Presser points | Fulham vs Spurs | Ange Postecoglou

Ange Postecoglou spoke to the media again on Friday afternoon to look ahead to Sunday’s Premier League fixture at Fulham (1.30pm UK).

Here’s a snapshot of what he had to say...

Ange on the squad’s fitness

“It’s pretty good in terms of nothing from last night, everyone got through it well and no one is coming back in. Obviously Reguilon and Werner are available, Rodrigo Bentancur is available, so yes, from last night, nothing untoward.”

Ange on the significance of Thursday’s win over AZ

“Look, it depends on the context of things. I think it’s not insignificant. Reaching the last eight, even for a club like ours, hasn’t happened often in recent times, so that’s something of significance to this group of players. In what’s been a tough season for us, I think Europe has been something that we can lean on in terms of progress. It was great to get through last night. It wasn’t an easy fixture. Those European fixtures can be tricky, but for the most part, I thought we handled it well.”

Ange on the notion of a ‘mini-season’ between now and May

“Yes, I think that’s been our mindset for the last month or so since we started slowly getting some players back. With us getting eliminated in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup and missing out in the FA Cup straight after, it gave us clarity about what was left for us. Like I said, it’s coincided with our fixtures easing up a little bit and getting players back. From now on, we kind of know what our programme is going to be and with a healthier squad, it gives us a good foundation to tackle it.”

Ange on how long he’ll need to manage Micky van de Ven’s match minutes

“It will depend on how he is tracking and how he feels and how we feel he is progressing. The last time he played against Elfsborg was 45 (minutes). Last night was probably the first significant minutes he has had in God knows how many months. We have just got to be mindful of that. He felt good last night. We were always going to give him 60 and bring him off. He got through that. We have got a bit of a break now until our next game which gives us a chance to work with him again in training and build up his fitness and hopefully increase his match minutes as we move along.”

Ange on whether Thursday night’s goals reflect how he wants us to play

“Yes, I think so and again that has coincided with a couple of significant things. One is we are getting some significant players back and also, like I said, the ability to rotate the team and keep the team fresh. I thought we saw evidence of that last night because, like you said, our pressing was a lot better but that’s because guys like Sonny and Madders didn’t play 90 on the weekend. We’ve got guys coming back into the team which helps us with those kinds of things. Dom is a massive part of our press because of the way he works in that number nine position. We don’t have anybody else really like him. With the ball, like you said, we get our good ball players on the ball and we are looking sharp in the front third. It was great to get Wilson back in there. I think those significant things mean we can play the kind of football we want to play and hopefully we can do it more consistently now.”

Ange on whether Archie Gray could feature in midfield more often

“Yes, potentially. Archie has been unbelievable for us, he’s filled in a number of roles and done different jobs. He’s never shirked a challenge of anything he’s done. He started off at centre-back last night and ended up in midfield, so we'll assess things as they go along but I think with Archie, the beauty of it is that he can fill in and we’re going to need him too. With us still being in Europe, we know once the international break is over it'll go back to midweek to weekend games and we want that to last at least through the semi-final stage and beyond so we’re going to need people like Archie to do jobs for us. If there's an opportunity to put him in midfield then we'll certainly give him that.”

Ange on whether he’ll make changes for Fulham

“Yes, I think so, I think we need to. We saw how hard it is backing up... Sunday to Thursday isn't too bad but Thursday to Sunday is a massive task. It helps when we’re at home, when we’re away from home it’s even more difficult but with us having a more healthy squad it makes sense for us to make some changes.”

Ange on Romero and van de Ven starting together again

“The evidence was there. While those two were on the pitch for 60 minutes it was as solid as we've been all year, they had one shot from a set-piece in that whole time and apart from that they didn't really threaten us at all and that comes from both of them. I think central defensive partnerships are important, the understanding is important and both those guys work really well together, they’ve got different strengths which really align and both with and without the ball they give us good options, not just defensively but with the ball Micky is a great outlet for us because he can run with it. Having a left-footed central defender helps and Cuti's passing range is ridiculous. With and without the ball it was great to have them back. We haven't had them much this year so hopefully we can build from that.”

Ange on Lucas Bergvall’s physicality

“Everyone has worked with him, the coaches have worked with him, he's worked on it. I don't think he's left Deki's side since he's been here and Deki is in the gym all the time. He's a great role model for him and I think if nothing else, Deki has forced him to get in there and work hard on his game. He's also an outstanding technical player. I think his technical proficiency is still his greatest asset but he's growing, you've got to remember he's only just turned 19. He's still a very young man and if he keeps building up physically as well, to withstand the demands of the Premier League, particularly in that midfield position, you need that physical capability as well, if you have that and the technical proficiency then you've got a decent player on your hands.

“It’s fair to say when he first got here the coaches spent a lot of time with him, working on his tactical awareness and being disciplined and again a big thing you look for in players is their coachability and their ability to take in information and then the ability to use that information to help them improve. He's certainly taken that on board. At the start it took him a little bit of time. He tended to run too much, I remember a couple of early games in Europe when he just ran out of steam because he was running too much. He was maybe overplaying the ball at times, but he's simplified his game and that’s because the coaches have given him the feedback and he's taken that on board.”