Every word Ange Postecoglou said on Bentancur, Hojbjerg, Gil, injury news and Lange appointment

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Here is every word Ange Postecoglou had to say in his pre-match press conference at Hotspur Way ahead of Tottenham's Premier League clash vs Fulham.

Source: Football London

 

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I'll take one for the team, here goes......

Every word Ange Postecoglou said on Bentancur, Hojbjerg, Gil, injury news and Lange appointment​

Here is every word Ange Postecoglou had to say in his pre-match press conference at Hotspur Way ahead of Tottenham's Premier League clash vs Fulham

By
Rob GuestTottenham Hotspur Writer

• 14:00, 20 OCT 2023

How has everybody come through the international break?
It's been a pretty positive international break for us. In terms of availability I'll address the international players first. Everyone is kind of back and medical reports seem to be good so no real issues around the guys from a fitness perspective. Also, we got a couple of senior debuts with Destiny and Micky getting some runs in there in terms of playing for their national team. It was a good break.

Gio Lo Celso played for Argentina as well which was great, so those guys all came through it well. With Brennan he's has had a good, solid couple of weeks of training which is good for him with the guys who have been left alongside Bentancur, Gil. They're all good. Monday night helps us in terms of that respect. All the international players should be available and Brennan we'll see how he goes in the next couple of days.

How far away are we from seeing Rodrigo Bentancur?

We'll be careful with him. Now he's sort of fully training, so that means he's into the whole session. We've drip-fed him into training the last month and he's coped pretty well with that. Now he's into full training.
We've got to be mindful that he's missed a fair bit of football, but I think the more he trains with the first team over the next few weeks we'll sort of pick our moment. He's looking good at training and it was great to have him for the last couple of weeks to fully integrate with the guys who are here and we're looking forward to having him back.


During the break you won the Premier League Manager of the Month for September, has the start to the season gone better than expected? What do you think is achievable for these players?

Both those questions are predetermined by some target I may or may not have had and I didn't have a target so wherever we are is where we are. We've had a really encouraging start to season and it's an honour to receive the manager of month but that sorts of representative of a larger group of people. The coaching staff and football department are working really hard at the moment to create an environment and training base for the players to perform.
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Fair to say apart from results which have been pleasing, I think we've had a level of performance in every game which has made us really competitive against all opponents home and away. We've had some eventful games within that context but that's kind of given us a real strong foundation in terms of the character and resilience of the group. It's been an encouraging start and where that leads us we'll find out.

How did it feel to spend international break in top spot?
The same as any international break. First few days you welcome it and the the next few days you're kind of seeking the next contest. We're in great position in the league and I think that's reflective of our performances so far but it doesn't really change the way I'm thinking of kind of what we're trying to build here.
It pains to say we're still very much at the beginning. My main focus is continual improvement in this group because there's a lot of young players, new group, new leadership, new way of playing, all these things are all at the early stages. That's undeniable. Whatever start we've had good, bad or otherwise does not change the fact that we're at the beginning.
My focus is making sure we keep on improving because the worst thing you can do is, if we had a poor start, and I've done that in my career where beginnings haven't been great, but what I've done is during that time is make sure we stay true to what I want to build and the beliefs we had. It's the same when it's going well because if you get sidetracked by how you're currently tracking and move away from what the plan is then the traps are there for you to sort of stumble.
Do you feel this has reinforced a new status for Tottenham in the Premier League this season?
That's not for me to judge, that's for others to judge. My thinking around those things is always how we present ourselves and how we perform is going to be indicative of how we're perceived, than us trying to make any kind of statements around that fact.
At the moment there's probably a little bit of curiosity around us, the same way there is around me; 'Why is this happening and how is this happening?'. I get that, because there's nothing beyond that to give you some sort of idea of what trajectory we should be on. I understand that, but that's not really is what's important right now.
You have three games in London while others around you in the table travel around Europe, can you take advantage of it?
It is what it is. We've also only had three home games so far, we've had five away from home. That's been a challenge in itself because we've seen, particularly our stadium this year, we've had three cracking games and the supporters have helped us in that but we haven't had that for five games away from home.
Whatever the challenge is before you, multiple away games or three in London, that's the challenges before us. We just have to maintain real focus around the challenge we have and that we don't allow ourselves to think about what's gone before us and more importantly what's too far ahead of us.
What's really important is we've got a real tough game on Monday night against a strong Premier League opponent.
How much have you thought about replacing Yves Bissouma over the past two weeks?
That's always a constant in every manager's head, you're realistic enough to know you're not going to run with the same XI and every week you wrestle with what the best sort of line up is going to be for you; fitness, form, the way they're training, the opposition. With Bissouma missing out this game, we had to adjust without him at Luton which I thought we did awfully well with 10 men.
We've got some options, certainly Pierre is a ready-made replacement, he's been training really hard, he's obviously probably wanted to be playing more because he's pretty much been a constant for the last two/three years. But when he has come on for us he's done really well, for me he's the logical one to come in but we've got a couple of sessions to go.
Since Harry Kane has departed it looks from the outside that everyone has stepped up. Is that the case from the inside?
It's not something you consciously do. Ultimately the players know if you're around long enough very few people stay in the one spot forever, people come and go. Harry going was a significant exit for us as a football club as much as a football team because he was such a strong force for so long.
You're looking at how you replace him – I'm not the sharpest but I was quick to realise you're not going to replace him like for like, you're never going to find another Harry Kane, because it doesn't exist in terms of somebody who's been at this club, he's one of their own here, top goalscorer, captain of England.
It gave us an opportunity to try and play and setup a different way. Now, whether the players have felt that extra responsibility, we've tried to actually take that responsibility away from them and not worry about individuals trying to fill the breach and just say that what's going to help us is become a strong team in terms of having multiple attacking threats where hopefully on any given day we can hurt teams in different ways.

What kind of role can Bryan Gil play for you over the coming months?
He can be really important for us. He's one like I said the last couple of weeks it has been great to have him just working really hard at training. He's missed all of this season so far and it's well chronicled that we lost Ivan and Manor who play in that left-wing position. Having Bryan fit and available again is great for us.
He's, I guess, in the same boat as everyone else because at some point he'll be forwarded an opportunity and then it's up to him. He certainly has all the criteria and credentials to play in that position for us and, like I said, his training is getting stronger now, he's part of the group and I'm sure he'll get an opportunity.
We've got a Monday night game and then we back it up with a Friday night game, so we'll probably need a good deal of the squad to do those two games in the next five or six days.
Did the international break come at the right time for Giovani Lo Celso?
In a sense. He is obviously very highly regarded with the Argentinian set-up because they always call him up and he played in both games. He didn't play significant minutes but he played in both and played 15-20 in the second game. It is great for him and his confidence.
Unfortunately he has a disrupted early part of the season for us but again another player we haven't had a contribution from and that's a pleasing thing for us. As good as we've been, there are still a few players like Brennan, Bentancur, Gil and Lo Celso who haven't really played at all for us yet.
Having them back, even in terms of training and raising the level, they are the things that will give us the focus to maintain and keep improving the performances. When there is competitiveness around the squad in training and playing, that guards against any complacency or anyone feeling comfortable about things.
Can I get your thoughts on Johan Lange's appointment and what will he bring to Tottenham as you plan for the future?
I've had a good couple of chats with Johan now since he's been appointed. I think it is fair to say it is a position we needed to fill and with all big football clubs, they become such an important part of the function knowing that for the most part that with recruitment these days there aren't too many hidden gems out there.
Everyone knows what's out there and having people who are really adept and qualified in seeking out the ones who will be a good fit for us is really important. That is Johan's brief and I'm looking forward to him getting started. Obviously we've got the January window not too far around the corner so I am sure he will be keen to get involved as well.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was linked to Fulham on deadline day but he's continued to play a key role for you since and remained the ultimate professional. How impressed have you been by his professionalism?
I mean in terms of him going anywhere I don't think there was any time during the transfer window where I thought Pierre would move. The discussions I had with him were that he was here and wanted to contribute, he wanted to be part of what we were building. It is obvious someone that has played regularly would have wanted to play more but ultimately our performances have been strong and he has had to bide his time.
He has also been very important in a lot of the games that we've won late or had to shore up late. He has been one of the people who has helped us do it and it is not like he hasn't contributed at all. He's been a really important part for us.
We wouldn't be in this position if we were just reliant on our starting XI. Fair to say if games had finished at the 80-minute mark, we would not be at top spot. It is not just him but all the guys. It is something we impress on all of them that as disappointed as you are at not starting, it doesn't mean you are not playing. You are still playing at some point and want you do with those minutes will help us be successful and push their own cause.

With Pierre he is a professional and very determined to win a spot in the team. He presents himself well every day and over a 38-game season all of these guys will get an opportunity at some point and what they do with that is up to them. In the meantime what is important is if they want to keep getting opportunities, they have to train well and when they do play, whether they start or not, they contribute to the team.

Could Bentancur be in the squad on Monday?

No, he won't be in the squad on Monday. He has just started training, so we will take our time with him. He's missed a lot of football and we'll have a look at the next few weeks, the games we've got and when we've seen enough in training and he feels comfortable, we'll slowly reintegrate him back into the team.

Have you spoken to Dejan Kulusevski since the incident in Brussels at the start of the week and is he available for Monday?
No, he is fine. I had a chat with him. Like everyone else we shake our heads at these things where you go to a football game and these kind of things happen. It is sad and kind of confronting how close it comes to your own world, but Deki is fine. He trained yesterday with the team and is ready to go.