Presser points | Eintracht Frankfurt vs Spurs | Ange Postecoglou

Ange Postecoglou spoke to the media at the Deutsche Bank Stadium on Wednesday evening, ahead of our UEFA Europa League quarter-final, second leg against Eintracht Frankfurt.

With the tie level at 1-1, here's what he had to say...

Ange on if this is a 'chance to salvage the season' and his message to the players...

"I don't see it as salvaging the season, I see it as an opportunity to do something special, so it depends on your outlook on life. We're at a point where we've got an opportunity to get to a semi-final of major competition, obviously we know the challenges before us, so that's what we're excited about. These opportunities don't come around very often, even if you're having a very good season, sometimes they don't come around, so why not take it? That's the message to the players as well, irrespective of everything else that's happened this year, we're a game away from the final four of a major competition and you shouldn't just take that for granted in terms of something that's a regular recurrence, so take advantage of it."

Ange on team news...

"Sonny didn't travel in the end. He's the only one who misses out. He's been battling with his foot problem for a few weeks now, he's managed through it but it got too painful over the last few days. 
He tried to train yesterday and it just wasn't right, so we've made the decision to leave him at home to recuperate. Everyone else is good, the notable addition is Kevin (Danso) who has trained and is available as well."

Ange on Sonny's absence...

"It’s a blow, but it’s consistent with everything else that’s happened this year, so it’s just another challenge for us to overcome. Unfortunate for him and he tried really hard. The reason we left him out at the weekend was to give him time to recover because he’s been struggling for a couple of weeks now, but he couldn’t make it. You know, we’ve had these challenges all year and it’s just another we need to overcome."

Ange on Dominic Solanke...

"Dom has fought really hard for the team. He’s going to be important for us tomorrow night and we’re really looking forward to his contribution."

Ange on if the narrative over his future is a 'personal burden'...

"No, not at all, because I don’t define my career and me as a person by what people think about me. I never have, never will. If you don’t think I’m a good coach today, you won’t think I’m a good coach tomorrow, even if we win. One game isn't going to make a difference to that. You either think I’m capable of doing the job now or you don’t. That’s where I sit with these things. If people think that us winning tomorrow all of a sudden makes me a better manager than what I am today or us losing tomorrow somehow makes me a worse manager, I guess that’s their burden, not mine. I don’t think that way and I don’t think most people think that way. Or I’d like to think they don’t, in terms of their own sort of self esteem and who they are as people. I couldn’t care less, really, I couldn’t care less. There’s no burden on me, there’s no anxiety on me. What I’m sitting here doing is thinking we’ve got a great opportunity to get to the final four of a major tournament. I’m not going to let that slip by without fighting tooth and nail for it irrespective of what may come the day after."

Ange on having everyone fit - apart from Sonny - and if Deki Kulusevski is ready to start...

"It’s massively positive because you realise when we’ve got everyone together, we’ve got a really exciting young squad that I think we can build on. Irrespective of how the game goes, we have got opportunities to make impacts with substitutions, and just the general feeling around the place. The other thing it does, apart from Sonny, obviously, which is really disappointing, everyone's excited, all the players are looking forward to it. We've had a lot of players who have had to train on their own, deal with the mental grind of trying to get themselves back in amongst the group, and that affects the general feeling around the place because invariably there isn't this overwhelming feeling of everyone being in it together because players have got their own individual battles to overcome. We've had more doing that than as a core group to solidify those things you need to in terms of team spirit. So just having the whole group together, the dynamics of training, the dynamics of the dressing room, even the dynamics when you travel. For the most part, everyone's got their best buddy with them. They're not back at home. It's a good feeling and you miss it when you've had the kind of season we've had."

Ange on the importance of our senior players in Frankfurt's atmosphere...

"Playing away in Europe, it's always a challenge. The experiences we've had this year have been good for that, we've visited some tough places in terms of atmospheres - Galatasaray away, Ibrox, AZ. And a lot of our younger players got exposed to that which I think will be helpful. But there's no doubt that come tomorrow, the experienced guys in the squad who have probably been through something similar will be hugely important for us. Having the key ones apart from Sonny all being fit and available, and feeling good in terms of conditioning, is going to be important."

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