Every word Ange Postecoglou said on January transfers, his Tottenham future and why his name was sung
Ange Postecoglou held his press conference after his tired Tottenham side fell to a 6-3 defeat to Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday and you can find a full transcript with everything he said below.
The visitors went 2-0 up in the first half with Luis Diaz finding plenty of room to run between Pedro Porro and Radu Dragusin to head home. Then Alexis Mac Allister got to a looping ball ahead of Fraser Forster to nod into the back of the net. James Maddison fired one back before the break when he picked up a loose ball and curled a shot home from the edge of the box.
However, Tottenham were hit just before half-time when Dominik Szoboszlai beat Radu Dragusin to a header and ran on to fire home from Mohamed Salah's return pass. Salah then netted twice himself in the second half, once from a loose ball inside the box and then after being played in by Szoboszlai.
READ MORE: Tottenham supporters left divided after Liverpool defeat as Mohamed Salah theory emerges
Spurs did manage to find a lovely goal in response when Dominic Solanke chipped a ball over the top to Dejan Kulusevski to volley in to make it five goals in as many matches for the Swede. Solanke then fired in another for the home side as Lucas Bergvall hit a deep cross, Brennan Johnson headed it back and the striker turned and struck. Liverpool stopped that recovery though when Diaz slotted home after a Liverpool break.
Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Postecoglou after the game. Here's a full transcript from the press conference at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
What are your thoughts on your team's performance?
Look, it was a difficult day for us and a painful result. Credit to Liverpool, they are a very good side and are in a great moment. They are very settled, in great form, great belief. It was just a bridge too far for us today. You could tell we were lacking a little bit of energy and the ability to really compete with them at the same level.
Despite your problems you've stuck to your style, will you benefit from this long term?
(Puts his hand to his head for a moment) I think I have been really patient the last 18 months sitting up here answering the same questions over and over again. If people want me to change my approach, it’s not going to change. We are doing it for a reason, we are doing it because we think it will help us to be successful. If people don’t understand the circumstances we are in at the moment, the challenges we have from a squad perspective which are as obvious as you want to make them. I get the idea that people think that I should just flip a switch and change and somehow that will miraculously make us a better team. It is what it is. I’m just going to continue, stay focused on trying to build this team to be the team we want. In the interim we are going to have to accept there are going to be challenges along the way.
Did Liverpool show you the yardstick you need to reach?
Fair bit. Fair bit. Considering they...no I'll just leave it at that. They are a good side. A top side.
How far away are Tottenham at full strength from this Liverpool?
Don’t know because we are still growing as a team and we are 18 months into building a new team with a new way of playing. It’s fair to say we have had some challenges along the way considering the availability (of players). Particularly at the moment so it is very hard to see where we are at. What I will say is the players are not wavering in their commitment to what we are trying to do. Even today, a difficult day, I’m really proud of the fact they still tried to play a certain way knowing that is our way forward.
Kulusevski has now scored five games in a row, is he adding those goals that he needed to his game now?
I think Deki's been outstanding all year. That's probably the next part of his game, not that he's never had it but he's adding it now. He's been really clean with his finishing and it's a credit to him. He's taken his game to another level. I think a few of the boys have to be fair. It's probably not as evident at the moment because we're in a difficult situation.
At 5-2 the fans were still singing your name, how much does that mean to you.
The fans, I've often said, should feel they need to about what's happening. I thought they were good today, very good, given it was a difficult day for sure. But they still got support of the players which was important. And who knows, maybe some of them understand the situation we're in right now. It seems many don't. In the context of what we're trying to do, where we're at, I hope they see what we're trying to build here because I really believe it's going to be something that gives the club and fans what they want.
Can you get through the next three games with the same group of players?
We've been doing that for the last three weeks. Pretty much after the City game we had a look at it and we knew this would be our toughest period for sure. We've had shorter turnarounds than just about every opponent we've played so far, shorter rest days than every team we've played whether it's here or in Europe. And I haven't been able to rotate the team, rest players or rotate players. I have massive admiration for the efforts these players are putting in for this club at the moment. We know what a difficult situation it is and that's not going to change in the short-term. We've just got to push on.
We spoke to you a couple of weeks ago about being 10th and mid-table by Christmas and here you are, with all those reasons you speak about, do you feel any pressure about where you are?
I'm not sure what you mean by pressure. I'm not happy about where we are in the table. I'm not sure about pressure in what sense?
Discomfort as this is ultimately what managers get judged on?
Well I think I am getting judged on that. People aren't throwing platitudes at me so that's fair enough. Again from my perspective, all I can do is navigate us through a difficult period and try and make sure we do get to a position where hopefully we have a healthier squad and some key players back where we're in a position where we can improve our position in the table. If you're saying that 10th means I'm not doing a good job and I'm maybe somehow should be uncomfortable, well that's for others to judge.
The schedule remains busy so do you think reinforcements are needed in January?
Yeah, absolutely. Some of them will be internal. We're at different stages of getting players back from injury. We've got a couple of long term ones in Vicario and Wilson, but the rest hopefully at some point in January they'll come back. That will help us in terms of just getting numbers back and dealing with the schedule, because the schedule is not going to change. We're in the Carabao Cup semi-final, we're still in Europe and the FA Cup starts. We're still in all the competitions, so it's not going to get any easier. We're going to need some of those players hopefully to come back and contribute.
Can you bring in January signings?
Yeah, I guess if the right players are there. Again it's about making sure it's something that's going to help us continue to build on what we’re doing.
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