it's easy for Madders to do things himself but I think he sensed that Mikey was doing some special things and kept giving him the ball. 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."

Richarlison

Ange was asked about Richy's goalscoring return from injury, and what he had to do to keep the striker fit...

Ange: "He's always contributed when he has played. Like I said we work really hard and to be fair he's worked really hard in this rehab time, not just from his injury but just getting him into a better physical condition. He looked good last night, he looked strong, lean and had plenty of energy and he's going to be a really important player for us for sure. Like I said, we took a bit of a different approach with him and hopefully with the objective of breaking that cycle when he comes back for a bit and breaks down. Credit to him he's come back, worked hard, feeling really good about things and great for him to get a goal last night."

Palace

Ange was asked where Palace's threats would come from on Sunday, and if it's tough facing a side still fighting for a first win...

Ange: "It’s always dangerous in the Premier League. You just mentioned the Brighton game, and there’s never a game when you go in thinking it’s going to be a comfortable afternoon or evening. Especially away from home, the Premier League is always challenging. As you said, they’re going through a tough spell. I have no doubt they’ll get out of it because they do have some quality in the front third and they’re a hard working team. 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 is how and we’re working and sticking to our principles."

Mikey Moore

Not surprisingly, the main topic of questioning for Ange was Mikey Moore after his performance against AZ Alkmaar...

Is Mikey Moore getting to the stage when he is ready to start in the Premier League?

Ange: "He is ready to start any game but I just feel and especially with young players you need to be really careful with their introduction into senior football. Even last year he didn't really have a full season of football, he had quite a few injuries, a couple of injuries that kept him out and he went from playing Under-18s football to playing very little Under-21s football before we integrated him. You have to look at that and I think he is still physically growing and you take that into account. I think he's ready to start a Premier League game, for sure. For us what we want to do is to continue to develop Mikey in the right way and give him a platform to keep improving. So far whatever we've asked of him he's made a real impact and the plan is to continue to do that."

How special is Mikey Moore?

Ange: "I don’t know what you mean by special. He’s a talented player but he’s behind the guys you’ve mentioned because as I said he hasn’t started a Premier League game so we have to be a bit careful about... and I think Mikey just wants to be Mikey. And like I said after the game what I see with him is that 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 hard to make an impact at this level. But it’s the beginning of a process for him and his career, and like I said from my perspective it’s about constantly making sure we’re working with him and giving him the platform to keep improving. And if he does, Mikey will be Mikey and that’ll take him to wherever his ability does."

Sometimes with young players we say they should go out on loan rather than sit on the bench, so what are the pros and cons of keeping him for the whole season and maybe giving him those bits and pieces rather than playing week in, week out (on loan)?

Ange: "The key is that you treat each case individually. If you start having a blanket policy, that's where you miss... The key for us this year was to try to expose Mikey to first-team environment and that was more important than him just getting game-time because he hadn't been at this level for any length of time. Other players who maybe have a year of first-team environment but haven't had game time maybe need to go out on loan but Mikey wasn't in that boat. You say 'bits and pieces' but we are only seven or eight games into a Premier League season and with Europe and Carabao Cup, he's already played. If he's played 15 to 20 games for Mikey between now and the end of the season, I don't think it is bits and pieces, I think it is meaningful for him. And then we assess it from there. It's important we just treat these things on an individual basis because ultimately what you want to do is best for that player, rather than a blanket approach."

Year on year

It was put to Ange that at this time last year (27 October, 2023) we were about to make it 10 matches unbeaten at the start of his first season here with a 2-1 win at Selhurst Park...

Where is this team now compared to last season?

Ange: "A lot different. We're more consistent in our football, more consistent in our performances. The results last year were great and we were playing with a lot of enthusiasm and real energy. I knew that wasn't sustainable and pretty quickly we found that out for a number of reasons. Whereas this year we've already had injury disruptions and handled them a lot better. We've got a more well-rounded squad to handle what's ahead of us. We've got a heavier games programme but we've held together. We've progressed as a side, players have developed in the last 12 months to another level. When I think about Brennan, Deki and others. We're in a better place but we need to be. Hopefully we're in a better place in 12 months time, we're also in a better place because that's how you progress."

Where are main growth areas since the start of the season?

Ange: "I think the consistency of our performances. Within games we're controlling games a lot more, less vulnerable in certain areas than we were last year, particularly defensively and a lot more cohesion in our build-up play in the middle of the front third. And a lot more threatening in that front third. I kept saying last year that was the area where we needed to improve the most and we're getting there now. Obviously Brennan is becoming a real threat there now, Sonny always is, getting Dom in has been fantastic for us and with Deki in the midfield now with Madders, we look a lot more threatening going forward."