Presser points | Spurs 3-1 Brentford | Ange Postecoglou

Ange Postecoglou spoke to the media after our 3-1 win against Brentford in the Premier League at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.

Here's what he had to say...

Bouncing back

First up, it was put to Ange that he must have been delighted by the way the players bounced straight back from conceding inside the first minute...

Ange: "Yeah, it wasn't an ideal start, obviously, but, to be honest, it was like it never happened. The boys just sort of went at it. That's what we wanted to do today. We knew Brentford were going to be pretty aggressive with and without the ball and we love that part of the game. We thought if we really brought our own energy and intensity that we know we can, with and without the ball, we could cause them a lot of problems and we did. We were relentless the whole game and fully deserved the win."

James Maddison

Ange was asked what he made of James Maddison's performance...

Ange: "I thought he was good. I thought the whole team was good. Everyone was really focused on making sure we dominated the game in the areas we want to dominate. We kind of knew that they'd try and play out a bit. That's great for us because it gives us an opportunity to press real hard and I thought all the midfielders really supported the front three well there. They were going to press us when we had the ball and I thought Vic and the back four managed it really well and the midfielders played a key role with that. So I think everyone really contributed to a strong performance."

Brennan Johnson

Ange was asked a couple of questions on Brennan Johnson...

Two important goals in a week for Brennan Johnson and the fans gave him a great reception after he scored, that must have been pretty pleasing to see?

Ange: "Brennan's had a top week. He scored in the cup to get us through, scored the winner and he scored a fantastic goal again today to get us ahead and he was a real threat all the way through. He had a bit of a tough period last week and sometimes it gives you perspective about what's important and what's important to Brennan is that he's a much-loved team-mate and like I said last week, he works hard every day and I've no doubt he'll make a big impact for our club."

Did today with the crowd singing his name show the disparity between the fans inside the stadium and social media?

Ange: "Oh, I don't know. I really don't know. I had my say on social media and all that sort of stuff during the week. But anyone who watches Brennan play, if they think he doesn't give everything he can every week and work as hard as he can for the team and how much he cares, I'll be very surprised. But that's to one side. For every footballer, you've got to go through difficult moments and he's handled it really well. Like I said, I think it gives you a perspective that when the next difficult moment comes - inevitably it always comes - I'm sure he'll know what's important to him."

Dominic Solanke

It was put to Ange that it was good to see Dominic Solanke get off the mark with the equaliser...

Ange: "Yeah, I mean, again Dom's still working his way to match fitness. You saw at the end there, he was out of gas. We wanted to take him off a bit earlier, but we needed that third goal to kill the game off. But he was good again, I think he's been good in every game he's played for us, and as you said, strikers love scoring goals and, yeah, a great moment for him to score his first goal for the club, particularly at home. But aside from that, again it was a really strong performance by him. I thought he led the line really well, important for us today as a link up there because we knew they'd go pretty aggressive on a man-to-man marking and he was going to have to hold the ball up for us and I thought he did that really well."

More urgency?

Ange was asked if there was more urgency in our play and if Brentford's early goal contributed to that...

Ange: "No, I think I spoke about it last week that I felt in the first half against Arsenal it was quite evident they were trying to slow the game down. I thought we contributed towards that, especially with restarts and we spoke about it in the week that we are at our best when we play quickly. Obviously the opposition will try and stop us doing that, but from our perspective the more times when we're in control of the ball and play at our tempo, it's better. It was highlighted last week that even though we were on top of the game against Arsenal we kind of let them off the hook a couple of times by slowing the game down ourselves. I thought it was a lot better today and we had more urgency without rushing around our football, which helps us."

Intensity

Ange was asked if he was pleased with our off-ball intensity, with James Maddison winning the ball back for two goals...

Ange: "Yeah, but that's been great all year. I think objective measures would say we are probably the best in the league and one of the best in Europe in terms of our pressurising and I thought it would be important. You saw Brentford, you saw how they try to play out from the ball, which is an opportunity for us to try to win it in high areas and I thought we did. We created some unbelievable opportunities from it, including the first goal and we probably could have got a couple more out of it."

Key moments

It was put to Ange, 'you said the team struggled to capitalise in key moments against Arsenal, but with Maddison popping up with the third, is that the biggest difference?'

Ange: "We were still winning at that point, but in terms of the game that is sort of what we've been missing. We spoke about it during the week that for all our dominance we haven't really got the rewards for our play and you need to. You saw even today at 2-1, they had a couple of chances and could be back in the game at 2-2 even though we had so much dominance. So, you need to stay alert but I thought it was an excellent goal. The three leaders in the club contributing - Romero, Sonny and Madders. That is what you are looking for in those moments."